From banners to buttons, flags to flash mobs, cooperators across Canada are showing their IYC colours, but a worker coop in Guelph, ON is showing its IYC flavour: the 2012 Coffee Blend. Planet Bean Coffee, owned and operated by the Sumac Community Worker Co-operative (SUMAC), created the special blend in celebration of the IYC and is promoting it as “co-op from seed to cup.” It brings together beans from coffee farmer coops in Ethiopia, Guatemala and Nicaragua. The coffee is also certified organic and purchased through certified Fair Trade channels. “We created the blend to bring an international flavour to Canada’s IYC hoopla,” says Bill Barrett, president of SUMAC. Most people don’t realize that when they choose Fairtrade coffee, they’re often supporting farmer coops, he says. In Canada, there are three worker coops united in their goal of growing the national Fair Trade market: SUMAC, Just Us! Coffee Roasters and La Siembra (Camino). “Co-ops have a long history of enabling marginalized groups of farmers, workers, and consumers to better their lives through collective action,” says Barrett. “And that’s what makes them the logical choice for Fair Trade organizations.”