Bag Labels

I'm in the process of writing three new bag labels for the back of coffee bag. Here is a back-label I wrote to celebrate Land of a Thousand Hills Coffee™ partnering with Barrington Hall, a historic plantation home:

"In the 1880s, three grandsons of Barrington King began a coffee and tea company under the name Baker & Co., Importers and Roaster of Coffee. Their high-end coffee products were called "Barrington Hall" and featured a photo of Barrington Hall on advertisements and labels. Baker & Co. remained in business until WWII when the U.S. Government converted production to K-rations for the Allied troops.

Barrington Hall is back in the coffee business with Land of a Thousand Hills CoffeeTM, a local coffee company and roaster who purchases beans directly from farming cooperatives in Rwanda, ensuring the growers receive a Living Wage. Land of a Thousand Hills CoffeeTM is passionate about excellence in coffee, pursuing social justice, and cultivating community. Friends of Barrington Hall and Land of a Thousand Hills CoffeeTM are keeping the Barrington Hall historic coffee tradition alive with this new label of specialty roasted coffee. Drink Coffee. Do Good."


Writing bag labels is quite possibly the hardest task I've encountered in my job. Having to capture the company's voice and core values while convey the basic knowledge a reader would want to glean is difficult to do in a small amount of space. The label I am hoping to finalize tomorrow will be the standard coffee bag label. Fortunately, my boss and I had a lunch meeting last week with one of the foremost bloggers in the world, Jon Acuff. He offered a piece of really good advice: Get out of the way when you tell your story. A good story lets readers write themselves in.

My goal for the new label is to communicate the basic story of how Land of a Thousand Hills Coffee™ was founded, share how Rwandan farming communities are becoming a vibrant picture of sustainability, and let the reader write themselves in by inviting them to Drink Coffee and Do Good!

Land of a Thousand Hills Coffee recently partnered with the band Third Day and is currently on tour with them, promoting COFFEE, COMMUNITY, JUSTICE. I spent the past week working with the marketing team and graphic designers in tweaking our branding, tailoring our marketing material, and developing new merch, bag labels, website pages, blogs, business cards, and fliers. James LaCroix, a nashville-based graphic designer who branded and designed the very popular "To Write Love on Her Arms," put his other work on hold and helped us pound out loads of new material. One of the issues we faced with the new image was trying to incorporate Third Day's aesthetic with Land of a Thousand Hills. Third Day's edgier look and LOTH's African decor merged well, as did their stories. After meeting with Third Day's drummer, David Carr, I was able to create the text for a LOTH/Third Day coffee bag label. Here's what I wrote (channeling the voice of David Carr):

I recently discovered a great little coffeehouse outside of Atlanta, Georgia. In addition to serving an excellent, freshly roasted cup of joe, Land of a Thousand Hills Coffee™ Company serves farmers in Rwanda. I was surprised to learn that 80% of the coffee Americans consume is exploitation coffee, but Land of a Thousand Hills Coffee™ works directly with coffee growers in Rwanda to ensure each worker is treated fairly and paid a Living Wage. As they enjoy the fruit of their labor, growers experience the sweetness of God’s grace. Perhaps this is the Revelation many Christians need to hear; that their daily habits have a remarkable impact on people all over the world, that through simply purchasing coffee where every worker is taken care of, an entire nation is experiencing redemption. Land of a Thousand Hills™ has become my third place community. I invite you to be a part of this community as we come together to make a difference in Rwanda by the coffee we drink. It’s that simple. Drink Coffee. Do Good.

--David Carr, Third Day


I also wanted to include the Land of a Thousand Hills' story, so the label also includes the following text that is intended to pique a customer's interest:

Make a difference by the coffee you drink.

At Land of a Thousand Hills Coffee™, we are passionate about EXCELLENCE IN COFFEE, pursuing SOCIAL JUSTICE, and cultivating a THIRD PLACE COMMUNITY. In a post-genocide nation, Rwandan coffee communities are becoming a vibrant picture of opportunity and sustainability.

www.DrinkCoffeeDoGood.com



Excellence in coffee, pursuing social justice, and cultivating a third place community (the first being home, the second work, and the third place is your "hangout") are LOTH's three big values. The verbiage can get long and tedious, however, so for branding purposes, we cut the extra words and focused on what a reader/viewer would be most attracted to: COFFEE, COMMUNITY, JUSTICE. In the shortest fashion possible, this phrase projects our core values and begs attention.

Learning how to fuse writing and marketing is a challenge for me because I am NOT a saleswoman. I'm a minimalist (often in my writing, as well) and unless I think a product is absolutely necessary, I will tell a consumer they probably don't need it. Good thing I believe in COFFEE, COMMUNITY, JUSTICE. Drinking Coffee and Doing Good is something I can get behind as a consumer, a saleswoman, a marketer, and a writer.

Until next post, I'll be drinking coffee, doing good, and writing about it!

These past couple of weeks have been extremely busy. My boss is letting me "lean into" my writing interests more, and I recently submitted a proposal that will allow me to be Website Manager. In addition to editing and posting Jonathan's blog (my boss's), I am now in charge of generating new content for our website, writing and editing the coffee house blog, writing feature articles, editing our entire site for consistency, and redesigning the site for easier navigability.

Challenges I have faced in my internship include acquiring a command of marketing principles and understanding financial components. For example, I recently edited the business plan (which I also wrote) to incorporate financial information geared toward potential investors. As a writer and musician, I have always had difficulty grasping financial concepts, especially when they involve multiplication and long division! To properly communicate the information, I've had to learn jargon (even simple stuff like P&L--profit and loss).

I've also been challenged to consider my audience from a marketing perspective. What type of communication will inspire people to get involved in social justice, in buying coffee, in reading more? My undergraduate emphasis was in creative writing, so writing contracts, letters, marketing pieces, business plans--blogs, even!--is slightly different contextually. On the plus side, I have a greater readership now!

Land of a Thousand Hills Coffee [intern]

Hi Dr. Walters. Let me introduce myself. I'm Jessica.

I've actually worked at my intern company, Land of a Thousand Hills Coffee, for six months. My official title is Creative Projects Coordinator which means I am involved in writing, editing, media, and all other creative services. Everyday I get to combine my love of writing with my passion for promoting social justice and sustainability in Rwanda. To tell you about my company, I'll use a blurb I recently wrote for the back of our employee business cards:


"What if the coffee you drink could make a difference? It can.

At Land of a Thousand Hills™, we are passionate about excellence in coffee, pursuing social justice, and cultivating a third place community. In a post-genocide nation, Rwandan coffee communities are becoming a vibrant picture of opportunity and sustainability.

We invite you to Drink Coffee and Do Good."


Although the face of our company is a cozy coffee house in Roswell, the wholesales and office team have the privilege of working on sustainable projects in Rwanda. For example, Sustainable Cycle, our microfinance program, makes bikes available to coffee growers in Rwanda. Inyakurama offers microfinance loans for widows to become entrepreneurs. My latest project is using my Teaching Writing class (with Dr. Odom) to design a comic book writing course in the village of Bukonya, Rwanda.

I mainly edit and update our website, blogs, facebook groups, and twitter; write purchasing contracts, letters, and business plans; revise marketing material; write the stories of entrepreneurs and coffee farmers; and work closely with my boss (the founder/owner) in brainstorming new ideas. Another recent project of mine was writing and compiling material for a short video slideshow.

My past writing gigs include being an editorial assistant at The Oxford American Magazine, tutoring at a writing center, and freelancing magazine articles. I used to think that being a writer meant swearing off "business," but I'm quickly learning not all business writing is technical and good writing products are a necessity for every company. I'm also learning about marketing, excellent coffee, social responsibility, and Africa.

Stay tuned for more posts on my specific writing projects.