Peter Giuliano To Lead Black Gold Discussion at Faces of Democracy Film Festival

Pioneer of sustainable, high-quality coffee to lend progressive industry perspective

Durham, NC (December 1, 2006) – Counter Culture Coffee today announced that Co-owner and Director of Coffee Peter Giuliano will introduce a special screening of the 2005 documentary Black Gold at 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, December 10, 2006, at the Faces of Democracy Carnegie Mellon International Film Festival in Pittsburgh, PA.  Following the screening, Peter will give a presentation about his firsthand experience with coffee origins and the movement to make the coffee trade more fair, direct, and sustainable.   After his presentation, he will take questions from the audience regarding Fair Trade and related themes from the film.

Peter Giuliano has been working in coffee since 1987 in capacities ranging from barista and retail manager to roastmaster.  Now, as Co-owner and Director of Coffee for Counter Culture Coffee, his primary role is green coffee buyer, working directly with coffee farmers, millers, and others along the supply chain to deliver both very high-quality coffee to consumers and greater, industry-leading payments to farmers.  He has been involved in the Fair Trade movement since the late 1990s, and Counter Culture was the first Certified Organic coffee roaster in North Carolina.

“It’s an honor to be a part of such a meaningful, forward-thinking event devoted to a better understanding of the diversity of democracy around the world,” said Giuliano.  “Black Gold is an important film that rightly criticizes some of the fundamentally unsustainable aspects of the global coffee business.  Furthermore, it sparks valuable discourse about how we can work together at every stage of the supply chain to improve the coffee trade.”

Peter has developed close, personal relationships with coffee farmers throughout the world in regions including Latin America, Indonesia and Africa.  He has travelled extensively in Ethiopia, as well as Kenya, Rwanda, Nicaragua, Mexico, Costa Rica, Honduras, El Salvador, Colombia, Bolivia, Peru, Java and Sumatra, working directly with farmers to produce great coffee and help create a fair and sustainable market chain.  Peter also sits on the board of directors of the Specialty Coffee Association of America, and is a past president of the Roasters Guild.

In the Pittsburgh metro area, Counter Culture Coffee can be found at Blue Horse Coffee, Margaret’s Fine Imports, Karma on Eighth, Forest Hills Coffee Company, Mojo Bistro, and Whole Foods Market.

Founded in 1995, Durham, NC-based Counter Culture Coffee pursues excellence in coffee with a consuming passion.  The company specializes in roasting premium specialty coffees for high-end restaurants, gourmet stores, coffee shops, groceries, and consumers with discerning tastes.  In March 2005, Counter Culture Coffee was named one of the top three boutique roasters in the United States by Food & Wine magazine, and was named ROAST magazine’s Roaster of the Year in November 2004.  For more information or to order coffee, visit www.counterculturecoffee.com.