Arcade Fire singer backs Haiti coffee project

A Kerry man has played a key role in convincing the lead singer of rock band Arcade Fire to support a new charity coffee for Haiti.

Conor Murphy, who works with speciality coffee roasters La Colombe Torrefaction, has persuaded Win Butler to back a new brand of coffee called RaRa. Mr Murphy got to know the singer while he was working in Haiti for six years on business and humanitarian projects.

The coffee, from Haiti’s Baptiste region, is being sold by La Colombe, with profits going directly to the Haiti Coffee Academy and Partners in Health, a non-profit healthcare provider.

Mr Murphy said he first met Arcade Fire, named by the Telegraph this year as the best live band in the world, while in Haiti as its members had many connections with the country. The parents of Arcade Fire founding member Régine Chassagne were born there and the band supports various humanitarian projects there.

Showcase

“I’d met the band a few times over the years,” Mr Murphy said. “When we met in September 2013 I said in passing would they be interested in supporting a product that would showcase Haiti.

Wim Butler

is very interested in coffee and they said they would love to do something.”

Mr Murphy said RaRa coffee was going to be officially launched in February but was already being pre-sold by La Colombe, which was founded by coffee entrepreneurs Todd Carmichael and Jean Philippe Iberti.

“From the outset Todd and Jean were both really behind this and let me go with it,” Mr Murphy said. “This is a super-high-quality coffee that has a very special taste.”

Mr Butler said in an online post that: “Being in the mountains of Haiti, it is hard not to think about coffee. The elevation, the sunshine, the soil, and incredible people, who have been growing the plant on tiny family plots for centuries. Haiti is buzzing with potential and possibility, and coffee can be an important part of its rebirth!”