New kind of assistance for military families brewing in Maine

GREENE – Forget caffeine, aroma and taste. A local company has found a new way to make coffee more enticing: Give it a patriotic kick.

Catherine and John Salterio of Minot-based Consolidated Services, and Dan Boudreau, a longtime coffee distribution rep, launched Honor Grounds LLC last year. Together, they are distributing Honor Grounds coffee to convenience stores and supermarkets, with money from the sales going to support the families of National Guard and Reserve soldiers. The patriotically packaged coffee will be rolled out this weekend in 175 Hannaford stores in Maine and New York.

It’s already at Landry’s Quick Stop on Route 202.

“We’re hoping to get the word out this weekend,” said Boudreau, as he shook one of the coffee canisters at Landry’s. The three Honor Ground flavors – Reveille Dark Roast, Five Star Joe and D-Day Decaf – stood out from the 13 New England Coffee canisters by their red-white-and-blue label and gold medal seal. Alongside the coffee bar were two neat rows of 10-ounce packages of Honor Grounds coffee.

“We didn’t intend for it to coincide with Memorial Day weekend, but then it made so much sense,” Landry said.

The idea came to him about two years ago, when he was attending a trade show in Orlando. A 20-year veteran of the Maine Army National Guard, Boudreau was chatting with some buyers for military bases.

The conversation made Boudreau wonder about ways he could give back to the Guard, an organization he deeply respects. He approached John Salterio, a food distribution consultant, whom Boudreau calls a great patriot. Together they came up with the idea of selling branded coffee and directing a portion of the profits to help military families.

“We’re hoping when people see Honor Grounds coffee, they’ll get a cup and from that, a little donation will be made to family assistance in their own state,” Boudreau said.

Ten cents from each cup sold at a convenience store and 50 cents from each bag sold through a supermarket chain will go to the fund. Fundraising kits are also being put together so groups such as Boy Scouts can sell the coffee as well, said Boudreau.

The money will be funneled to the Patriot Fund, a nonprofit charity that will disburse the donations to organizations within each state that aid Guard and Reserve families. Catherine Salterio, who set up the fund and the Honor Grounds Web site, said people can track the donations quarterly by clicking on www.honorgrounds.com.

In Maine, the National Guard Family Assistance Foundation will be among the recipients.

“It’s an opportunity to give back and to continue my service,” Boudreau said. “We’ll do this as long as people lend their support and have a desire to support their country.”

John Salterio said the response within the business community has been phenomenal. When he and Boudreau approached retailers and distributors, they found very willing partners. Hannaford even waived the $20,000 stocking fee it usually charges for display of new items.

“They’ve been great to deal with,” said Boudreau, noting Hannaford’s affiliates, Sweet Bay and Food Lion stores, are expected to carry Honor Grounds as well. The bags retail at about $5 each.

Besides Hannaford’s, Honor Grounds is in roughly 70 convenience stores throughout the state, with Dead River due to come on board in July. Boudreau said Dead River alone sells about a million cups of coffee a year.

He added that one of the nicest things about the program is the short biographies of military personnel on the back of each bag of coffee.

“They often don’t think of themselves as heroes, but they’re heroes in our eyes,” Catherine Salterio said. She encouraged families of soldiers to register their stories for future package bios on the Honor Grounds Web site.

The coffee is 100 percent roasted Arabica beans, a high-quality grind backed by Boudreau and Salterio. They’re hoping if the program takes off, they can get other kinds of distributors, such as soda, to consider joining them.

Even without the boost, though, they are hoping Americans’ love of coffee and its troops means Honor Grounds will raise $50,000 in each state. Besides Maine, it’s available in New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, Massachusetts, Iowa, Minnesota and Kentucky.

“There’s lots of things the Veterans Administration can’t do,” Boudreau said. “If Dad’s been deployed to Iraq and the washer and dryer break down, Mom can get help from the family assistance program.”

And that makes all three of the program’s founders glad.

“If it takes off, I think that means Honor Grounds is blessed,” John Salterio said. “And meant to be bigger.”