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Things are definitely changing, and a lot of these formerly local 
companies have national aspirations. I don't get it - we all 
collectively decided it was a BAD thing for coffee quality ... I mean 
all the big names WERE local companies, Hills Bros, Maxwell House etc 
etc. before they became supermarket dreck. I don't care if you roast 
regionally. As you start to reach out further and further your 
quality is compromised. Incrementally, the things you can do on a 
small scale become impossible on a larger scale. I still cast a wary 
eye on the moment that Intelli changed their coffee from farm name to 
their own origin "brand" name, i.e. Los Inmortales etc. There is no 
Los Inmortales farm. I trust that they are not on a slippery slope, 
but then again that is something you judge day to day, cup to cup, 
checking on quality and freshness, and I am in no opinion to do that 
with any of these growing roasters: stumptown, counter culture , 
intelligentsia, etc. I will say that with the focus on these few, 
there are a lot of new energetic roasters that have come along, many 
started by baristas-turned-roasters!
-- 
-Tom
"Great coffee comes from little roasters" - Sweet Maria's Home Coffee Roasting
               Thompson & Maria -http://www.sweetmarias.com     Sweet Maria's Coffee - 1115 21st Street, Oakland, CA 94607 - USA
             phone/fax: 888 876 5917 - info_at_sweetmarias.com
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I believe that the core problem is that is only so much top tier coffee 
available.  A roaster has two basic choices:  1. Stay smaller and buy the 
best or 2. Get large and use lower quality beans.  If a larger roaster like 
the mermaid wanted to roast top quality beans, they certainly have the 
knowledge and technical ability to do so, but they could not source enough 
top quality beans to meet their needs.  Plus with a central roastery 
servicing the world, they cannot have the necessary freshness.
Many of the top lots that Tom gets for us are tiny and would have no effect 
on a large scale roast operation.
Maybe as demand for top quality increases, and appropriate prices paid, more 
farms and co-ops will begin to increase their average quality.
Mike Chester