March is B Corp Month! We're celebrating by highlighting one of the benefits we love most about being a B Corp: the community of businesses we are so grateful to be a part of! Ever since first becoming a B Corp in 2016, we have enjoyed collaborating with other like-minded businesses on fun products and projects.
Our list of B Corp collaborations includes:
New Seasons Market
Brooks Winery
New Seasons Market
Next Generation Roast
Did you know that New Seasons was the first grocery store in the world to achieve B Corporation certification? In addition to being a progressive employer, New Seasons has an overarching commitment to reduce food and packaging waste; support local food economy; champion diversity and inclusion allyship; and actively give back to the community. 10% of New Season’s after-tax profits go to more than 1,000 local organizations committed to eliminating hunger, promoting environmental conservation, and supporting PreK - 12 schools.
In 2018 Nossa Familia proudly introduced the Next Generation Roast, a special Partner Brand coffee with New Seasons Market. We teamed up to purchase a special lot of 2500 pounds from Young Farmers in Guatemala, their first harvest as a group. The Next Generation Roast is available exclusively at New Seasons Market stores. $1.00 from each bag of coffee sold - $0.50 each contributed by New Seasons and Nossa Familia goes to the De la Gente Young Farmers Fund in Guatemala. This fund provides a sustainable micro-loan program so that young coffee farmers can have access to ongoing education, and the means to purchase land and equipment at interest rates far below the Guatemalan market average.
Back to ListBrooks Winery
Beyond Brooks
Established in 1998, Brooks is the living legacy of Jimi Brooks, a charismatic vinter who devoted his life to holistic farming and winemaking. A Demeter certified biodynamic winery, Brooks is known for producing world-class Pinot Noir and Riesling in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. In January of 2021, Real Leaders ranked them one of the world’s top 150 impact companies, one of only two wineries to be included on the list. In addition to being a Certified B Corporation, they also commit to 1% For The Planet, giving back 1% of their gross revenue to an environmental focused not for profit.
In March of 2021, celebrating B Corp Month, Nossa Familia was honored to be selected by Brooks as a guest speaker in the Beyond Brooks event series, a collaboration with artisan producers to bring intriguing, inspirational and educational experience to Brooks’ community. Through this collaboration we were delighted to discover a new kinship. What could’ve easily been a discussion entirely focused on comparing and contrasting the aromatic wheels of coffee and wine quickly became a deeper conversation recognizing the many similarities between Brooks and Nossa Familia – two companies with strong ties to family history, the land, community, and our values as B Corporations.
Back to ListGrand Central Bakery
Locally owned and operated, Grand Central is the first Pacific Northwest bakery to become a Certified B Corporation. Their “recipe for making a difference” includes: 59% of their purchases coming from local, independent businesses; offering all of their employees (currently over 380) 8 hours of paid community service per year; and partnering with local nonprofits working on environmental issues, immigrant rights and workplace equality. They are also leaders in food waste reduction. In February of 2020 they reported that all 12 of their cafes between Seattle and Portland were closing in on Zero Waste. At that time they were diverting 85% of waste produced at their cafes from landfills.
Grand Central has been an exceptional ambassador of Nossa Familia coffee. Their staff has joined us on our coffee origin trips to Guatemala, and from firsthand experiences meeting our coffee farmers, gained deeper connections and appreciation for the coffee they offer in Grand Central’s cafes. In addition to serving Nossa Familia coffee, during the holidays Grand Central cafes sold bags of our Festa Holiday Blend with 50¢ of every bag purchased supporting the De la Gente Young Farmers Fund. Grand Central has also partnered with Nossa Familia on fun and creative projects like offering a shortbread cookie made with our ground coffee baked in and co-hosting latte art competitions.
A to Z Wineworks & REX HILL
Barrel-Aged REX HILL Pinot Noir Coffee
We were first introduced to A to Z Wineworks and their sister company, REX HILL, soon after becoming a B Corp in 2016. The winery was founded in 2002 by a group of Oregon wine industry veterans and based in Oregon’s beautiful Willamette Valley. They are known for offering dependable, excellent quality wines at a good value. They also have a deep commitment to taking care of the land through responsible viticultural practices.
We have become good friends with the folks at A to Z, and they have welcomed our team in to tour their facility and participate in tastings with them several times. A few years ago we got to talking, and had the idea to condition raw, green coffee beans in A to Z’s Oregon pinot noir wine barrels. A new coffee was born: the Barrel-Aged REX HILL Pinot Noir coffee. This roast is available occasionally on a limited basis through Nossa Familia and at REX HILL’s tasting room in Newberg.
Back to ListHopworks Urban Brewery
Survival Stout & Other Special Release Beers
We've enjoyed drinking local, sustainable Hopworks beers for a long time, and were thrilled to officially start working together on collaborative products and projects in 2016. Our first collaboration with Hopworks was a hard cider infused with cascara — the skin of coffee cherries that is typically a waste byproduct from coffee production. Soon after, Hopworks began using Nossa Familia's Certified Organic coffee beans in their Survival Stout, as well as serving Nossa coffee on drip at their pubs. In 2018, we also collaborated on an exclusive beer sold at New Seasons Market stores: the Next Generation Coffee Porter. The porter included our Next Generation Roast coffee from young Guatemalan coffee farmers, brewed with oats for a creamy texture. We love working with Hopworks for their shared values around sustainability, supporting local cycling causes, and commitment to producing a delicious product. And, of course, great beer!
Back to List
Looptworks
Upcycled Coffee Sack Products for KEEN
& Looptwork's Cafe Collection
Looptworks is a unique company with a story and purpose like no other! Founded in 2009 by apparel industry veteran Scott Hamlin, Looptworks’ goal is to use excess materials to make create new products. They are pioneers in zero waste fashion and consumer goods, working to close the loop on a path to a circular economy.
We first started collaborating with Looptworks with the Upcycle Coffee Travel Kit (no longer available), which was an upcycled leather handle bar bag featuring brewing supplies and a bag of our Full Cycle coffee. In 2019 we were excited to work with Looptworks again through our friends & partners at KEEN on a line of upcycled products made from Guatemalan coffee sacks from the New Denim Project. Learn more about the KEEN Harvest Collection with Nossa Familia coffee sacks, now made in Portland by Looptworks.
In 2021 Nossa Familia and Looptworks collaborated again on a new line of travel bags, The Cafe Collection, by Looptworks.
Learn more about Looptworks Cafe Collection currently available online.
GloryBee Honey
The Bee Sting Latte
We love honey, and we love honey even more when it supports a good mission! GloryBee is a family business operating since 1975 in Eugene, Oregon, with the mission of bringing natural, healthy ingredients to people in an ethical way. The created a SAVE the BEE Initiative to help with protecting honey bee health by increasing awareness and education on the importance of bees, and funding scientific research on protecting bee colonies.
We are proud to feature GloryBee Honey products at our cafés, especially in one of our signature drinks: the Bee Sting Latte. This drink was invented by one of our baristas a few years ago and has become a beloved staple in all of our cafes since. It’s a honey & spice latte made with GloryBee honey and a warming blend of spices, including cardamom, cinnamon, and cayenne.
Back to List Fully & The Joinery
Jarvis Standing Desks at our Seven Corners Café
When we first started designing our Seven Corners Café located at SE 20th & Division in Portland, we knew this café was going to be different. The café itself is located in the ground floor of the Seven Corners Collaborative, a building that serves as a hub for several nonprofits working to provide essential services to folks in our community experiencing disability. With that in mind, we wanted to create a café space that recognized the physical realities and needs of our future customer base. This required thinking outside of the box of traditional café style furniture, with something more flexible in mind.
We rang up our friends at Fully, a Portland-based B Corp office furniture company, to ask about adding a couple of their Jarvis Standing Desks to our space. We called on another B Corp, The Joinery, to create the beautiful Oregon White Oak wood tops for the desks to fit the aesthetic of the café. We couldn’t be happier with the result, and now our customers get to enjoy these desks everyday in the café!
This blog post is an update to our March 21, 2020 article, Five B Corp Collabs We Love, by Karen Lickteig
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