Why is it important for your brand to celebrate Earth Month and how are you celebrating throughout the month?
Since 1995, Equator Coffees has been guided by a people and planet-first philosophy, and in 2011, solidified these values by becoming California’s first Certified B Corporation coffee roaster. Between our early adoption of the Fair Trade certification, Regenerative Organic Certified® coffee offerings, and carbon-footprint friendly Loring Smart Roast technology, we have plenty to celebrate. During Earth Month, we will publish our annual Impact Report, highlighting our industry and community contributions, and launch our seasonal spring blend, “Super Bloom”.
This year’s “Super Bloom” features three coffees: a fully-washed coffee from Sol y Café and fully-washed coffee from the Norandino cooperative, both in Peru, and a natural-process coffee from Ethiopia’s Guji Zone. Together, these coffees produce a fruity and floral brew with notes of strawberry shortcake, violet, and mandarin orange.
As with all of Equator’s seasonal blends, “Super Bloom” features a custom artist collaboration coffee bag and matching tumbler, created in partnership with Monica Garwood, as well as a 5% giveback on coffee and merchandise sales. This season’s beneficiary is Cooperative de Servicios Múltiples Sol & Café in Peru—our farm partner responsible for sourcing some of the blend’s beans—with funds supporting a year-long soil productivity assessment across 450 member-owned coffee parcels that will strengthen long-term farm health and sustainability. This is a particularly exciting “Super Bloom” for Equator, as our coffee importer partner, Sustainable Harvest, will be matching the funds from our giveback to double the donation.
What does your brand do to help create a healthier environment and to treat the planet more respectfully everyday?
Beyond producing organic, fair trade, and Regenerative Organic Certified® coffees, Equator uses Loring Smart Roast technology for all roasting. This single-burner, high-efficiency system enables consistent, high volume roasts with lower natural gas usage and emissions. With this system—which we introduced in 2007 and were one of the first roasters to adopt—Equator reduces energy output by 80% per batch compared to traditional drum roasters and has kept over 360,000lbs of CO2 out of the environment. Additionally, we have donated nearly 900lbs of upcycled coffee to ExtraFood, kept over 2,000 GrainPro bags out of landfills, and recycled nearly 10,000lbs of burlap bags.
What is one thing you wish everyone knew about organic? This can be something that is often misunderstood.
Many consumers have the misconception that the term “organic” only applies to the soil and farming process. Organic practices do not stop once the coffee leaves the farm; they follow the bean from the moment seeds are planted until the coffee reaches you. Organic integrity has to be protected throughout the entire supply chain—from the absence of synthetic pesticides, herbicides, and chemical fertilizers to shade-grown canopies to the processing, milling and drying to transport and storage. Once receiving the beans, Equator is rigorously audited against USDA certified organic standards annually by third-party reviewers. Auditors review our processes, documentation, and conduct traceability exercises to ensure compliance. We avoid cross-contamination when roasting organic beans and use appropriately labeled packaging. The resulting coffee is an organic brew that embodies an uncompromising commitment to care, with oversight that spans multiple continents and countless hands to find its way into your cup.
Why is it important for your brand to be organic?
Since they began roasting in a garage in Marin in the ‘90s, Equator Coffees’ co-founders Helen Russell and Brooke McDonnell have believed that coffee could be better in terms of quality, social, and environmental impact. At Equator, we are honored to be considered a leader in the environmentally-minded, artisanal coffee movement and set new industry standards. Thus, providing organic coffee has always been central to who we are. In 2022, we expanded upon our commitment to the environment and its people by partnering with Cooperativa de Servicios Múltiples Sacaclí to bring to market the first annual harvest of Regenerative Organic Certified® coffee ever commercially available and in doing so, committed to mitigating the effects of climate change and protecting the future of coffee, people, and our planet.
What does organic do to make the planet healthier?
Our Co-Founder and Executive Chair, Helen Russell, has always been a proponent of certifications that guide Equator Coffees on a path towards a sustainable and equitable coffee value chain. Our company has a multi decade-long commitment to directly sourced, organic, and fair-trade coffees, and took the logical next step to introduce Regenerative Organic Certified® coffee in partnership with Nicaraguan farm co-op, Cooperativa de Servicios Múltiples Sacaclí. Regenerative organic farming focuses on three pillars that are essential in restoring and preserving our planet for future generations: land management, animal welfare, and farmer and worker fairness.
Most consumers are unaware that climate change disproportionately affects tropical and subtropical regions where coffee is grown; 50% of global land area suitable for coffee production could be lost by 2050 due to climate change, 60% of coffee species are considered to be at a high risk of extinction, and 25 million smallholder coffee growers are at risk of losing their primary source of income due to declining coffee yields. It is crucial—now, more than ever—that coffee growers and roasters adopt ROC® practices so that our industry can thrive for decades to come. Helen Russell shares, “As a business owner I feel a responsibility to every one of our stakeholders to ensure that our business has a positive impact on the world. We must act now to ensure the future of coffee and all agriculture. Holistic solutions like ROC® practices are vital to preserving our planet and the farms of our coffee growing partners.”
How can consumers celebrate Earth Month?
We encourage consumers to celebrate Earth Month by making responsible choices and prioritizing purchases that are local, organic, and sustainable. There is no act too small to support our planet, from bringing your own mug to your local coffee shop to to composting at home. It all makes a difference! We encourage consumers to give back to organizations that support environmentally and socially responsible initiatives within their own communities. And of course, we would love to see regulars and first-time guests visit our cafés and enjoy Equator coffee at home!
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