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Introducing the Bee Bold Alliance
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Bee Bold Alliance
A Regenerative Network for Pollinator Protection
Right now, bees are dying worldwide at an alarming rate. Why should you care? Because bees and other pollinators are an essential link in the food chain—our food chain.
The Bee Bold Alliance is a movement to help people attract and sustain pollinators in their home gardens, and at their place of work through habitat restoration and creation.
The Bee Bold Alliance blog will share stories that follow both the root causes for the disappearance of the bees and why it is so important to listen to the pollinators. Join us as we explore the diversity and abundance of our Pollinators of the world.
The Four Areas of Focus:
Culture: How Beauty, Art, and Intention Influence our Ecology
Provisions: The Power of Food & Herbal Medicine for Global Health
Regulation: Regenerative Systems for Ecological Solutions
Support: Soil and Water Health, and Traditional Place-based Knowledge of Native People
In these stories we tell how to collaborate with our Bee Bold Partners for the greater good of all. We will look into how we learn from our mistakes and utilize all of the tools available to us to solve the problem of our disappearing pollinators and the huge impact this has on our ecology.
As a Certified B Corp Thanksgiving Coffee Company is prepared to lead the way for Pollinator Protection in our community and beyond.
The Main Objective
The Bee Bold Alliance is about helping people learn how to attract and sustain pollinators in their home gardens & at their place of work through habitat restoration and creation.
However we will not stop there, we are going to look deeper into the root cause of the disappearance of pollinators and discover modern solutions, that perhaps have previously been overlooked.
To find examples of a sustainable relationship with the earth, we will look to a regenerative ecology network that includes Traditional Ecology Knowledge (TEK). Incorporating the Indigenous place based wisdom gathered from around the world by those who develop and maintain a deep and ancestral connection to the land.
Each One Of Us Carries A Piece Within, It Is Up To Us To Find It, And Use It For The Greater Good.
You too, are part of this solution, and I thank you for being here. Your support on this collaborative project is essential. Your participation will allow us to move forward for a bountiful future for all. If you are coffee drinker, make your coffee our Bee Bold Coffee and support pollinator protection in your local region every morning.
The Beginning
The Bee Bold Alliance came into focus in 2018, just after receiving a loud and clear message that it was “my time” be a steward of this land. Shortly after I received this message, Thanksgiving Coffee Company invited me to relaunch the Bee Bold project.
In revitalizing this campaign, what was once Bee Bold Mendocimo became the Bee Bold Alliance for Pollinator Protectors. The more I learned about my role in leading this campaign, the less I truly know. For example, now I understand it is not about being a “steward”, one who watches over the land, but more importantly one who actively gives to the land before one takes. To be full of gratitude for all we are given. To move through each day with honor and respect for the Earth that gives us every little thing that we need.
The Bee Bold Alliance is a reminder that you can give to the land you live on, to the land you do your business is on, and to the community you are part of. The vision is to build native food forest with Native People, with the seed savers, and to support the health of our new generations. The Bee Bold Alliance is about honoring the original care givers of these lands, and protecting the pollinators who allow us to grow the seeds of real food to nourish our bodies and our hearts.
As we develop this full spectrum ecology system for pollinator protection, we must include the practices of cultural ecology.
- Learn from the wisdom of our elders who remember and hold these stories of how we can adapt to our changing world.
- Revitalise the rich lineage of community song & dance as an important piece of the creation processes in our food system
- Remember and recreate connection to the spirit of life through our culture,
- How is sound health for our ecology manifested?
The Earth is full of abundance, the gifts of life are all around us, and all that we need to survive comes from this great planet Earth. How do we learn to live in harmony with the Earth and all its inhabitants? This is what I want to know, and I will take you through this journey of learning, as we travel many roads and look at many different tools that can be utilized in this work of rebalance, harmony, well being and sound health.
Here we are at the beginning of an emerging network for mutual support of our pollinator protectors: it will grow as we build it. Our World is as resilient as we make it. Let us find this new form of global coherence with the aid of one another. I hope you will join us on this journey. Become a pollinator protector with the growing Bee Bold Alliance here.
Follow the Evolution of the Bee Bold Alliance
2015: The 1st Bee Bold Advisory Committee
2016: Our 1st Bee Bold Event
2016: Fort Bragg becomes 1st Bee City USA in CA
2020: Introducing the Bee Bold Alliance
2020: The Way of the Bee Bold Alliance
2021: 4th World Bee Day
2021: Live Feed- World Bee Day
2022: Expanding Our Story of a Growning Alliance
2023: Native Cinema 2023- Groundworks
Lavender Grace is the Sustainable Consultant for Thanksgiving Coffee Company
I want to thank the many wonderful advisors who have informed this work
Recommended Reading
Back to the Blog-
The Regenerative Connection: How Bees and Coffee Create Sustainable Ecosystems
For over half a century, Thanksgiving Coffee Company has been more than just a coffee roaster. We are storytellers, dreamers, and guardians of the delicate web of life that connects us all, witnessing the intricate dance between human intention and nature's resilience.
Imagine a single bee, wings humming against the morning light, moving from flower to flower. This tiny creature carries more than pollen—it carries the future of our food systems, our ecosystems, our very survival.
Our Bee Bold Coffee is born from a simple yet profound understanding: every living thing is interconnected, and our choices in regenerative coffee cultivation matter deeply to our planet's health.
Bee on coffee flowers
The Dance of Survival
The story of our planet's pollinators is a complex narrative of challenge and hope. We know that Bee populations are declining, native species are disappearing, and our food systems exist in a precarious balance. These are not statistics—they are a call to action, an invitation to reimagine our relationship with our natural world.
At Thanksgiving Coffee Company, we've learned that meaningful change requires more than good intentions. It demands commitment, innovation, and a willingness to work alongside nature's own wisdom. The Bee Bold Alliance embodies our most thoughtful commitment to this challenge—a holistic approach that weaves together traditional ecological knowledge, innovative research, community-driven insight, and technologies that listen to the earth.
Local Pomo and Native Tribes gathered in traditional regalia dancing for the forest and the health of Mother Earth.
Left to Right: Planting pollinator garden in Westport, Making Pollinator Seed Balls, Bee RYL Production Team filming Forest Grandmothers on Coyote Valley Pomo Reservation . Learn More
Rolling Up Our Sleeves
Our mission goes far beyond a simple cup of coffee. We know that talking isn't enough. So we're doing the work—connecting with farmers, supporting indigenous communities, and building real solutions from the ground up. The Bee Bold Alliance is our commitment to practical, meaningful change. We are actively:
- Supporting regenerative agriculture
- Amplifying traditional ecological knowledge
- Investing in youth environmental education
- Creating tangible pathways for ecosystem restoration
We are learning by doing and we are growing our understanding as we collaborate for community wellbeing. So many of us have forgotten what it means to be in community, working together. This network is exactly about that - the evolution of growing healthy together.
Flower full of Pollinators
Ripe Heirloom Apples from Paul's Orchard on Thanksgiving Coffee Company's 3 acre Polliantor Protected Zone
Your Morning Ritual, Planetary Impact
Becoming a Pollinator Protector isn't complicated. We offer some simple choices: choosing Bee Bold Coffee, planting flowers that welcome bees, learning about local ecosystems, and sharing a story of hope. Each of us has the power to create change, to nurture the intricate connections that sustain life on our planet.
"What I absolutely LOVE is that it's actually doing something good for the planet. I appreciate companies that are in it for more than just profit!" - Lester, Coffee Lover from Ohio
Small Actions, Big Changes
Want to become a Pollinator Protector? Here's how:
- Choose Bee Bold Coffee
- Plant bee-friendly flowers in your garden
- Learn about local ecosystems
- Share the story - Let us know how your garden changes once the bees know they are welcomed.
Let's Brew Change Together
With every cup, we're cultivating resilience. We're reimagining what's possible when communities, farmers, and nature work in harmony. This is more than coffee—it's a living, breathing movement of hope.
Your choice matters. Your morning brew becomes a catalyst for transformation.
Are you ready to grow something extraordinary?
Thanksgiving Coffee Company - Not Just A Cup, But A Just Cup!
Lavender Grace is the Sustainable Consultant for Thanksgiving Coffee Company.
Bee Bold AllianceBrewing Hope: A Story of Bees, Coffee, and Connection
read more -
Beyond The Bean: Buzzing with Biodiversity
Your morning coffee can be more than just a boost—it can drive positive change. With our Smithsonian Bird Friendly® certification and our Bee Bold Alliance initiative, we're turning your daily coffee ritual into a force for good. Here's how we're making waves in the world of sustainable agriculture while serving up exceptional coffee.
Butterfly on coffee leaf, Soppexxcca Coop, Nicaragua
Cultivating Natural Ecosystems
Our coffee farming goes beyond conventional methods. We nurture complete ecosystems where coffee plants thrive alongside native flora and fauna. A single coffee tree can support over 100 insect species, enhancing biodiversity on our farms.
coffee beans ripening in the understory of the forest canopy
Our Environmental Commitments
Our commitment to biodiversity is reflected in two key initiatives:
AT ORIGIN
Smithsonian Bird Friendly ® Certification: This certification is literally the environmental gold standard in the sustainable coffee industry. As holders of the Smithsonian Bird Friendly® certification since 2015, we adhere to the most comprehensive, science-based standards in the coffee industry. This certification requires:
- Multiple layers of native tree canopy providing crucial wildlife habitat
- USDA Organic certification as a foundation, ensuring chemical-free farming
- Regular third-party inspections verifying our environmental impact
- Documented support of migratory birds and local biodiversity
Did you know? A single coffee tree on a certified farm can support over 100 distinct insect species!
AT HOME
The Bee Bold Alliance: This is our initiative to restore biodiversity and support local food security through pollinator protection. The vision is to create a regenerative ecology network in our community for comprehensive pollinator protection. Here are the key principles guiding our path forward:
- Protecting the Soil: We're working toward eliminating harmful pesticides, fungicides, and herbicides from our farming practices. This transition aims to create healthier environments for pollinators while maintaining productive coffee cultivation.
- Watershed Stewardship: Our growing commitment includes developing better water conservation practices, reducing fertilizer usage, and implementing responsible waste management systems.
- Fostering Pollinator Forage: We're exploring ways to integrate more flowering plants throughout our local farms, aiming to provide year-round nutrition that supports healthy pollinator populations.
- Honoring Indigenous Wisdom: We're beginning to build relationships with Native/First Nation peoples in our growing regions, seeking to learn from their traditional knowledge and collaborate on sustainable solutions for the future.
We're reaching out to neighboring farms and communities, inviting them to join us in protecting pollinators. This initiative is beginning to form, and we believe that together, we can create meaningful change.
The Impact of Your Coffee Choice
We believe in the power of collective action. Here are ways you can participate in this journey:
-
Choose coffee that aligns with your environmental values
-
Cultivate native wildflowers in your garden or community spaces
-
Consider natural pest management practices
-
Create undisturbed areas in your garden to provide natural habitats
-
Learn about pollinator-friendly plants suitable for your local ecosystem
Moving Forward Together
We're at an exciting point in our environmental journey, where your choice of coffee can help shape future agricultural practices. Our Bird Friendly® certified coffee demonstrates our established commitment to environmental stewardship, while our developing Bee Bold Coffee initiative shows where we're heading. By choosing these products, you're not just selecting quality coffee—you're supporting the evolution of sustainable and pollinator-friendly agriculture.
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Join us on this journey toward biodiversity conservation through sustainable agriculture. Your support through choosing our Bird Friendly® certified coffee and Bee Bold Coffee helps create positive environmental change, one cup at a time.
Lavender Grace is the Sustainable Ecology Consultant for Thanksgiving Coffee Company
biodiversityBeyond The Bean: Buzzing with Biodiversity
read more -
The Cupping Lab Revolution: How Thanksgiving Coffee Changed Coffee Forever
Cupping Coffee , Nicaragua
It began with a journey to Nicaragua in the 1980s. Paul Katzeff, a former social worker and co-founder of Thanksgiving Coffee, traveled to listen to the farmers. Paul had the tools and vision to create a new way forward for the coffee world.
In those war-torn hills, Paul came face to face with the quiet strength of farmers who had survived conflict, drought, and poverty. What he discovered would transform his understanding of coffee forever.
What Paul saw was that coffee could be more than just a product. It could become a tool for restoring dignity, building solidarity, and giving voice to those who had been left out of their own story.
Nicaruaguan Coffee Farmers coming home, photo by Paul Katzeff
Coffee as a Bridge Between Worlds
Paul's 1985 trip to Nicaragua occurred during the U.S.-backed Contra War—a time of immense hardship and tension. What he witnessed moved him deeply: farmers cultivating resilience amid unimaginable challenges. Meeting with PRODECOOP, one of the earliest farmer cooperatives, he understood that meaningful change would require more than charity. It would take genuine partnership.
This experience birthed a vision for direct trade built on empathy and transparency. Paul saw coffee as more than a commodity—he saw it as a bridge connecting people across borders, across struggles, and across systems built to exclude the voices of those who grow the coffee we love.
Coffee Processing Nicaragua
Preparing coffee to dry - Nicaragua
Roasting coffee in traditional oven at the Lopado Farm, Nicaragua, photo by Paul Katzeff
Grinding coffee in traditional outdoor style, photo by Paul Katzeff
A Revolution Born from Relationship
Years later, in 2001, Paul's vision took physical form when Thanksgiving Coffee helped create the world's first farmer-owned cupping labs. It started with a simple question:
What if those who grow the coffee were also the ones to taste it first?
That question sparked a revolution—and in partnership with our co-ops like UCA MIRAFLOR and CECOCAFEN, it redefined not just how coffee is evaluated, but who gets to define its value.
This work began with trust.
When Thanksgiving Coffee first partnered with these cooperatives, they were communities rising from hardship with their own vision. Families were replanting forests, rebuilding homes, and forming cooperatives that prioritized not only trade, but democracy, biodiversity, and food sovereignty.
Frank Lanzas Family
Fernandito Family
Fernando Beneficio
Maria Elena
As field researcher Christopher Bacon wrote:
"This is a story of reconstruction and resistance... of families working together to regenerate their communities, reclaim the land, and build new institutions of democratic governance."
In these post-war communities, farmers didn't just return to the land—they reimagined its future. By placing cupping labs in their hands, Thanksgiving Coffee wasn't introducing a new tool—they were honoring a movement already in motion.
Redefining the Waves: How Cupping Labs Transformed Coffee Culture
The history of specialty coffee is often described in "waves." The First Wave brought coffee to the masses. The Second Wave introduced espresso culture and coffee as an experience.
But it was the Third Wave—focused on origin, transparency, and craft—that truly began to value the farmer's role. And it was here that Thanksgiving Coffee's cupping labs created their most profound impact.
The Coffee Cuppers Manifesto, by Paul Katzeff 2001
"The $300,000 enabled 9 coops to build their labs and be trained as cuppers by me using SCAA scoring forms. It is one thing to have a lab but another thing to know how to use it. Training was essential. "
- Paul KatzeffIn 1999, when most coffee buyers still made quality decisions without farmer input, Thanksgiving Coffee proposed something radical: building professional cupping labs directly within producer cooperatives in Nicaragua. With a $300,000 USAID contract and decades of field experience, these labs were constructed in 2000, becoming the world's first farmer-owned and operated cupping facilities.
The innovation couldn't have been better timed. As Third Wave coffee culture was gaining momentum in the early 2000s with its focus on single-origin beans and transparent sourcing, these cupping labs equipped farmers to meet this new demand with unprecedented precision.
Suddenly, farmers could:
- Taste and analyze their own coffee before it left the farm
- Create detailed flavor profiles previously only done by importers
- Develop specific micro-lots for specialty markets
- Experiment with processing methods that enhanced quality
- Engage in price negotiations based on verifiable quality data
By 2001, the Cuppers Manifesto was born—a bilingual manual distributed to 10,000 Nicaraguan farmers and later shared with 8,000 producers in Colombia by the Colombian Coffee Federation.
Coffee Processing Nicaragua, photo by Paul Katzeff
From Third Wave to Fourth: Farmers as Flavor Artists
What began as a Third Wave innovation has evolved into something even more profound—what many now call the "Fourth Wave" of coffee, where farmers themselves have become recognized artists of flavor creation.
Today's most celebrated coffees often feature not just the region or farm name, but specific processing techniques developed and perfected by individual farmers—techniques like honey processing, extended fermentation, and anaerobic processing that create distinctive flavor profiles impossible to achieve through roasting alone.
This transition—from farmers as anonymous producers to farmers as named innovators—can be traced directly back to those first cupping labs. When farmers gained the ability to taste, evaluate, and experiment with their own coffee, they unleashed a wave of innovation that continues to transform the industry.
As Paul shared in a later interview:
"Coffee is about people. If you take care of the people, the coffee takes care of itself."
These labs didn't just reflect a shift in coffee culture—they helped create it. From these humble beginnings in rural Nicaragua grew the foundations of today's artisan coffee movement, where quality and value begin at the source and rise through shared craftsmanship.
UCA Miraflor Cooperative, 2023 Nicaragua
Hermanez Montenegro Family with drying coffee behind, photo by Paul Katzeff
A Legacy You Can Taste
SongBird Nicaraguan, Medium Roast
From UCA MIRAFLOR, this coffee represents the pinnacle of farmer-led quality development.
Bird Friendly certified, it supports both sustainable farming and migratory bird habitat.
Tasting Notes: Mango, nutty, chocolate
Miel de Cajamarca, Light Roast
From CENFROCAFE, Peru. Named for the honey-processing techniques refined in origin cupping labs.
This coffee showcases the artisan experimentation that defines Fourth Wave coffee.
Tasting Notes: Honey, papaya, milk chocolate
Join the Revolution in Your Cup
The Cupping Lab Revolution was more than the technology of tasting coffee. It was—and still is—about relationship, repair, and reclaiming the right to define what coffee can be.
Every cup of Thanksgiving Coffee connects you to this ongoing story of transformation—from Third Wave transparency to Fourth Wave farmer artisanship. It's an invitation to participate in a more equitable, relationship-based trade model that honors both the product and its producers.
It is about following a path with heart to let it guide you to be in good relationship with life and the world.
The Cupping Legacy continues - on the left, CEO Jonah Katzeff - on the right, Co-Founder and Board President Paul Katzeff of Thanksgiving Coffee Company
The Way
"The way to great coffee flavor is not direct.
The path must be traveled
with great care and attention.
The way becomes a path, the path a road,
and then, magically, the road becomes a highway
that leads to people who cultivate the land on which the coffee derives its special flavor.
How does one find the path? Through caring.
One does not search so much for the road that leads to the tree, as for the road that leads to the heart.
This is the secret."
Paul Katzeff
Co-founder, Thanksgiving Coffee Company
Lavender Grace is the Sustainability Consultant for Thanksgiving Coffee Company.
ArtisanCoffeeThe Cupping Lab Revolution: How Thanksgiving Coffee Changed Coffee Forever
read more -
What Is In Your Cup?
When you drink your coffee, you might want to know what goes into your cup, and if it is Thanksgiving Coffee, you might want to know why we became a certified B Corp. So let me tell you a little story about our coffee company and why we went through this rigorous process of certification.
When Thanksgiving Coffee Company began (now over 50 years ago) it was based on the co-owner Paul Katzeff's history as a social worker. The function of the coffee became a vehicle for social, environmental and economic justice in the world. In the 80's, during Paul's first momentus visit to the coffee farms of the war-torn country of Nicaragua, he created our motto "Not Just A Cup, But A Just Cup". This has been the intention behind every aspect of Thanksgiving Coffee's work. (If you ever get a chance, ask Paul to tell you the story of this first visit, it is quite something!) In the meantime you can read more on the revolution at Liberation News.
Coffee is one of the most widely consumed beverages the world over. It is an economic mainstay for dozens of countries and produced by 25 million small share holders. As a pioneer Thanksgiving Coffee Company has gone to these coffee-growing origins around the world to meet with the farmers, to support their organic farming cooperatives, to pay a living wage for the beans, and provide meaningful employment along the entire supply chain to help innovate and create sustainable ecology for over 5 decades.
Can you taste the difference? Will you be the difference?
When a business becomes a Certified B Corporation it means that they have undergone an extensive process to meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose... This was a perfect community for Thanksgiving Coffee to join, with thousands of conscious companies in 89 countries who do real work to make our world a better place for all.
B Corp is A Network to Build Collaboration and Work Toward a More Inclusive Economy
Nicaruguan farmers who spoke out for justice were a huge turning point in our company's history. The women led farmer cooperative of Soppexcca is part of this Nicaraguan legacy and the work we do as a B Corp. When you go to drink your next cup of coffee, take a moment and ask yourself, what is in your cup, really? Is it a "Just Cup"? How does it sustain the Earth? How does it treat our life sustaining waters? Does it support the humanity of all the hard-working farmers? Can you taste the difference? Will you be the difference?
Image: Natividad Lopez Garcia, Reina Isabel Quintero, and Flor Rodriguez, founding members of SOPPEXCCA’s women’s cooperative in Nicaragua.
To try Soppexcca’s Organic and Fair Trade coffee from Nicaragua you can either purchase the Flor de Jinotega or our Bee Bold Cause Coffee in Dark and Medium, which uses their coffee as the main bean in the blend.
SustainabilityA Just Cup? Our Story As A B Corp
read more

The Regenerative Connection: How Bees and Coffee Create Sustainable Ecosystems
For over half a century, Thanksgiving Coffee Company has been more than just a coffee roaster. We are storytellers, dreamers, and guardians of the delicate web of life that connects us all, witnessing the intricate dance between human intention and nature's resilience.
Imagine a single bee, wings humming against the morning light, moving from flower to flower. This tiny creature carries more than pollen—it carries the future of our food systems, our ecosystems, our very survival.
Our Bee Bold Coffee is born from a simple yet profound understanding: every living thing is interconnected, and our choices in regenerative coffee cultivation matter deeply to our planet's health.
Bee on coffee flowers
The Dance of Survival
The story of our planet's pollinators is a complex narrative of challenge and hope. We know that Bee populations are declining, native species are disappearing, and our food systems exist in a precarious balance. These are not statistics—they are a call to action, an invitation to reimagine our relationship with our natural world.
At Thanksgiving Coffee Company, we've learned that meaningful change requires more than good intentions. It demands commitment, innovation, and a willingness to work alongside nature's own wisdom. The Bee Bold Alliance embodies our most thoughtful commitment to this challenge—a holistic approach that weaves together traditional ecological knowledge, innovative research, community-driven insight, and technologies that listen to the earth.
Local Pomo and Native Tribes gathered in traditional regalia dancing for the forest and the health of Mother Earth.
Left to Right: Planting pollinator garden in Westport, Making Pollinator Seed Balls, Bee RYL Production Team filming Forest Grandmothers on Coyote Valley Pomo Reservation . Learn More
Rolling Up Our Sleeves
Our mission goes far beyond a simple cup of coffee. We know that talking isn't enough. So we're doing the work—connecting with farmers, supporting indigenous communities, and building real solutions from the ground up. The Bee Bold Alliance is our commitment to practical, meaningful change. We are actively:
- Supporting regenerative agriculture
- Amplifying traditional ecological knowledge
- Investing in youth environmental education
- Creating tangible pathways for ecosystem restoration
We are learning by doing and we are growing our understanding as we collaborate for community wellbeing. So many of us have forgotten what it means to be in community, working together. This network is exactly about that - the evolution of growing healthy together.
Flower full of Pollinators
Ripe Heirloom Apples from Paul's Orchard on Thanksgiving Coffee Company's 3 acre Polliantor Protected Zone
Your Morning Ritual, Planetary Impact
Becoming a Pollinator Protector isn't complicated. We offer some simple choices: choosing Bee Bold Coffee, planting flowers that welcome bees, learning about local ecosystems, and sharing a story of hope. Each of us has the power to create change, to nurture the intricate connections that sustain life on our planet.
"What I absolutely LOVE is that it's actually doing something good for the planet. I appreciate companies that are in it for more than just profit!" - Lester, Coffee Lover from Ohio
Small Actions, Big Changes
Want to become a Pollinator Protector? Here's how:
- Choose Bee Bold Coffee
- Plant bee-friendly flowers in your garden
- Learn about local ecosystems
- Share the story - Let us know how your garden changes once the bees know they are welcomed.
Let's Brew Change Together
With every cup, we're cultivating resilience. We're reimagining what's possible when communities, farmers, and nature work in harmony. This is more than coffee—it's a living, breathing movement of hope.
Your choice matters. Your morning brew becomes a catalyst for transformation.
Are you ready to grow something extraordinary?
Thanksgiving Coffee Company - Not Just A Cup, But A Just Cup!
Lavender Grace is the Sustainable Consultant for Thanksgiving Coffee Company.
Brewing Hope: A Story of Bees, Coffee, and Connection
read more
Beyond The Bean: Buzzing with Biodiversity
Your morning coffee can be more than just a boost—it can drive positive change. With our Smithsonian Bird Friendly® certification and our Bee Bold Alliance initiative, we're turning your daily coffee ritual into a force for good. Here's how we're making waves in the world of sustainable agriculture while serving up exceptional coffee.
Butterfly on coffee leaf, Soppexxcca Coop, Nicaragua
Cultivating Natural Ecosystems
Our coffee farming goes beyond conventional methods. We nurture complete ecosystems where coffee plants thrive alongside native flora and fauna. A single coffee tree can support over 100 insect species, enhancing biodiversity on our farms.
coffee beans ripening in the understory of the forest canopy
Our Environmental Commitments
Our commitment to biodiversity is reflected in two key initiatives:
AT ORIGIN
Smithsonian Bird Friendly ® Certification: This certification is literally the environmental gold standard in the sustainable coffee industry. As holders of the Smithsonian Bird Friendly® certification since 2015, we adhere to the most comprehensive, science-based standards in the coffee industry. This certification requires:
- Multiple layers of native tree canopy providing crucial wildlife habitat
- USDA Organic certification as a foundation, ensuring chemical-free farming
- Regular third-party inspections verifying our environmental impact
- Documented support of migratory birds and local biodiversity
Did you know? A single coffee tree on a certified farm can support over 100 distinct insect species!
AT HOME
The Bee Bold Alliance: This is our initiative to restore biodiversity and support local food security through pollinator protection. The vision is to create a regenerative ecology network in our community for comprehensive pollinator protection. Here are the key principles guiding our path forward:
- Protecting the Soil: We're working toward eliminating harmful pesticides, fungicides, and herbicides from our farming practices. This transition aims to create healthier environments for pollinators while maintaining productive coffee cultivation.
- Watershed Stewardship: Our growing commitment includes developing better water conservation practices, reducing fertilizer usage, and implementing responsible waste management systems.
- Fostering Pollinator Forage: We're exploring ways to integrate more flowering plants throughout our local farms, aiming to provide year-round nutrition that supports healthy pollinator populations.
- Honoring Indigenous Wisdom: We're beginning to build relationships with Native/First Nation peoples in our growing regions, seeking to learn from their traditional knowledge and collaborate on sustainable solutions for the future.
We're reaching out to neighboring farms and communities, inviting them to join us in protecting pollinators. This initiative is beginning to form, and we believe that together, we can create meaningful change.
The Impact of Your Coffee Choice
We believe in the power of collective action. Here are ways you can participate in this journey:
-
Choose coffee that aligns with your environmental values
-
Cultivate native wildflowers in your garden or community spaces
-
Consider natural pest management practices
-
Create undisturbed areas in your garden to provide natural habitats
-
Learn about pollinator-friendly plants suitable for your local ecosystem
Moving Forward Together
We're at an exciting point in our environmental journey, where your choice of coffee can help shape future agricultural practices. Our Bird Friendly® certified coffee demonstrates our established commitment to environmental stewardship, while our developing Bee Bold Coffee initiative shows where we're heading. By choosing these products, you're not just selecting quality coffee—you're supporting the evolution of sustainable and pollinator-friendly agriculture.
Join us on this journey toward biodiversity conservation through sustainable agriculture. Your support through choosing our Bird Friendly® certified coffee and Bee Bold Coffee helps create positive environmental change, one cup at a time.
Lavender Grace is the Sustainable Ecology Consultant for Thanksgiving Coffee Company
Beyond The Bean: Buzzing with Biodiversity
read more
Beyond The Bean: Buzzing with Biodiversity
Your morning coffee can be more than just a boost—it can drive positive change. With our Smithsonian Bird Friendly® certification and our Bee Bold Alliance initiative, we're turning your daily coffee ritual into a force for good. Here's how we're making waves in the world of sustainable agriculture while serving up exceptional coffee.
Butterfly on coffee leaf, Soppexxcca Coop, Nicaragua
Cultivating Natural Ecosystems
Our coffee farming goes beyond conventional methods. We nurture complete ecosystems where coffee plants thrive alongside native flora and fauna. A single coffee tree can support over 100 insect species, enhancing biodiversity on our farms.
coffee beans ripening in the understory of the forest canopy
Our Environmental Commitments
Our commitment to biodiversity is reflected in two key initiatives:
AT ORIGIN
Smithsonian Bird Friendly ® Certification: This certification is literally the environmental gold standard in the sustainable coffee industry. As holders of the Smithsonian Bird Friendly® certification since 2015, we adhere to the most comprehensive, science-based standards in the coffee industry. This certification requires:
- Multiple layers of native tree canopy providing crucial wildlife habitat
- USDA Organic certification as a foundation, ensuring chemical-free farming
- Regular third-party inspections verifying our environmental impact
- Documented support of migratory birds and local biodiversity
Did you know? A single coffee tree on a certified farm can support over 100 distinct insect species!
AT HOME
The Bee Bold Alliance: This is our initiative to restore biodiversity and support local food security through pollinator protection. The vision is to create a regenerative ecology network in our community for comprehensive pollinator protection. Here are the key principles guiding our path forward:
- Protecting the Soil: We're working toward eliminating harmful pesticides, fungicides, and herbicides from our farming practices. This transition aims to create healthier environments for pollinators while maintaining productive coffee cultivation.
- Watershed Stewardship: Our growing commitment includes developing better water conservation practices, reducing fertilizer usage, and implementing responsible waste management systems.
- Fostering Pollinator Forage: We're exploring ways to integrate more flowering plants throughout our local farms, aiming to provide year-round nutrition that supports healthy pollinator populations.
- Honoring Indigenous Wisdom: We're beginning to build relationships with Native/First Nation peoples in our growing regions, seeking to learn from their traditional knowledge and collaborate on sustainable solutions for the future.
We're reaching out to neighboring farms and communities, inviting them to join us in protecting pollinators. This initiative is beginning to form, and we believe that together, we can create meaningful change.
The Impact of Your Coffee Choice
We believe in the power of collective action. Here are ways you can participate in this journey:
-
Choose coffee that aligns with your environmental values
-
Cultivate native wildflowers in your garden or community spaces
-
Consider natural pest management practices
-
Create undisturbed areas in your garden to provide natural habitats
-
Learn about pollinator-friendly plants suitable for your local ecosystem
Moving Forward Together
We're at an exciting point in our environmental journey, where your choice of coffee can help shape future agricultural practices. Our Bird Friendly® certified coffee demonstrates our established commitment to environmental stewardship, while our developing Bee Bold Coffee initiative shows where we're heading. By choosing these products, you're not just selecting quality coffee—you're supporting the evolution of sustainable and pollinator-friendly agriculture.
Join us on this journey toward biodiversity conservation through sustainable agriculture. Your support through choosing our Bird Friendly® certified coffee and Bee Bold Coffee helps create positive environmental change, one cup at a time.
Lavender Grace is the Sustainable Ecology Consultant for Thanksgiving Coffee Company
Beyond The Bean: Buzzing with Biodiversity
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The Cupping Lab Revolution: How Thanksgiving Coffee Changed Coffee Forever
Cupping Coffee , Nicaragua
It began with a journey to Nicaragua in the 1980s. Paul Katzeff, a former social worker and co-founder of Thanksgiving Coffee, traveled to listen to the farmers. Paul had the tools and vision to create a new way forward for the coffee world.
In those war-torn hills, Paul came face to face with the quiet strength of farmers who had survived conflict, drought, and poverty. What he discovered would transform his understanding of coffee forever.
What Paul saw was that coffee could be more than just a product. It could become a tool for restoring dignity, building solidarity, and giving voice to those who had been left out of their own story.
Nicaruaguan Coffee Farmers coming home, photo by Paul Katzeff
Coffee as a Bridge Between Worlds
Paul's 1985 trip to Nicaragua occurred during the U.S.-backed Contra War—a time of immense hardship and tension. What he witnessed moved him deeply: farmers cultivating resilience amid unimaginable challenges. Meeting with PRODECOOP, one of the earliest farmer cooperatives, he understood that meaningful change would require more than charity. It would take genuine partnership.
This experience birthed a vision for direct trade built on empathy and transparency. Paul saw coffee as more than a commodity—he saw it as a bridge connecting people across borders, across struggles, and across systems built to exclude the voices of those who grow the coffee we love.
Coffee Processing Nicaragua
Preparing coffee to dry - Nicaragua
Roasting coffee in traditional oven at the Lopado Farm, Nicaragua, photo by Paul Katzeff
Grinding coffee in traditional outdoor style, photo by Paul Katzeff
A Revolution Born from Relationship
Years later, in 2001, Paul's vision took physical form when Thanksgiving Coffee helped create the world's first farmer-owned cupping labs. It started with a simple question:
What if those who grow the coffee were also the ones to taste it first?
That question sparked a revolution—and in partnership with our co-ops like UCA MIRAFLOR and CECOCAFEN, it redefined not just how coffee is evaluated, but who gets to define its value.
This work began with trust.
When Thanksgiving Coffee first partnered with these cooperatives, they were communities rising from hardship with their own vision. Families were replanting forests, rebuilding homes, and forming cooperatives that prioritized not only trade, but democracy, biodiversity, and food sovereignty.
Frank Lanzas Family
Fernandito Family
Fernando Beneficio
Maria Elena
As field researcher Christopher Bacon wrote:
"This is a story of reconstruction and resistance... of families working together to regenerate their communities, reclaim the land, and build new institutions of democratic governance."
In these post-war communities, farmers didn't just return to the land—they reimagined its future. By placing cupping labs in their hands, Thanksgiving Coffee wasn't introducing a new tool—they were honoring a movement already in motion.
Redefining the Waves: How Cupping Labs Transformed Coffee Culture
The history of specialty coffee is often described in "waves." The First Wave brought coffee to the masses. The Second Wave introduced espresso culture and coffee as an experience.
But it was the Third Wave—focused on origin, transparency, and craft—that truly began to value the farmer's role. And it was here that Thanksgiving Coffee's cupping labs created their most profound impact.
The Coffee Cuppers Manifesto, by Paul Katzeff 2001
"The $300,000 enabled 9 coops to build their labs and be trained as cuppers by me using SCAA scoring forms. It is one thing to have a lab but another thing to know how to use it. Training was essential. "
- Paul Katzeff
In 1999, when most coffee buyers still made quality decisions without farmer input, Thanksgiving Coffee proposed something radical: building professional cupping labs directly within producer cooperatives in Nicaragua. With a $300,000 USAID contract and decades of field experience, these labs were constructed in 2000, becoming the world's first farmer-owned and operated cupping facilities.
The innovation couldn't have been better timed. As Third Wave coffee culture was gaining momentum in the early 2000s with its focus on single-origin beans and transparent sourcing, these cupping labs equipped farmers to meet this new demand with unprecedented precision.
Suddenly, farmers could:
- Taste and analyze their own coffee before it left the farm
- Create detailed flavor profiles previously only done by importers
- Develop specific micro-lots for specialty markets
- Experiment with processing methods that enhanced quality
- Engage in price negotiations based on verifiable quality data
By 2001, the Cuppers Manifesto was born—a bilingual manual distributed to 10,000 Nicaraguan farmers and later shared with 8,000 producers in Colombia by the Colombian Coffee Federation.
Coffee Processing Nicaragua, photo by Paul Katzeff
From Third Wave to Fourth: Farmers as Flavor Artists
What began as a Third Wave innovation has evolved into something even more profound—what many now call the "Fourth Wave" of coffee, where farmers themselves have become recognized artists of flavor creation.
Today's most celebrated coffees often feature not just the region or farm name, but specific processing techniques developed and perfected by individual farmers—techniques like honey processing, extended fermentation, and anaerobic processing that create distinctive flavor profiles impossible to achieve through roasting alone.
This transition—from farmers as anonymous producers to farmers as named innovators—can be traced directly back to those first cupping labs. When farmers gained the ability to taste, evaluate, and experiment with their own coffee, they unleashed a wave of innovation that continues to transform the industry.
As Paul shared in a later interview:
"Coffee is about people. If you take care of the people, the coffee takes care of itself."
These labs didn't just reflect a shift in coffee culture—they helped create it. From these humble beginnings in rural Nicaragua grew the foundations of today's artisan coffee movement, where quality and value begin at the source and rise through shared craftsmanship.
UCA Miraflor Cooperative, 2023 Nicaragua
Hermanez Montenegro Family with drying coffee behind, photo by Paul Katzeff
A Legacy You Can Taste
SongBird Nicaraguan, Medium Roast
From UCA MIRAFLOR, this coffee represents the pinnacle of farmer-led quality development.
Bird Friendly certified, it supports both sustainable farming and migratory bird habitat.
Tasting Notes: Mango, nutty, chocolate
Miel de Cajamarca, Light Roast
From CENFROCAFE, Peru. Named for the honey-processing techniques refined in origin cupping labs.
This coffee showcases the artisan experimentation that defines Fourth Wave coffee.
Tasting Notes: Honey, papaya, milk chocolate
Join the Revolution in Your Cup
The Cupping Lab Revolution was more than the technology of tasting coffee. It was—and still is—about relationship, repair, and reclaiming the right to define what coffee can be.
Every cup of Thanksgiving Coffee connects you to this ongoing story of transformation—from Third Wave transparency to Fourth Wave farmer artisanship. It's an invitation to participate in a more equitable, relationship-based trade model that honors both the product and its producers.
It is about following a path with heart to let it guide you to be in good relationship with life and the world.
The Cupping Legacy continues - on the left, CEO Jonah Katzeff - on the right, Co-Founder and Board President Paul Katzeff of Thanksgiving Coffee Company
The Way
"The way to great coffee flavor is not direct.
The path must be traveled
with great care and attention.
The way becomes a path, the path a road,
and then, magically, the road becomes a highway
that leads to people who cultivate the land on which the coffee derives its special flavor.
How does one find the path? Through caring.
One does not search so much for the road that leads to the tree, as for the road that leads to the heart.
This is the secret."
Paul Katzeff
Co-founder, Thanksgiving Coffee Company
Lavender Grace is the Sustainability Consultant for Thanksgiving Coffee Company.
The Cupping Lab Revolution: How Thanksgiving Coffee Changed Coffee Forever
read more
What Is In Your Cup?
When you drink your coffee, you might want to know what goes into your cup, and if it is Thanksgiving Coffee, you might want to know why we became a certified B Corp. So let me tell you a little story about our coffee company and why we went through this rigorous process of certification.
When Thanksgiving Coffee Company began (now over 50 years ago) it was based on the co-owner Paul Katzeff's history as a social worker. The function of the coffee became a vehicle for social, environmental and economic justice in the world. In the 80's, during Paul's first momentus visit to the coffee farms of the war-torn country of Nicaragua, he created our motto "Not Just A Cup, But A Just Cup". This has been the intention behind every aspect of Thanksgiving Coffee's work. (If you ever get a chance, ask Paul to tell you the story of this first visit, it is quite something!) In the meantime you can read more on the revolution at Liberation News.
Coffee is one of the most widely consumed beverages the world over. It is an economic mainstay for dozens of countries and produced by 25 million small share holders. As a pioneer Thanksgiving Coffee Company has gone to these coffee-growing origins around the world to meet with the farmers, to support their organic farming cooperatives, to pay a living wage for the beans, and provide meaningful employment along the entire supply chain to help innovate and create sustainable ecology for over 5 decades.
Can you taste the difference? Will you be the difference?
When a business becomes a Certified B Corporation it means that they have undergone an extensive process to meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose... This was a perfect community for Thanksgiving Coffee to join, with thousands of conscious companies in 89 countries who do real work to make our world a better place for all.
B Corp is A Network to Build Collaboration and Work Toward a More Inclusive Economy
Nicaruguan farmers who spoke out for justice were a huge turning point in our company's history. The women led farmer cooperative of Soppexcca is part of this Nicaraguan legacy and the work we do as a B Corp. When you go to drink your next cup of coffee, take a moment and ask yourself, what is in your cup, really? Is it a "Just Cup"? How does it sustain the Earth? How does it treat our life sustaining waters? Does it support the humanity of all the hard-working farmers? Can you taste the difference? Will you be the difference?
Image: Natividad Lopez Garcia, Reina Isabel Quintero, and Flor Rodriguez, founding members of SOPPEXCCA’s women’s cooperative in Nicaragua.
To try Soppexcca’s Organic and Fair Trade coffee from Nicaragua you can either purchase the Flor de Jinotega or our Bee Bold Cause Coffee in Dark and Medium, which uses their coffee as the main bean in the blend.