The World’s Largest Salmon BBQ happened on 7/1, and again – Thanksgiving Coffee was there! This event brings together thousands of salmon lovers to raise money for salmon habitat restoration. The salmon fishery in California was closed this year – completely – in order to let the salmon population rebound, so everything that we can do to support increased spawning grounds will help the salmon, our local economy, and the entire ecosystem.

Our booth provided hot coffee (Mocha Java and Royal Decaf) and cold brew (Ethiopian Yirgacheffe Natural from the Gedeb region) in exchange for any donation to Salmon Restoration. We raised nearly $500 from donations alone. Our Office Manager, Jennifer, CEO Jonah, and co-founders Paul and Joan were on hand with Sales and Marketing Manager, Joe, to keep the coffee flowing for 8 hours.

All we can do to support increased spawning grounds will help the salmon,
our local economy, and the entire ecosystem.

We were not alone in this effort: fellow B Corps including North Coast Brewing Company and Harvest Market were on hand to donate, raise additional funds, and support the cause. The menu usually includes corn on the cob, but corn was in short supply this year, so Harvest Market was able to source organic new potatoes to supplant the menu.

Dozens of volunteers helped pull this event together and make it run smoothly including Rotary International (with participation from both Fort Bragg and Mendocino chapters), California Conservation Corp., Mendocino Sheriff’s Department, Salmon Restoration Association, and the celebrity grill team including lots of local dignitaries including Fort Bragg’s Mayor, several County Commissioners, local business owners, and many, many more.

The event had a lively festival atmosphere with great weather, great vibes and lots of live music including West of Nowhere (pictured), Steven Bates Band, the Caspar Kings, Earl Oliver, and Deep Pockets who started the day off with some very danceable grooves. One of the highlights is the annual release of the supporting shirt… this year’s shirt slogan, “If you must smoke – smoke salmon.”

The booth came from TCC, but Chef Julian from the Waiting Room/Café Beaujolais brought his staff to operate it with great style and delicious offerings.

“It was Spaz-iale!”

The weather cooperated – never too hot, or too windy - but allowed all to enjoy three days of Peace, Love and Music. Thanks to Ksenia, Shelly and the whole crew at SNWMF for making it a wonderful experience all around.

As the SNWMF social media post said… “It was Spaz-iale!”

Yes, we are going to be refreshing the way our website looks and feels. No, we are not going to be changing the way we handle subscriptions so rest assured that your data is safe, secure, and will not be changing. The biggest change is that the new website will be a better vehicle for telling our story while keeping the ease of buying that you have come to expect from us.

There are going to be some fun new features, including:

• A referral program that will allow you to earn rewards when you refer your friends, neighbors, and family to share in our coffee.

There will also be a loyalty program that will reward you for doing things like:

•  reading our blogs
• following and liking our social media
•  posting reviews
•  adding pictures or videos to your reviews

These rewards will be counted as “beans” which can be redeemed as discounts. The more you earn beans the greater the discount, all the way up to free products!

The main reason for adding this program is that you will be empowered to create your own discounts instead of having to wait for us to have a sale... You get to make your own sale, anytime, just by doing the things you already do and supporting our mission to improve the well-being of all we touch–from coffee grower to coffee drinker.

We look forward to launching this new site in just a couple of weeks so stay tuned!