This is not a small event – dozens of wineries, restaurants, artists, and musicians come together to entertain the guests for several hours prior to the main event, which is a grand live auction. This year the goal was to raise $200,000 in the auction in 90 minutes. They did exactly that. This year’s Fund-a-Need targeted nursing education – to train and retain nurses in our area – which is one of the greatest needs we have.

Thanksgiving had a new location for this year. We were inside the main auction tent, right in the heart of the action. We had tremendous exposure with our canopy displaying proudly during the auction. We expanded our offerings this year to include espresso drinks and cold brew, in addition to several varieties of drip coffee. The weather is always a factor, so the ability to pivot from hot to cold was very helpful.

We fielded a great team and had a lot of fun representing our company for a great cause. It makes us feel better knowing that we are really contributing to our community while having such a wonderful time.

Doing Good in the World has always fueled Thanksgiving Coffee Company’s business, that is until we began our journey into a Regenerative Business Model (one that unlocks new levels of innovation, financial results, and customer loyalty while building human capacity to contribute). Through this emerging experience we have begun to untangling what “Good” actually means. We are learning to go beyond the “Do Good” paradigm and learn how to progress into a “Be Good” business.

PROCESS

During the alliance-building, it was a natural progression for Thanksgiving Coffee Company to develop a Regenerative Business Model and dive deep into an evolution for the company. Under the guidance of second generation CEO Jonah Katzeff, and our resource Heather Paulsen, we began Carol Sandford’s Regenerative Business Development course and are now in our second year with this work.

The goal of a regenerative business is
 to be okay with constant changes, look at what is possible, and
empower those around you to become their own expert.

It is not a quick process, nothing about this is a quick fix because life is complicated. The planet is full of diverse ways of being, and thinking, and everyone and everything has different needs. We are learning that the goal of a regenerative business is to be okay with the constant changes, look at what is possible, and empower those around you to be their own expert in doing the same. This is no small task, yet one we are willing to develop and grow. Thanksgiving coffee is willing to find what makes our company indispensable and most importantly un-perturbable in the modern world of coffee.

OUTCOME

We are learning the importance of “Being Mindful”, and how the thoughts that circle and inhabit our minds become our actions. We are practicing how to “Be Self-aware”, and how the energies we each bring to the table and how we show up within each moment are tangible ways of evolving our thinking. Learning more about “Being Purposeful” in how we conduct our business and how Thanksgiving Coffee can improve your lives, and make it Better for you to Achieve Your Goals. This is what is real for us..

The end results are still out. Will our company survive for another 50 years? Will our coffee continue to brighten your morning and support you through your life to make it better and improve our planet? Although we cannot foretell the future, we know that in this moment we are all working honestly to evolve our way of being. We envision a World full of health and happiness, full of nourishment, community, and well-being. With each bean we roast, with each farmer we purchase from, and with each family working here in our Roastery, we envision ourselves regenerating the planet for generations to come. Wouldn't that Be Good?

We Did it Again!

We re-certified as a B Corp with a score of 107.3, over double the score of an ordinary business. The world of specialty coffee has changed so much since our humble beginnings, yet one constant has always been true for us, to use coffee as a medium for change.

Our Co-Founder Paul Katzeff's early experience in Nicaragua showed us "why" it is so important to improve the lives of our coffee farmers and their communities. Over the years we have gotten better at the "how", and now our farmer's green coffee beans have grown into the award-winning roasted coffee beans that we share with you.

All Round

The initial certification was in 2015 with B Lab, the third-party certifier. Every three years we are up to re-certify with the latest version of the B Impact Assessment. Their rigorous certification process is evaluated on 5 aspects of our business; Governance, Workers, Community, Environment, and Customers. In essence, B Lab is helping us to ensure a high level of transparency so we can see how our ideals stack up with our actions.  

Recognized

Every year, B Lab recognizes the B Corps that have achieved the highest verified scores in the five impact areas evaluated on the B Impact Assessment. We are honored as Best For The World: Changemakers 2019 and Best For The World: Community from 2016 - 2018.

Our team loves what they do, and we hope you love the mix of good beans, and good people, all doing good for our communities.

Evolve

We continue to learn as our business navigates our fifth decade of specialty coffee roasting. To get better and better, B Corp certification challenges us to align with our values and spotlight areas we want to improve on. One area of our focus is with you, our customers. Please reach out with your suggestions, and let us know what you want to see from us. We will do our best to show up for you. Our team loves what they do, and we hope you love the mix of good beans, and good people, all doing good for our communities. Thanksgiving Coffee continues to roast fine beans and bring you excellent coffee. Thank you for being part of our Thanksgiving Family - you matter to us.

Image from Cafe Dota's Facebook Page

July is only halfway done and yet the events are nonstop! Getting out amongst the world of coffee lovers gives us the best connection possible and exposure of our products to a wide range of audiences.

We have been doing lots and lots of non-stop local (and not-so-local) events recently, including:

Caspar-Fest

 An annual event at the Caspar Community Center that brings the community together with local vendors and music in celebration of Caspar, CA

The Redwood Coast Recreation Center

Here we offered our coffee to support the center in Sea Ranch, CA

B Local Bay Area

This event was a group mixer for B Corps in San Francisco. As a certfied B Corp we enjoy meeting and working with our local chapter to learn about the good work and practices of our colleagues.

The Mendocino Music Festival!

We have been serving coffee as a sponsor of the Music Festival since it's humble beginnings in 1986.

Coffee brings people together. We are happy to support our community to learn and grow and celebrate one another with great coffee.

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.”

Original Post from Mara Elephant Project by Claire Bolles

Protecting Elephants and Their Habitats Across the Greater Mara Ecosystem

It is World Female Ranger Week, a time set aside to highlight the important conservation work undertaken by women on the frontline. The first ever World Female Ranger Award winner Caren Yegon just completed a month-long LEAD Ranger training at the Wildlife Works facility in Rukinga, Kenya. (Our cause coffee partner) The Mara Elephant Project  / Sheldrick Wildlife Trust Mau De-Snaring Unit lead ranger was joined by 13 rangers, which included nine women, from other conservation organizations for the Bush School Instructor course facilitated by both LEAD Ranger and special guest instructors.

Caren will take the skills she learned and bring them back to educate other MEP rangers. Skills like making safe drinking water in the field, using various signals to communicate when you’re lost or need to be discreet, making shelter and fire with basic supplies, navigating in the field without technology and more.

As we join other conservation organizations celebrating World Female Ranger Week, we continue our commitment to nurture a diverse and inclusive workforce thanks to your support.

A special thanks to LEAD Ranger for their commitment to nature’s first responders and to How Many Elephants for supporting World Female Ranger Week to shine a light on women like Caren.

You can send more Mara Elephant Project rangers like Caren for training in 2023, when you purchase Protect Our Elephants coffee. Support the MEP conservation heroes.

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!

This year's Native Cinema program opens with the Coastal Pomo Dancers who will offer place-based ancestral song and dance to honor the land. The Dancers feature: Bernadette Smith (Board Chair of Xa Kako Dile: one of the first Indigenous women-led farms on the Mendocino Coast), Clarence Carrillo, Natalie Smith, and Shayne McCloud.

"Land acknowledgments go beyond words to recognize and honor Indigenous peoples as the original land stewards. They are a crucial step in correcting historical erasure and marginalization. Rather than rushing through acknowledgment, it should be approached with intention and followed by meaningful action. Tailoring acknowledgments to specific Indigenous groups and engaging directly with them fosters accuracy and respect. Acknowledging ongoing colonization and its impact is vital for reconciliation. Land acknowledgment should be accompanied by building relationships and informed action. It can spark conversations and contribute to broader decolonization efforts. Research and genuine engagement with Indigenous communities are essential. Land acknowledgments invite us to learn, understand, and act toward reconciliation today." Kanyon Sayors-Roods

A Panel Discussion with the Artist will follow the film.

May our Legacy Live on in our Flowers and our Songs.

Though relatively small in membership, SOPPEXCCA has emerged as Jinotega’s leading cooperative. The cooperative represents 654 families and is recognized around the world as a leader in the movement to empower small-scale farmers, especially women and youth. SOPPEXCCA has built primary schools in its member communities, alongside pharmacies, cooperative grocery stores, and technical assistance centers. Extensive micro-credit programs offer members access to financing at a discount of 75% compared to locally available commercial finance. Long-term work to develop sustainable coffee production has resulted in a cooperatively-owned organic fertilizer production facility, innovative climate change adaptation efforts, and of course, ongoing coffee quality improvement programs.

We get it. The world has a lot of issues. But there is hope and there are folks like us who are using our business as a force for good working to make the world a better place. They are called B Corps. It is a new way to do business. We are taking all our stakeholders in account – our team, our community, and our planet as well as our customers. Here is how we are helping make a better future for us all…

We know we can supply you with a great cup of coffee, but it's what's behind our cup that makes a real difference. We go beyond with our mission to enhance the well-being of all we touch-from coffee grower to coffee drinker. We helped inspire the fair trade model in specialty coffee in the early 90s but now we are taking that step further. In Uganda, instead of just paying a higher price, we found out that our farmers largest expense was medical care due to contaminated water. We found locally sourced water filters and have now supplied them to 342 family farmers and have dropped their medical expenses by 60%! That's why our motto is, “Not Just A Cup, But A Just Cup!”

Our influence stretches from our home community in Mendocino to the Global community at large where we work to protect the land, the people, and the animals.

• We understand it is time to break down our old systems and relearn how to integrate our business into a whole living system of regeneration for our planet.
• We recognize that pollinators are essential to our ecosystem and created a multi-pronged approach to protect pollinators, and, by extension, our food sources, and humanity’s survival.
• We support first nations wisdom keepers through Indigenous storytelling and partner with the Mendocino Film Festival to bring these stories to our community.
• We support protection of our Local Jackson State Demonstration Forest to Fight Climate Change, Restore Degraded Ecosystems, Promote Spiritual & Mental Health, and Support Sustainable Economies through the Trail Stewards.

For 5 decades Thanksgiving Coffee Company has produced some of the worlds best coffee, all based on mutual respect of the Farmers, the Earth and all the life it sustains.  Coffee is and always will be our medium for social, economic and environmental justice.

Simply put being a B Corp is exactly where we want to be, with the kind of company we want to keep, a business that goes beyond for the good of the whole. Here are a few of our local  B Corps helping to make a difference: Bonterra Organic Estates, North Coast Brewing Company, Heather Paulsen Consulting 

I met Paul when we traveled to Seesee, Uganda, a little village outside of Jinja. We were doing Shalom training for the coffee farmers there, a form of faith based community development. I had never liked coffee before, but Paul roasted, ground, and brewed the coffee in a French press for us to taste. I mentioned that I really didn't like coffee. My family and friends all drink it black, so that is all I knew. Paul told me not to let the coffee snobs determine how to drink coffee. He added hot milk to a cup of the Robusta coffee and handed it to me. That was all it took. I have been drinking Thanksgiving Coffee ever since. My favorites are Delicious Peace and Pony Express (see below). It's a Uganda thing. Also, I know the stories of the coffee farmers struggling to make a better life for their communities there. Working with an ethical and compassionate coffee purchaser like Paul makes a difference. I have photos and more stories about the coffee farmers if you would like them.

That trip was my first time outside of the US. I was there as a trainer who would train the local people to become trainers in the Communities of Shalom Assets Based Community Development. I worked with Rev. Dr. Michael Christensen, my mentor. It was Michael who had reached out to Paul. He knew about the cooperative in Mbale that Paul worked with as was hoping that Paul would come to check out the coffee cooperative that was forming near Jinja. Paul checked out their beans, said it was some of the best Robusta he had ever had, and gave them tips on keeping the quality high. We celebrated big time when Paul decided to buy their beans.

Read more about our Ugandan efforts here: https://thanksgivingcoffee.com/blogs/blog/evolution-of-change-clean-water-project

Our clean water project in Uganda has given rise to a whole new perspective, one that needs to be shared. The project was inspired from our work with the Namanyoni Cooperative. It is a study in what moves Thanksgiving Coffee Company to be better at what we do, and it is about an evolving theory of change.

The original Interfaith co-operative of Ugandan coffee farmers gathered together with a mission to build harmonious relationships and economic development in a complicated country. When Thanksgiving Coffee became involved, our premise was to improve the standard of living. We began by paying the farmers a higher price for their coffee. We empowered the farmers to improve the quality of their coffees, their farming practices, and supported them to certify their green coffee and this commanded higher prices for their product.

As the relationship grew we went through many twists and turns and in 2020 it became clear that paying a higher price for the green coffee was not enough. What we learned is that the farmers spend up to 60% of their income on healthcare costs. It became clear that the real need is to improve the health of the farmers, and for Uganda this meant clean, safe water.

Not having access to safe water is the number 2 killer of children under five worldwide and over 20 Million people in Uganda are without safe water. This takes a huge toll on families and especially the water barrers – the women who need to hunt and source out available water.

Uganda has 20 Million people without safe water.

We set a new goal to provide clean water for every family of the Namanyoni Coop. To accomplish this we partnered with Spouts of Water who creates sustainable clean water filters out of local materials and hires local employees.

These simple filters allow the farmers and their families to drink and cook water safely without boiling it first.

The Benefits of the Clean Water Filters

• 99.9% Reduction of water-born illnesses, such as typhoid, cholera, dysentery, and diarrhea
• Increase in life expectancy
• Decrease in infant mortality
• Lower energy costs due to eliminating the need to boil water for sanitation
• Reduction of medical, pharmacy, and burial costs
• Increase disposable income by up to 60%
• Women and girls spend less time hunting for, gathering, carrying, and transporting wood back to their homes (which is also a financial benefit)
• Raised family and community Happiness quotient

In 2021 we were able to meet our goal through the rebates generated by the sale of each Delicious Peace coffee package.

Our work with the Namanyoni Cooperative in Uganda is helping us develop a replicable model that we can share. When the health of our farmers and impoverished peoples of the world improves, we see a ripple effect and the benefits reach far and wide.

Learn More About the Project:

Delicious Peace Moves Forward: Development Origins

A Trip to Africa: Intro - I'm going to Africa

Delicious Peace Coffee : A New Story

Clean Water For All : Helping Uganda

Impact Report: Giving Back

Uganda: Geography Now (Fun one to share with kids)