A business being certified as a B Corporation is a big deal. While it sounds like standard corporate jargon tagged onto the ends of names like “Incorporated” or “Limited” or “LLC”, the B Corp certification is an indicator that the company puts as much stock in their social and environmental impact as they do their, well, stock.
And being certified as a B Corp isn’t as simple as filling out a few forms. Per the B Corporation website, the test “measures a company’s entire social and environmental performance” and “evaluates how [their] company’s operations and business model impact [their] workers, community, environment, and customers.” As such there are just over 3,200 companies worldwide that can rightfully call themselves B Corps; 76 of these are coffee companies, including the likes of Stumptown, Coffee Collective, Olympia Coffee, Amavida Coffee, KeepCup, and Red Bay Coffee.
Another coffee company that has been a certified B Corp for over eight years now is the Bay Area’s Equator Coffees, who for the entire month of February are celebrating this status by offering a lineup of coffees sourced entirely through a B Corp supply chain. And to cap off the month, Equator will be hosting a B Corp fair featuring other Bay Area companies sharing the designation.
Throughout February, all eight Equator locations will feature four coffees that have “been handled from seed to cup by a completely B Corp-certified supply chain,” per a press release. The coffees—the pulped natural Botucatu, Yellow Bourbon, and single-origin espresso as well as the natural aerobic processed Laurina variety—were all grown in Minas Gerais, Brazial by Luis Norberto Pascoal on Fazenda Daterra, part of B Corp Daterra Sustainable Coffee. These coffees were then brought to Equator thanks to a third B Corp, coffee importers Sustainable Harvest.
Then at the end of the month, on Thursday, February 27th, Equator will be hosting the Bay Area B Corp Fair at their 2nd Street location in San Francisco, where they have invited other local B Corps Clover Sonoma, EO Products, and World Centric to attend. Each of the companies will have products on-hand to sample and for purchase, and Equator will be serving their four all B Corp coffees as well as offerings from their own farm, Finca Sophia in Panama. The all-day event runs from 9:00am to 4:00pm and is completely free to attend.
For more information on the all B Corp supply chain coffees or the B Corp fair, visit Equator Coffees’ official website and Evenbrite page, respectively. To learn more about B Corp certification or to see a list all companies currently certified, visit the B Corporation’s official website.
Zac Cadwalader is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.
Disclosure: Equator Coffees is an advertising partner with the Sprudge Media Network