Ethical Bean’s commitment to fair and environmentally friendly production practices starts at the source. Through a relationship with Transfair Canada, the company is able to ensure that the producers they purchase from are safe from the volatilities of the coffee market. Coffee farmers are protected, too. By using only 100% certified organic coffee, harmful pesticides and other chemicals don’t come near the coffee or its growers.
Once the beans arrive in Vancouver, they are cupped, tested and slurped, then stamped with an “e” of approval and roasted in a 100% carbon neutral facility that has been designed to LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) CI standards. Ethical Bean’s commitment to sound environmental practices extends to the smallest detail, right down to the biodegradable and compostable cups and cutlery used at the roastery’s on site café and the bag-return program that invites consumers to drop off all empty coffee bags (even those of competitors)
Bean Bags
Ethical Bean Coffee is stored in a package designed to keep your coffee fresh and your conscience clear. Each bag comes complete with its own 2D barcode which can be scanned on shelves via a free Ethical Bean iPhone app or entered manually on Ethical Bean’s website. The barcode reveals not only when the coffee was roasted but also the exact location of each coffee’s origin and the name of the co-op that harvested it. This revolutionary feature gives consumers the opportunity to watch interviews with farmers, look up tasting notes and roast profiles, and Google map each bag’s beans down to the exact field they were grown. All of this is housed in a bright, bold bag that screams to sit on your counter, not hide in your cupboard.
Ethical Bean’s Founders
Lloyd Bernhardt & Kim Schachte
As co-founders of Ethical Bean, Lloyd Bernhardt and Kim Schachte are committed to social responsibility, global awareness, and environmental accountability.
Bernhardt is no stranger to the Vancouver business scene. In 1988, he founded Motion Works, one of BC’s first Apple Macintosh software development companies. He also worked for Apple Computers in California. For his achievements, Bernhardt received numerous accolades and a spot in Business in Vancouver’s “Top 40 under 40.”
Kim Schachte is an award winning graphic designer who has both owned and operated her own design studio and worked as a senior designer at one of Vancouver’s most respected branding and design agencies.
In 1999, Bernhardt and Schachte took a trip that changed both their lives. Their journey to Guatemala to adopt their daughter sparked a passion for the culture of the country and inspired a desire to better the lives of the farmers and families living and working in the coffee industry. The couple returned to Vancouver and in 2003 launched Ethical Bean Coffee. The operation began in their garage, but quickly grew to include five, then eight, then fifteen employees.
Today the company operates out of a 10,000 square foot facility in East Vancouver and employs 26 people full time. Though they have grown, both Lloyd and Kim have stayed true to their original commitment to make their coffee both just, and better. This applies not only to their product but also to their workplace and their community. As a testament to this, in 2010 Ethical Bean became a B corporation.
Inside each bag of Ethical Bean is a coffee that has been personally selected by Ethical Bean’s Director of Coffee, Aaron De Lazzer. Ethical Bean coffees are packaged in a bag specifically designed to deliver the freshest quality with the utmost transparency. Coffee drinkers are encouraged to explore www.ethicalbean.com for more information about each coffee’s exact origin, roast profile, cupping score, and tasting notes. Visitors to the site can also explore each coffee co-op’s harvest season, annual production, Google map location, and more, offering complete transparency to each and every cup of Ethical Bean coffee.
Ethical Bean’s Director of Coffee
Aaron De Lazzer
In March of 2008, Aaron De Lazzer, Ethical Bean’s Director of Coffee, became Canada’s first Certified Q Grader. The designation is bestowed upon professional coffee graders and cuppers who have undergone a rigorous three-day testing of their senses and skills to become the industry’s most eminent coffee experts.
Q Graders provide an unbiased sensory evaluation of the coffee being produced worldwide, and can give farmers the information they need to improve their crops. Q Graders also determine which coffees should be recognized as “Q Certified Coffee,” a designation that enables farmers to receive a higher price per pound.
Why Fair Trade Certified Coffee?
Fair Trade Certified coffee is produced and traded through an alternative system to the conventional global coffee market. Through the Fair Trade system, producers are assured a minimum price that is based on the costs of production, not the volatile market price. There is also a Fair Trade premium, which allots additional money to the coffee cooperatives to invest back into their community.
As participants in the Fair Trade program, coffee farms and their organizations must follow Fair Trade regulations to ensure that they are operating in a just and sustainable manner. Producers from small family farms must organize themselves into a collective organization or cooperative. These cooperatives are democratically run and producers must follow labour, environmental, and quality standards. Forced labour is prohibited, as is child labour. All workers must be paid at least minimum wage and this includes women, who are also entitled to benefits such as health care and maternity leave under the Fair Trade Certified regulations.
Fairtrade Labelling Organization (FLO) International is the international umbrella organization that sets international Fair Trade standards. In Canada, this organization is TransFair Canada, the only independent, third party certifier of Fair Trade products in the country.
Ethical Bean Coffees
Ethical Bean offers eight coffees that range from dark and rich to light and breezy. Each coffee is personally selected, scored, roasted and characterized by Aaron De Lazzer, Ethical Bean’s Director of Coffee.
Mellow: Medium body, nutty aroma and a sweet brightness. Stirring memories of hazelnuts and caramelized sugar.
Lush: Any richer, and you’d ask it for it a loan. A heavy cup with Burgundian fullness, alive with fruit, smoke, and earth notes.
Rocket Fuel: The lovechild of dark alchemy and complete combustion. A hammering dark roast, blended to display body, balance and a dazzling dark cocoa-laced finish.
Classic: A coffee insider’s favourite and the little black dress of our lineup. Elegant acidity highlights a nuanced, medium bodied cup.
Sweet: A multi-dimensional, full-bodied velvet slipper for your tongue, dripping with crema. A stand-up straight shot. Marries beautifully with milk.
Bold: Dark, but not too dark. Edgy on one hand, seductively smooth on the other.
Exotic: A complex cup of aromatics laced with fruity, floral innuendo. Never boring - a coffee you won’t soon forget.
Decaf: A very undecaf decaf. Gobs of body, intriguing chocolate character. Dynamite as drip, scintillating as espresso.
Mission
The idea of being just and better isn’t just a slogan, it is the standard by which Ethical Bean Coffee evaluates everything that they do. “Just” reflects the company’s goal to always do the right thing. “Better” reflects the desire for excellence in service, business, operations and product. Ethical Bean doesn’t just want people to feel good about coffee – Ethical Bean wants you to love it, for all the right reasons.
