Veloso Coffee
From the Cerrado Miniero region in the countryside of Minas Gerais, Brazil, Veloso Coffee has been producing specialty coffees for decades, embodying the wisdom passed on from generation to generation while also embracing sustainable innovation and new technological advancements.
As leaders in sustainability in their region, the Velosos maintain 38% of their land as natural forest, well above the Brazilian regulation of 20%. To them, investing in conservation of local biodiversity not only improves conditions for the local environment, but enhances a sense of community and shared responsibility among their neighboring coffee farmers, as well. Veloso Coffee is 100% Rainforest Alliance certified, which means they’ve followed more sustainable practices to protect forests, improve worker livelihoods, promote human rights, and help mitigate climate crisis.
Veloso coffee is featured in the Cold Brew Collection, the One City Collection, and all of our cafe cold brew.
Omanhene
For over 30 years, Omanhene has served as a leader in the specialty cocoa industry, with a focus on single origin production and processing, from bean to bar, in Ghana. When we first spoke with founder Steve Wallace, one thing was abundantly clear to us: Omanhene’s values in the cocoa supply stream run deeply parallel to Joe’s coffee sourcing values. Founded on building long-term, mutually beneficial, and sustainable partner relationships, Omanhene seeks to bring as much value to producers at origin as processors—often in regions far removed from cocoa growers—typically receive, by moving producers up the value chain.
Omanhene specializes in crafting the perfect chocolate for the specialty coffee world, and for more than ten years, we’ve sourced their cocoa for all of our cafe mochas and hot chocolate.
Omanhene is featured in our Oat Mocha as well as the mochas in all of our cafes.
GloryBee
Family-owned and operated GloryBee has produced high quality honey products, ethically sourced with care and respect, for over 45 years. Their nonprofit, Save the Bee, works in tandem to raise funds and awareness around honey bee research and education.
We were particularly drawn to the work that both GloryBee and Save the Bee do to share bee-keeping skills with coffee growers throughout Central and South America. The pollination from bees kept on coffee farms increases the yield of coffee plants by as much as 20% and provides supplemental, year-round income for coffee farmers, who often receive a full year’s salary only once a year at harvest. Their partner, Food 4 Farmers, is focused on eliminating hunger and food insecurity in remote coffee-growing communities, utilizing the economic power of bee-keeping. Through our partnership with GloryBee’s Save the Bee initiative, a portion of proceeds from our Honey Oat Latte will go directly to Food 4 Farmers’ vital work in coffee farming regions.
The images below are courtesy of Save the Bee and Food 4 Farmers.
