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Current Sandbox: Dean's Beans Organic Coffee

Dean's Beans Organic Coffee

Dean's Beans Organic Coffee is a 100% FairTrade and 100% Organic coffee roaster in Orange, MA. It is known for its use of socially responsible and ecologically sustainable business practices. It was founded in Amherst, MA in 1993 by Dean Cycon. Dean's Beans works directly with farmer cooperative to address their needs and provide them with the training and funding necessary to improve their quality of life. By planning small, meaningful programs, the communities are able to maintain them over time without the company's continued involvement.

Through sustainable practices in and out of the Beanery, where the coffee is processed, roasted, and shipped, Dean's Beans has become a leader in the sustainable, organic, and fair trade industries.

Coffee Roasting
Dean's Beans roasts coffee from all major coffee roasting regions including Asia, Latin America, and Africa. Dean's Beans also sells green coffee beans to hobbyists who then roast the beans themselves. Employees receive starting salaries significantly over the minimum wage requirement, 100 percent health care coverage, retirement plans and profit sharing.

Products
In addition to selling green and roasted coffee, Dean's Beans also sells books, chocolate covered coffee beans, postcards, sugar, hot chocolate, bakers chocolate, t-shirts and bumper stickers. Dean's Beans began selling green coffee in May, 2005.

People-Centered Development
Dean's Beans follows a business model called People Centered Development. Rather than allocating monetary aid for specific purposes, they allow aid recipients to choose and implement their own projects. Dean, the founder of Dean's Beans, is also a founding member of Co-Op Coffees, a fair trade coffee buying co-op.

Ethiopia
In Ethiopia, Dean's Beans founded a revolving loan fund to help farmers build needed wells in their communities.

Nicaragua
Dean's Beans partnered with the Polus Center to create a café/roasterie in Leon, owned and operated by a prosthetics clinic that gives free limbs and therapy to landmine victims and the poor.

Sumatra
As part of the Reclaiming Sumatra project, Dean's Beans supports the purchase of Water Buffalo which can be used as weed control and organic fertilizer in the coffee fields.

Peru
Dean's Beans is working with the Asháninka indigenous coffee growers of Pangoa  Cooperative around Satipo to reforest land that have been severely degraded (clear cut or heavily logged) by illegal loggers since the 1970s. [citation needed]

In northern Peru, Dean's Beans is working with the Lamas Quichua peoples to confront proposed oil and gas development by Burlington Resources of Texas, USA.

Papua New Guinea
In 2005, Dean's Bean donated pulping machines to a local co-op. Dean's Beans is also providing Fair Trade assistance and micro-financing.

Environmental Standards
Dean's Beans has high environmental standards. They have switched much of their electricity over to solar power through a state grant and have installed a co2 scrubber for its coffee roasters. Dean has written about the difficulty of this type of innovation and its importance to small business. Their NoCO2 coffee was produced in conjunction with a Peruvian Co-op from Pangoa, who agreed to plant trees to offset the carbon footprint of transporting and roasting the coffee. Dean's Beans also uses bio-diesel in their delivery van.

Deans beans is a signatory of the UN Global Compact

For Dean Cycon Article
Category:Founders of non-governmental organizations