Getting Paid With Purpose: Sustainable Harvest

Some companies are founded purely on financial profit and then spend loads of money promoting their good deeds to build trust in their consumers. To some, CSR is an afterthought. But to a handful of mission based companies things start the right way with a vision to make the world a better place. Sustainable Harvest is one of those companies.

In 1989 David Griswold was a college grad who had just embarked on a volunteer project with the National Coordinating Body for Coffee Farmer Cooperatives (CNOC) in Mexico City. This stint was supposed to be a pit stop on his way back to the US and into graduate school for an MBA. But as most wonderful things in life happen, things didn't exactly go according to plan. One thing David wasn't counting on was Pedro.

Pedro walked into David's office and asked a simple question, "Can you help us find a way to sell our coffee?" It was this question from a coffee farmer in Mexico that would become the seeds of a multi-million dollar mission-based company. As David recounts in his story on the Sustainable Harvest website: "As I thought about Pedro's question, I realized two things. One was that, sadly, I had no answer ready to give to him. The other was that I had found my life's work. In asking his question, Pedro had answered mine. I knew then that I would spend my life helping farmers find a sustainable market for their coffee, and teaching them to succeed in supplying that market."

Since that day in the office in Mexico City, Griswold has made it his mission to run a company with complete transparency and to provide training and education, creating sustainable livelihoods for tens of thousands of coffee farmers. The company has grown to employ 25 people and they import coffee from 13 countries around the world.

One reason for the success of Sustainable Harvest is the five areas of business investment they have molded called: Relationship Coffee. The model is based on the five T's:

Training: Educational programs helping farmers meet market standards — focusing on growing and processing coffee. Trade Credits: Allow farmers to cover immediate harvest costs and also to make long-term investments. In 2009, Sustainable Harvest signed contracts to guarantee $13.9 million in loans for cooperatives and farmers. Traceability: Sustainable Harvests products are traceable from seed to cup giving all parties in the supply chain completely transparent information. Technology: Coffee processing has come a long way in the last few years, and luckily due to the technological advances, things like low-water machinery helps to conserve our natural resources. Transparency: Doing business in a glass house is not always easy, but it's the right thing to do. That's why Sustainable Harvest opens all of their books to both suppliers and buyers establishing fair terms for all.

Sustainable Harvest is committed to a triple bottom line business and is also a certified B Corp, and they are damn proud of it. According to their website: "As a certified B Corporation — a new and transparent legal structure for social enterprises — Sustainable Harvest meets a set of product, employment, community and environmental standards far more stringent than traditional corporate models. Sustainable Harvest is ranked among the top three percent of B Corps worldwide."

The Profit

Sustainable Harvest is a social enterprise model. Sustainable Harvest's farmer training and capacity building programs can become economically self-sustaining. Once the initial investment reaches a certain scale, the coffee sales provide the revenue to continue and even expand farmer training and support programs. Insurance that improving peoples lives and livelihoods continues.

In fact, two-thirds of the company's operating expenses are invested in training and infrastructure projects that help growers earn sustainable livelihoods.

According to their website, since 1997 they have purchased more than $100 million in coffee from farmers in Latin America and East Africa. In addition, they have channeled significant investments (almost $1 million in 2009) to these coffee-growing communities. Today, Sustainable Harvest farmer partners supply one out of every eight pounds of certified Fair Trade and organic coffee sold in North America.

So the next time you are on line for that double skim frappicino with no foam, make sure it's fair trade. If you want to find out more about the farmers that contribute to Sustainable Harvest check out their stories here.

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Image courtesy Sustainable Harvest.