Innovation

Planet Bean Coffee is a Fair Trade business innovation that serves fresh and organic roasted coffee while supplying an increasing amount of opportunities for its communities and relations across the globe. Planet Bean Coffee was established in 1997 and was the first successful small roaster in Ontario, which was a market for specialty coffee that had yet to be tapped. The company is considered to be a workers co-op, which entails that Planet Bean Coffee is owned by its workers. As a result, the objective is not solely to make a profit, but also to meet the needs of the company’s workers and strengthen relationships through creating opportunities for its workers. This company had also opened the doors for equality integrated businesses by being the founder of Fair Trade within Canada. In addition, the vast majority of the products they sell are made from organic ingredients, such as the milk served in their baked goods and drinks.

Bill Barrett’s mission is to link consumers to their products by delivering a quality product that supports ecological sustainability and a business that ensures fair wages and opportunities for its workers. Barrett wants to connect consumers to present-day socioeconomic inequalities by providing coffee grown from marginalized farmers and telling their story through their experiences within the shop.

Inspiration

Planet Bean started off as the very first roastery in the City of Guelph, opening their doors with a unique vision for their business. The idea to open an original, Fair Trade coffee shop came from these strong morals and a rising demand for coffee in Canada. Most importantly, co-owner Bill Barrett stated that “the inspiration was from looking at all the negatives in the world.” As a long-time traveler, Bill saw such inequalities and the disconnections between business, society, and the environment. In order to address these problems, Planet Bean would become one of the first Fair Trade certified companies in Canada, starting in 1997. To launch this unique cafe, Barrett started to look at business models that would help generate such change. He was inspired by these profitable structures, such as co-operative ones that would also give back to society, and wanted to bring these to Guelph.

This local coffee company is driven to build business relationships that are community based and sustainable. Their purpose is to generate a profit, all while supporting Fair Trade organic agriculture and small-scale producers. Investing in Fair Trade operations helps generate money for these communities and environmental conservation, which speaks to Barrett's deep concern for forests. Lastly, Bill upholds a strong belief in partnering with organic agriculture, which has restorative properties to store carbon in soils. This technique could give consumers the potential to, as Barrett says, “eat our way out of the climate crisis.” All of these components are what motivate Planet Bean’s nontraditional, but very successful and ethically conscious, business operation.

Overall impact

Planet Bean has been involved in many initiatives worldwide that have had a significant impact on the communities within which they are working. From a co-op business model to the Fair Trade coffee and organic products they make their products out of, Planet Bean is impacting its stakeholders in many different ways. Café Femenino is a specific example of an impact Planet Bean has had on communities in Peru that they partner with.

Café Femenino is a foundation of women in Peru that grow and sell Fair Trade coffee. In a community where women were not a part of the business, political, or family decisions, these women took control of their finances by partaking in a Fair Trade coffee business. All of the funds that are raised through donations and coffee sales are then given as grants to women and families in the area, and are reinvested in the community. Planet Bean is a business partner of and donor to this foundation. In the short term, this foundation, along with Planet Bean, aims to empower women and improve the financial situation of surrounding families. In the long term, the efforts of Café Femenino are benefiting the community as a whole and improving education for both men and women. Bill Barrett has been highly involved in the relationship with Café Femenino, as well as all of the business relationships Planet Bean partakes in.

Business benefit

Planet Bean Coffee's business model as a worker's co-op not only benefits the business, but also creates capital gains for the employees' individual economic growth. Initially, Planet Bean was solely a roaster and seller of coffee, but it has expanded over the years to produce its own merchandise and baked goods using organic and sustainable sources. They have opened several new locations throughout Guelph, and are currently in the process of partnering with Indonesia. This is evidence of their increasing profit margins, which opens them up to new investment opportunities.

Planet Bean Coffee is a leading example to other businesses to show that profit does not have to be the primary purpose of running the company. With the Sustainable Development Goals in mind, Planet Bean Coffee has achieved success and expansion. The success of Planet Bean has opened the market to other potential businesses also revolving around the Sustainable Development Goals.

Social and environmental benefit

For the last 20 years, Planet Bean has made a tremendous positive impact that benefits both the society and the environment, not only where they operate, but also in many places around the world in which they share strong relationships with fellow co-operative companies. Since day one, Planet Bean has been part of Fair Trade, and they only source their coffee and other products from parts of the world such as Ethiopia and Peru that are also part of Fair Trade. The goal of Fair Trade is to significantly improve the lives and working conditions of people in developing countries, which includes Ethiopia and Peru. It is through this system that the coffee growers who supply Planet Bean with coffee can be part of a co-operative themselves, allowing them to be treated fairly, have a say in establishing a selling price, and even give back to their surrounding community in ways such as building roadways and starting clean water initiatives.

As a co-operative company, Planet Bean is also able to benefit society and the environment on a local level. In addition to sourcing products from countries like Peru and Ethiopia, they also source locally, which helps keep smaller scale businesses thriving. Just like the co-operatives abroad, Planet Bean does not have one sole power who is in charge of everyone else. Instead, anybody who is invested into the company has an equal voice. This allows for a much greater level of social involvement. One specific example of this is how the company supports the University of Guelph through their Gryphon blend coffee. This specific blend is sourced from a women’s co-operative in Peru, and a percentage of this blend's sales goes directly to women’s athletics at the University.

Planet Bean should be recognized for its efforts to support both socially and environmentally responsible initiatives way before the once trend, and now company obligation, came into play. As students of the University of Guelph and members of the Guelph community, we have nothing but respect for what this company has done for the industry, and we can only hope that the huge multinational corporations start to steer in the same direction.

Interview

Bill Barrett, Co-Owner