Corporate Responsibility

Longbottom premium coffees are the result of hard and often physical work carried out in an ecosystem that connects people from all parts of the globe. Each has a vital role in the quality of our products. Even you as our customers who purchase, grind and brew our coffee, are a crucial part of this system.

Coffee is a food grown in very specific parts of the world, and we work together with a multitude of people who strive to make a living. While we may come from different backgrounds, we share a common desire to succeed, provide for our families and produce the very best product we can to do so. We respect the efforts and contributions of our compatriots equally.

We do this by servicing customers with excellence and by supporting programs that give back directly to growing communities such as The Coffee Trust and that foster business success through Fair Trade certification. We support impactful international organizations such as Mercy Corps and the American Red Cross while investing in our local communities through non-profits such as the Portland Rescue Mission. Through it all, we hope to promote a mutual respect for each other that recognizes the value we each bring not only to the coffee in our cup but to the world beyond.

For over 25 years, Bill Fishbein has been a leading figure in establishing development projects that directly help coffee farming communities in Central and South America. He founded Coffee Kids in 1988, “the first non-profit in the world to work exclusively with coffee producers for the benefit of small-scale coffee farming families.”

In 2008, he handed the reins of Coffee Kids to a new generation of leaders and started The Coffee Trust in 2009. The Coffee Trust continues Bill’s vision, working with small-scale farmers at a grass roots level to establish innovative and effective approaches to development in Guatemala and Honduras. The Coffee Trust approaches sustainability at origin by focusing its efforts, energy and funding toward a comprehensive, integrated development program with a strong focus on capacity building in each region where they work. In the beginning of 2015, Longbottom expanded its relationship and commitment to The Coffee Trust. Learn more on our site or visit The Coffee Trust at www.thecoffeetrust.org.

In March of 2014, we traveled to Guatemala and Honduras with Bill and Paula to see the huge work that is being to help those that make our livelihoods possible. Visit our longbottomcoffee.tumblr.com to see photos and notes of our trip.

Coffee Kids was a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping coffee-farming families improve the quality of their lives. Coffee Kids worked with organizations in coffee-farming communities throughout Latin America to establish projects in education, health care, economic diversification, food security and capacity building. Longbottom was a proud supporter of Coffee Kids for over two decades. In 2014, Coffee Kids ended active programs as it sought new partners.

Mercy Corps is an international development organization that helps people around the world survive and thrive after conflict, crisis and natural disaster. Since 1979, they have been helping people in the world’s toughest places survive the crises they confront and turn them into opportunities to thrive. Mercy Corps staff work locally all over the world directly with those in need. To learn more or support directly, please visit www.mercycorps.org.

The Portland Rescue Mission provides food, shelter, recovery and other vital services to men, women and children affected by homelessness, addiction and abuse. The stories of all those who have moved from hopelessness to total life recovery through the help of the Portland Rescue Mission are inspiring and life-changing. To learn more or to support directly please visit www.portlandrescuemission.org.

The Union Gospel Mission of Portland was founded in 1927 by area churches to reach out to the hurting and the homeless. Today, Union Gospel Mission is dedicated to “Feeding the hungry, restoring the addict, and loving our neighbor.” In 2011, they served over 170,000 meals in our community. To learn more or support directly please visit www.ugmportland.org.