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Our J.E.D.I. Journey

J.E.D.I. stands for Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. Here’s what we mean when we use those terms:

  • Justice is dismantling barriers in society so everyone can lead a dignified life.
  • Equity recognizes that everyone is different based on many different factors and seeks to allocate resources to individuals based on those differences, while equality doesn’t take those differences into account.
  • Diversity refers to differences such as race, gender identity, sexual orientation, mental/physical ability, and more.
  • Inclusion means that we’re trying to foster a sense of belonging. We want everyone to feel heard and valued regardless of identity.

This framework was developed in 2019 by the JEDI Collaborative to empower companies in the natural food industry to give space and work with underrepresented communities to build a more equitable world that works for everyone. You can learn more about the organization on their website.

Why does this matter to us?

We were founded in 1996 by the non-profit Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy to empower small-scale farming communities through long-term, mutually beneficial relationships that provide sustainable economic value for farmers.  Twenty-five years later, we have adopted the motto “In it for Good” as a signifier of our ongoing commitment to using business as a force for positive change in the world.

Our business exists in a world that has deep inequity and injustice that is disproportionately felt by people who have historically been marginalized. We’re proud of our record of prioritizing people and the planet, but we know there’s so much more we as a business can do.

The 2020 murder of George Floyd right in our backyard, followed by the uprisings all over the United States, was a call to action. As a business in a relatively privileged position, we have the opportunity and responsibility to combat racism and address other justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion issues. It is our duty, and keeping with our mission as a company, to center J.E.D.I. in what we do.

Our J.E.D.I. Journey So Far

After the formation of our J.E.D.I. committee in 2020, we gathered input from everyone in the company to hear what commitments mattered most to us. Here are our collective J.E.D.I. commitments:

  1. Ensure the communities in our supply chains can thrive by actively working to reduce the carbon footprint of our business operations and providing financial support to our producer cooperatives that will aid in building climate change resiliency.
  2. Interrupt and mitigate the internal, interpersonal, institutional, and ideological biases within Peace Coffee by providing ongoing training to staff on building awareness, unpacking, mitigating, and interrupting our own implicit biases, especially as it relates to race/ethnicity, gender, class, education, ability, and body size; etc.
  3. Hire employees that reflect the diversity of the communities in which we do business by crafting job descriptions intentionally to attract diverse talent and forming partnerships with job organizations that cater to specific communities.
  4. Ensure our branding and marketing speak to a broad and diverse audience by ensuring imagery reflects the diversity of our consumers and employees and that our storytelling is diverse in stories and storytellers.
  5. Build a race equity culture & promote inclusive and equitable workplace policies/practices by instituting flexible holiday calendars that allow staff to observe their own holidays irrespective of religion and by sharing anti-racist resources.

So Far So Good

After three years of work, we’ve made great progress toward these commitments. Here’s what we’ve achieved so far:

  • Supported and provided direction to the Carbon, Climate, and Coffee Fund which helps our farmer partners to build climate change resilience and adaptation strategies.  
  • Completed a 3-year pilot project with Cool Farm Tool.  Findings provided concrete and reliable data showing that organic smallholder coffee farmers are part of the solution in the fight against climate change. 
  • Incorporated a climate justice lens into our work, recognizing that those who are least responsible for climate change are more likely to suffer its consequences.  
  • Implemented Trailiant, an all-staff mandatory J.E.D.I. video training, and hosted conversations based on the content.
  • Identified various groups and programs to assist in ensuring we hire employees that reflect the diversity of the communities in which we do business.
  • Focused on selecting and keeping diversity in mind when selecting influencers and partners to collaborate with
  • Created platforms like the micro-lot coffees to showcase our farmer partners’ stories and images.
  • Highlighted historically marginalized business owners and partners (Black, Asian, LGBTQ, Hispanic, etc.).
  • Focused on being uplifting and assuring our representation and use of images and stories were genuine, authentic, and collaborative.
  • Released a flexible holiday calendar policy.

Looking Forward

We’re proud of what we’ve been able to get done since adopting J.E.D.I. into our company, but we’re only getting started. We already have several 2024 goals that we’re incredibly excited to take head-on. So check in from time to time to see how we’re doing with this work, keep up with our successes, and see how our commitment evolves.

Sure! Here is approximately how long each of our package sizes lasts, based on mugs per day.

Daily Brew 12oz 20oz 5lb
1 mug / day
Pourover
Brew Guide
3 weeks 1 month 4 months
3 mugs / day
French Press
Brew Guide
1 week 2 weeks 2 months
6 mugs / day
Chemex
Brew Guide
1 week 1 week 6 weeks
8 mugs / day
Drip Brewer
Brew Guide
< 1 week 1 week 4 weeks

Your brew strength and mug size may vary!


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