History
On a 2016 Mercer On Mission, Shane and his fellow students administered surveys to farmers throughout El Oro, Ecuador, to explore whether coffee was a viable alternative to gold mining. Unfortunately, the Mercer On Mission team could not get to enough coffee plantations, thus concluding there wasn't enough supply in the region. Before leaving, the tour guide, Arturo, insisted that he and Shane stay in touch. Two weeks upon returning, the precedent was set. Shane and Arturo were talking 4 times a week, as a way to improve Shane's Spanish. Six months in, Shane had not only become better at Spanish, but the two had formed a friendship. From the friendship, spurred an idea - the idea to import coffee from all over Ecuador to benefit the farmers. Arturo insisted that the group was thinking too small. They weren't going to just import from El Oro, rather they were going to import from all over the country! So, they did! 65lbs led to 300lbs, which turned into 14,000lbs two years later!
Specialties
Z Beans Coffee's vocation is to create sustainable solutions for Ecuadorian farmers through the direct trade import of coffee. We import and roast our coffees at our roasting facility in Downtown Macon, Georgia! We trace our coffees from each of our farmer's plantations, so you can order your coffee by your farmer's name in our shops. We are committed to sustainable, transparent business practices with our Ecuadorian friends and you, our customer! We hope we have the opportunity to supply you with ethically sourced and freshly roasted Ecuadorian coffee soon!