HAERFEST Coffee's New Way of Doing Business

HAERFEST Coffee is unique in more than just its name. Utilizing an old English spelling for the word "harvest," Toby Foreman's company approaches the business of selling wholesale and private label coffee differently than its competitors. On top of producing great coffee, everything from the packaging of HAERFEST coffee to the production of private label brands is designed to include, incorporate, and elevate employees with intellectual disabilities.

Foreman has been involved in the coffee business for most of his life. After spending his youth as a professional pitcher for the Seattle Mariners organization, Foreman worked alongside his brother, Ethan, at Diedrich Coffee, a California-based coffee company now owned by beverage giant Keurig Dr Pepper.

"HAERFEST came to me 20 years ago [when] my brother, who had autism, was working by my side at Diedrich Coffee," Foreman says. "I recognized how much [Ethan] had grown in capabilities and competency and his delight at having a purpose."

This experience – along with his son, Reid, who has Down syndrome – led Foreman to create the unique coffee production house that is HAERFEST.

The Path to HAERFEST

In his journey to creating HAERFEST, Foreman has engaged with coffee in nearly all its commercial permutations, including hotels, coffee houses, restaurants, and QSR applications. Throughout the years, one brand has been constant.

"I've been a FETCO brand loyalist for over 28 years now," Foreman says. "FETCO has been tried and true and tested. . . as the #1 piece of equipment for reliability and for product quality."

FETCO coffee brewers enable commercial establishments to serve high-quality coffee. Foreman singled out the 51H brewer and the 52H brewer as stalwart pieces of equipment that produce great coffee. The expense of a commercial coffee brewer is wasted if the coffee that comes out doesn't taste great – and buying the highest quality roast will do you no good if your brewer can't provide water at the right temperatures, maintain the correct ratio of water to grounds, and keep the coffee at the optimal drinking temperature.

Foreman says he "couldn't think of anything, as far as a piece of equipment, that has [stood] the test of time" like FETCO coffee brewers have. Reliable equipment frees up the operator to focus on other, more important aspects of the business, and HAERFEST Coffee has certainly focused on what’s most important.

Doing Things Differently

Foreman's experiences inspired him to build a company with a purpose beyond producing great coffee. To that end, he dedicated HAERFEST to finding prosperity hand-in-hand with intellectually disabled people and creating an environment that fosters that possibility.

"Everything about our coffee is done differently, in a way that allows us to step away from uniformity and bring unity to the community," Foreman says.

Sensory Sleeves

"Coffee is a conduit to bringing people together, that creates positive feelings, a sense of community," Foreman says. "Yet there's been a group of people who have disabilities that are continually overlooked."

HAERFEST is finding new ways to include them. Bags of HAERFEST Coffee are enveloped in sensory sleeves, pieces of artwork that mirror the flavors of the coffee inside. The sleeves are created and applied by individuals with intellectual disabilities. This process is both a way to include them in the process and a way to help the disabled person practice fine motor skills, which can be very difficult for some.

Increasing Visibility

Beyond providing a place of fruitful employment for people with intellectual disabilities, HAERFEST brings recognition to that labor: the bottom of every bag bears the signature of the person who added the sensory sleeve to the packaging.

"They get a chance to be part of the commerce," Foreman says. "[They] get their names to be known – on the bottom of each bag, their names are on shelves, at restaurants, at grocery stores. Everyone wants their name to be known somewhere."

So every time a customer picks up a bag of HAERFEST Coffee, they will see exactly who had a hand in producing it.

More Than a Trend

Ultimately, Foreman hopes HAERFEST Coffee's dedication to inclusivity will be more than just a feel-good story.

"Employment for individuals with intellectual disabilities should not be a trend," Foreman says. "It should be a sustainable part of our culture, not for a short term, but forever term."

When discussing HAERFEST's operations, he talks not about profitability but of prosperity. Instead of finding the cheapest way to make coffee, they are dedicated to finding the best way.

"I've been doing this way too long not to produce great coffee… but we also want to take the opportunity for inclusion," Foreman says. HAERFEST's innovative methods of inclusion have made an impact in many lives already, but there is great potential for expansion in this sphere.

Private Label Progress

Beyond selling coffee wholesale under the HAERFEST brand, "[we] are a wholesale roasting company. We have a private label, Ethic Coffee Roasting Company, for consumers who want to be part of our call to action."

Contracting with Ethic Coffee provides businesses a way to encourage and support the good that HAERFEST is trying to achieve. Foreman believes that private label coffee is a great way to create an identity for your business, "whether it's the HAERFEST brand, which has a main theme to it, or it's someone else's vision that we can help create and bring to fruition." Ethic Coffee Roasting provides operators with a coffee that is uniquely theirs while also encouraging growth and inclusivity in the industry.

Coffee Brings People Together

Calling coffee "the original social media," Foreman and the employees at HAERFEST Coffee are increasing the scope of "social." People with severe intellectual disabilities can find gainful employment within HAERFEST, along with pride in their work and recognition for their talents. With the support of others in the industry who also want to do things differently, their heartwarming story can be more than just a temporary blip in the coffee landscape. The Foremans hope HAERFEST Coffee can bring real, lasting change to their industry and leave behind a legacy to be proud of – one bag of coffee at a time.

Visit the HAERFEST Coffee website to learn more about their mission, operation, and products, or contact Ethic Coffee Roasting to make direct inquiries about your own private label coffee.