Dean Cycon | CEO and Founder, Dean’s Beans Coffee Company
- Dean is the founder of Dean’s Beans Coffee Company.
- He earlier worked as an indigenous rights lawyer, an environmental attorney.
Podcast
Overview
Who doesn’t like to start the day with a cup of great coffee? But are you aware that your choice of coffee has the potential to positively impact the lives of coffee growers? In today’s episode, we delve into the work being done by Dean Cycon’s company to ensure justice and sustainability for coffee growers. Through his company, Dean’s Beans, he has revolutionized our perception of coffee by highlighting the significance of ethical sourcing, fair compensation, and environmental sustainability. Tune in now to learn more!
[00:32] – About Dean Cycon
- Dean is the founder of Dean’s Beans Coffee Company.
- He earlier worked as an indigenous rights lawyer, an environmental attorney.
- Dean started the company as he wanted to use coffee as a vehicle for positive social, economic and ecologic change.
- The company designs fun projects in partnership with growers, and they return a percentage of the profits to the growers as a social equity premium.
- Dean has received “Best Practices Recognition” from the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations and a sustainability award from the Specialty Coffee Association, America.
- He has also been a research fellow at Woods Hole in Massachusetts, the famous oceanographic institute.
- Dean is also an author of two books, “Javatrekker: Dispatches from the World of Fair Trade Coffee” and “Finding Home (Hungary, 1945).”
[02:45] – What do you mean by, “Coffee isn’t just good, it’s great?”
- When you broaden your perspective on coffee and take a closer look inside your cup, you’ll discover the complex issues of globalization, women’s rights, indigenous rights, the environment, war and peace, globalization, and economics at play.
- Unlike certain commodities like rice, coffee allows you to know exactly who grows it, their living conditions and their economic circumstances.
- By consciously choosing coffee, you can make a statement that goes beyond taste.
- It can support farmers by ensuring fair prices, providing development assistance, and fostering the self-esteem necessary for them to achieve their goals while staying on their land.
[18:25] – Did you see positive self-esteem transformations in South Africa?
- The problem with most coffee companies and with trying to do anything in terms of change and coffee is that companies generally buy from a group one year, and from another group, the following year.
- They don’t have relationships, so they don’t know what is happening with their money.
- I have relationships as I’ve been working with one co-operative for 28 years. I started with the parents and then the kids and now the grandchildren are growing up and running their family farms.
- I can see the multi-generational impact of our work together.
- We are not changing the whole world, but we’re really having an impact in our sphere and I think that is the key, “to change is not to bite off more than you can chew.”
RESOURCES:
You can connect with Dean Cycon : LinkedIn
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Profile
- Dean is the founder of Dean’s Beans Coffee Company.
- He earlier worked as an indigenous rights lawyer, an environmental attorney.
- Dean started the company as he wanted to use coffee as a vehicle for positive social, economic and ecologic change.
- The company designs fun projects in partnership with growers and they return a percentage of the profits to the growers as a social equity premium.
- Dean has received “Best Practices Recognition” from the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations and a sustainability award from the Specialty Coffee Association, America.
- He has also been a research fellow at Woods Hole in Massachusetts, the famous oceanographic institute.
- Dean is also an author of two books, “Javatrekker: Dispatches from the World of Fair Trade Coffee” and “Finding Home (Hungary, 1945).”
