Black Bear Diner Extends Bears Brew Back® Initiative to Donate Proceeds from Coffee Blend Grown and Roasted by Women

“Since 2017, our internal Black Bear Diner initiative Bears Brew Back has funded clean water and educational programs that have enriched the lives of women, men, and children in the Nicaraguan communities that grow our coffee,” said Anita Adams, Chief Executive Officer at Black Bear Diner. “This March, in addition to our own Bears Brew Back coffee which includes beans grown by women farmers, we are proud to support the Ladies To The Front initiative in partnership with our coffee roasters at Java City Coffee.”

For the month of March, Black Bear Diner will feature Java City’s Ladies To The Front specialty coffee blend in its diners. This unique blend is sourced from women farmers in Jinotega, Nicaragua, part of the Tierra Madre group of Aldea Global. The blend meets high-quality standards and supports initiatives to secure land rights for these women, enabling them to access micro-credit loans for production and economic activities.

The full circle initiative then extends to the United States, where the Nicaraguan beans arrive at Java City’s roasting facility in Sacramento, CA. Here, the coffee is exclusively roasted by female employees, completing the cycle that empowers women from growers to roasters and beyond. For every bag of Ladies To The Front sold, $1 contributes to a scholarship fund supporting the educational goals of women graduates participating in a coffee training re-entry program at Rio Cosumnes Correctional Center (RCCC) in Sacramento County.

Bears Brew Back is an ongoing, long-term philanthropic partnership created in 2017 with Java City Coffee Roasters and the Global Aldea Foundation to identify humanitarian projects in Nicaraguan communities. Since its formation, Bears Brew Back has funded programs providing clean water to more than 350 homes and 10 area schools servicing more than 500 students annually. Funds have also helped to build a school lunchroom and kitchen as well as provide 5,000 school backpacks and supplies to area children.