April 2013
| Business World Magazine | 139
sponsibly adhering to standards of sustain-
able agriculture. It also means the workers
who assist in the growing and harvesting of
that coffee operate in full measure of the safe
and dignified conditions that all humanity
deserves. Additionally, the company travels
to many of its countries of origin. Whether it
is South America, Africa, Indonesia or some
village in a little ventured-to corridor of the
world, the journeys culminate with meet-
ing the farmers and assessing all aspects of
the operation prior to making any purchase.
“Our coffee can’t just taste good, it has to
come from growers who are following good
environmental practices ... whose employees
are being treated well and benefit from the
appropriate medical, housing and basic re-
sources anyone should expect,” says Plahn.
That process has led to remarkable chang-
es in communities throughout the world. In
one case, after a recent trip to Kenya where
the company discovered a fascinatingly fla-
vorful coffee variety, it was learned that
drought conditions severely impacted the
residents and growers alike. Dunn Bros pro-
vided the community with an “aquapulper”
a device that allows farmers to use only a
tenth of the water they would traditionally
use to process coffee. The only problem was
that the device runs on electricity and this
small town had no electrical infrastructure.
Dunn Bros went a step further and through
the project ensured that the power lines were
in place so that today, the villagers all have
access to electricity.
