Our Co-op
As an employee-owned cooperative we operate with a universal set of 7 Cooperative Principles that are adopted by most incorporated cooperatives worldwide:
- Open and Voluntary Membership
- Democratic Member Control
- Members’ Economic Participation
- Autonomy and Independence
- Education, Training and Information
- Cooperation Among Cooperatives
- Concern for Community
In addition to these, we also live by our self-defined Mission, Vision and Values statements that guide our strategic and everyday decisions and actions.
Our Mission
is to cultivate economic prosperity and collectivity for our employees, partners and communities by providing stable, dignified and safe employment, engaging cooperatively with mutual trust, and continuously learning about and sharing passion for our craft.Â
Our Vision
is elevating the experience of hospitality and production workers to create a higher standard of meaningful work in which coffee systems thrive.
Our Sourcing Model
True to the vision of our cooperative, our sourcing model works to rethink the value of coffee so that coffee systems can thrive. While we only source Speciality grade coffee, we understand that the majority of commercial grade coffee requires sustainable pricing and rebalancing power between producers and corporations. This is why we source certified coffee, to elevate the best in class standards for all coffee systems to thrive.Â
In addition to this foundation we require that the majority of the coffee we source (95%) is certified Fairtrade under the Fairtrade International production and trade standards.
We source certified organic coffee whenever possible. We also participate with additional standards including Smithsonian Migratory Bird Certified (Bird Friendly), International Women’s Coffee Alliance and Cafe Femenino. We do not participate with Fair Trade USA or the Rainforest Alliance.Â
Food Safety
Our coffee roasting operation is certified with Safe Quality Food (SQF) Institute, one of the most rigorous safety standards for food manufacturing. Our multi-stakeholder food safety team systematically reviews and verifies our plan for hazard analysis and critical control points, and receives ongoing training to ensure we are continuously improving our good manufacturing practices.Â
Living Wage
Gimme is a certified living wage employer with Living Wage for Us, the country’s only national living wage certification program.Â