TORONTO, ONTARIO, Canada – &BACK COFFEE, a Certified Women-Owned and B Corp business redefining coffee as a force for good, has been awarded the Innovative Achievement of the Year Award from the Coffee Association of Canada. This award recognizes &BACK COFFEE’s transformative contributions to sustainability, women’s empowerment, and community impact in the Canadian coffee industry.
Empowering women is at the heart of &BACK COFFEE – supporting women coffee farmers from bean-to-cup-&BACK – through responsible sourcing and reinvesting in women farmers and their communities. At &BACK COFFEE, brewing change goes beyond coffee; it is about creating a regenerative economic flywheel that empowers women, builds sustainable communities, and promotes responsible consumption.
“This recognition from the Coffee Association of Canada underscores the power of a responsibly created coffee through the entire value chain as a force to create profound and sustainable change for both people and the planet,” said Roxanne Joyal, Founder and CEO of &BACK COFFEE.
“At &BACK COFFEE, we are committed to helping bring purpose into businesses across North America. By choosing to serve &BACK COFFEE, we help companies meet sustainability goals, diverse supplier commitments and green procurement objectives, all while offering a premium coffee experience that uplifts women coffee farmers and their communities. Receiving the Innovation of the Year Award inspires us to keep pushing boundaries to redefine the coffee industry as a vehicle to drive meaningful impact.”
&BACK COFFEE received the Innovative Achievement of the Year Award at the Coffee Association of Canada’s annual conference, themed Coffee Unites, on November 14, 2024. Robert Carter, President of the Coffee Association of Canada, praised &BACK COFFEE’s commitment to purpose-driven impact when presenting the award. “The Innovative Achievement of the Year Award recognizes a company, product or service that will positively benefit the future of coffee,” said Robert Carter. “&BACK COFFEE exemplifies purpose-driven impact with its three-pronged model—responsibly sourced coffee, environmental stewardship, and giving back. Through its innovative approach to positively impact the coffee industry, &BACK COFFEE embodies what it means to make a difference with every cup.”
Made from 100 percent Arabica beans and roasted locally in Ontario, Canada, &BACK COFFEE is a premium, responsibly sourced coffee from Fairtrade and Rainforest Alliance Certified cooperatives in East Africa and Latin America. In partnership with Fairtrade, &BACK COFFEE works with representatives on the ground to identify and work with coffee cooperatives that prioritize the inclusion of women coffee farmers. By working directly with these women-led cooperatives, &BACK COFFEE ensures that women coffee farmers receive fair wages and have access to resources that support their economic empowerment. By empowering women farmers with economic opportunity, &BACK COFFEE promotes gender equity in a typically male-dominated industry and supports sustainable community growth due to the powerful multiplier effect – that women reinvest 90 percent of their earnings into their families, households, and communities.
Through its ImpactQRC platform, featured on all packaging and merchandising, &BACK COFFEE connects coffee consumers directly to the farmers and stories behind their cup of coffee. This purpose-driven innovative platform offers engaging content, such as stories from women farmers, updates from the field and impact reports, to educate consumers on responsibly sourced products and highlight the positive impact made by their choice of coffee.
&BACK COFFEE is deeply committed to environmental sustainability. The company uses Omnidegradable® packaging, which breaks down faster than traditional plastic, reducing its environmental impact. &BACK COFFEE is also Climate Neutral certified, measuring and offsetting its annual carbon footprint, and partners with 1% for the Planet, contributing a portion of its revenue to support environmental conservation and reforestation projects in countries along the coffee belt, helping to protect the ecosystems that are vital to the future of coffee farming.
