By KATIE WISELY
WISH-TV | wishtv.com
A Noblesville man has turned his love for coffee into a good cause by operating a small-batch coffee roaster with ethically-sourced coffees from around the world.
Jeff Canada came up with the idea after he went birding for the first time. He is one of only 23 roasters in the country certified by the Smithsonian Institute as bird-friendly.
Wood Warbler Coffee just launched in August, and it has eight conservation partners. The coffees are Smithsonian bird-friendly, rain forest alliance and fair trade certified.
There are strict regulations to make sure the coffee is shade-grown and organic. Canada says Science Magazine came out with a report that said since 1970, more than three billion birds have gone missing. He has coffee beans from Honduras, El Salvador, Peru and Colombia.
The purpose is to raise funds for the conservation of natural habitat for migratory songbirds and other wildlife.
Canada said if you’re not buying this shade-grown coffee, which helps the environment, you’re buying the opposite. He said it’s grown in the sun and forces parts of the rain forest to get knocked down.
“Birds play a much larger role in our environment and ecosystem than people realize,” Canada said. “You know, I don’t really know where we would be without them. But there are a lot of studies and reports out there that show that birds do a lot of good for the environment, and they do a lot of good for my soul as well. When I go out and I go birding, I don’t think about anything else.”
The coffee isn’t roasted until an order is placed, which must be done online. A 12-ounce bag is $15. Every time someone buys a bag of coffee from a specific organization, 10 percent of the sale goes back to that organization.
The wholesale coffee roasting operations is the official coffee provider for the Colts VIP tailgate.
Wood Warbler Coffee is currently expanding its wholesale operation. Wildbirds Unlimited in Cincinnati carries the coffee and soon another in Columbus, Ohio. You can find the coffee locally at Fort Harrison State Park Inn and two donut shops in Noblesville and Fishers called Krenolies.
Every month, Wood Warbler Coffee chooses a local organization to support. In November, it’s working with the Indiana Raptor Center in Nashville.
To purchase coffee, click here.