One of the first coffees we ever sold, “The Original Hipster”, was from Yemen. It wasn’t a great coffee, and certainly wasn’t sourced from a good importer (more on that irony later) – but with good intentions, I wanted to highlight this beautiful region. Why? Because I genuinely believe, and even more so now, that Yemen has the most exquisite and delicious coffee in the world. And because it was at the time, and still is, facing one of the greatest humanitarian crises ever. So the underlying foundation to these decisions? Justice.
Last week I wrote a stream of consciousness about our first core value, Authenticity. The second one that I’d like to expound on is Justice. Both of these values are a part of personality and in my core being. Not sure how, maybe nature. Maybe some nurture from all the bible memorization growing up. But nonetheless they are there. I hate bullies. I despise injustice in the world, particularly on those who are less fortunate. So much that I find myself dedicating so much of my time and life to learning and understanding these injustices, and processing how I am to play a role, if at all (cue learned realization of privileged while male savior complex).
I also recognize and acknowledge that I can only do so much. I am not even necessarily designed to absorb so much of the world’s pain. We’re not meant to be omniscient. But here we are. 2025. Global communication and access to nearly all information (except what they wanna hide 😉)...
But that’s why I love what we’ve built. It took some time… but I quickly learned the opportunity I had to enact justice through my business. Stop pandering (though well intended) and just act. Be. Buy better coffee. Pay employees more. Be a voice in ways that actually help bring change, at least I hope. I genuinely believe that regardless of one's religious or political beliefs, this is a core human concept that we seek to enact in our business practices as well as build a community of coffee drinkers who resonate with it.
The irony I mention above is the reality that though my purchase of that coffee had good intentions, my ignorance of who I was buying from arguably had a worse impact than the change I wanted it to carry. Ignorance is bliss I guess. But we learn, and we hopefully grow.
So for us at MP, we’re starting with just being more intentional with where we buy coffee, and who we buy coffee from. Then we do our best (though oftentimes fail) to educate and invite our consumers to learn more and participate alongside us. There is so much shit in this world, and we can only do so much, but I believe our dollars, and our purchasing choices, can truly be the best change. So by being as transparent and open as we can, we allow you to make better purchasing decisions, which has the potential to slowly shift systemic issues in this industry.
Thanks to my dear friends at Qima Coffee, I have had the opportunity to learn so much more about Yemen, and try and use that relationship to bring justice, even if in small doses to a few farmers. I am proud of that continued partnership (more Yemen coffees coming soooooon!) and our small impact in that region.
And let’s just be clear… I am not a fan of the US participation and involvement in the Yemen conflict. I mourn the damage that has been done since the conflict began, the lives lost, and the tens of millions in need. And now more strikes, which I’ve heard from friends just yesterday, hit more civilian based areas (versus more military concentrated areas). Not to mention, USAID help & programs dismantled… I don’t know about you, but having a US treasury seal with a scale representing “justice” on our dollars just feels f+cking gross to me right now.
So join me as we attempt to practice what we preach.
Get Mad. Stay Blessed.
+Michael
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