FIRSTHAND Cooperative is a worker-owned coffee company located in the heart of Appalachia. Inspired by the principles of the fair trade movement, we connect producers and consumers in mountain communities through our fair share guarantee. This commitment to mutual aid and our vision for a sharing economy along coffee supply chains supports social enterprise development abroad and right here in our mountain home.
Campus Co-op Affiliates
FIRSTHAND would not exist without the dedication of its students. Their collective volunteer labor is the backbone of our organization, and they are rewarded with opportunity for travel, scholarships, internships, and more. Our Student Co-op Affiliates play an active role supplementing the financial support that FIRSTHAND is able to provide to our partner organizations, and they are the leaders in educating consumers about our brand and mission.
Business partnerships
Make FIRSTHAND your signature coffee and solidarity economies a part of your business model. We offer a full range of fair trade organic coffees from around the world, as well as full service retail support and consulting to outfit your business. We not only deliver the highest quality but also offer some of the most competitive pricing around.
Consumers
As a FIRSTHAND coffee drinker you go from being a conscious consumer to an active player in building solidarity economies. Our product not only provides a steady market for coffee producers to earn a just wage, but also creates an investment fund for cooperative and social business development in mountain communities across the world.
We also highly encourage member participation in our annual member meetings!
Partners
Our community development partners in Nicaragua and West Virginia ensure that each dollar earned from FIRSTHAND Coffee sales is put to work in building a global solidarity economy.
