Two Futures for Coffee: Heirloom’s Pathways of Regeneration
Coffee beans growing amongst diverse plants
Coffee is at a crossroads.
Rising temperatures, erratic rainfall, and disease pressure are shaking the foundations of the global coffee industry. Farmers are being pushed upslope into fragile forests. Livelihoods are strained. Biodiversity is shrinking.
But another story is possible, and it’s already starting to be told.
From Pacayal to a Broader Movement
In our last look at Heirloom Coffee Roasters, we mapped their journey onto the Regenerative Innovation Canvas. That story began with Pacayal Coffee Cooperative in Honduras, where regenerative practices - from capturing mountain-cave microbes to building shade-grown ecosystems - helped transform barren clay into living soil.
Pacayal was the opening act: proof that regeneration can drive real ecological and economic resilience. Since then, Heirloom has deepened and broadened that story:
Cooperativa Sacacli in Nicaragua: Heirloom was the first brand to bring commercially available ROC® (Regenerative Organic Certified) coffee from Sacacli to market, scaling regenerative practices in Central America. Vending Market Watch
ASOPEP in Colombia (Planadas region): A ROC-certified cooperative of 275 members, equipped with full coffee infrastructure and growing visibility in national trade shows. Heirloom Coffee Roasters
FECCEG in Guatemala: ROC-certified federation uniting 12 base cooperatives; social premiums from their coffee support school improvements and women’s loan funds. Heirloom Coffee Roasters
Finca Churupampa in Peru: The first ROC-certified cooperative in the country, run by the Tocto brothers, who reinvest in regenerative farming, compost production, roots, and vibrant community development. Heirloom Coffee Roasters
These partnerships demonstrate that Heirloom’s regenerative impact now extends across Latin America - anchored in ROC®, steeped in farm-level innovation, and invested in long-term social infrastructure.
On the roasting and distribution side, Heirloom has continued to pioneer:
The world’s largest fleet of electric, zero-emission roasters, bringing ROC coffee into national markets.
Recognition as the first regenerative coffee to win a Good Food Award.
Launch of a Regenerative Coffee Research Lab in Oakland equipped with 16 fully electric Bellwether roasters - serving as a hub for innovation and co-roasting for new regenerative brands. Food Engineering
These are not endpoints, they are signposts on a pathway. And the deeper question is: where could Heirloom - and the broader coffee sector - go next?
A Tale of Two Futures
Every industry faces a turning point. Coffee makes it tangible:
Future A (Business-as-Usual): Expanding into fragile ecosystems; synthetic inputs; soil erosion; shrinking livelihoods; rising emissions; plummeting biodiversity.
Future B (Regenerative Pathways): Soil as carbon sink; shade-grown biodiversity corridors; thriving farming communities; consumers connected to story and place.
Heirloom already walks the regenerative path. The Regenerative Innovation Canvas helps us map where they might journey next.
Pathways Through the Canvas
Rather than a static snapshot, the Canvas clarifies regeneration as an ongoing series of choices:
Habitat & Living Systems: Transition from farm-level synergy toward landscape-scale restoration - supporting corridors, watersheds, and regional biodiversity.
Food, Water & Nutrient Cycles: Build on compostable packaging by co-designing circular systems with consumers - compost drop-offs, waste-to-resource loops.
Climate & Energy Balance: Evolve from zero-emission roasting to full renewable sourcing across operations, logistics, and partners.
Biodiversity, Health & Resilience: Pair ROC outcomes with metrics that track ecological and social resilience - pollinators, living incomes, clean water.
Knowledge, Innovation & Evolution: Share Pacayal’s microbial soil tech, ASOPEP’s infrastructure model, Sacacli’s ROC evolution - as shared assets for the sector.
Kinship & Culture: Deepen storytelling - QR codes to farmer voices, interactive dashboards tracking biodiversity gains, community-based brewing events tied to regenerative impact.
The Takeaway for Leaders
Heirloom’s trajectory shows that regeneration isn’t a finish line. It’s a direction revealed by each choice. Their transition from a single cooperative to a mosaic of ROC-certified partnerships across continents demonstrates how pathways emerge organically.
You can’t manage what you don’t see. The Regenerative Innovation Canvas opens that view, anchoring business decisions to living systems, innovation, and narrative. And it can be applied to any business.
An Invitation
If your organization is nearing its own crossroads, remember: the path of extraction is predictable, and heading directly into collapse. Regeneration is less traveled, sure; but Heirloom is proof it’s rich, viable, and deeply rooted in life.
Let our Canvas be your map. Workshops and co-creation sessions are your lodestar. And a community of regenerative leaders is walking the path with you.
Which future will your business help create?