“COMMUNITY & EQUALITY”
RIVAL BROS. IS PROUD TO ANNOUNCE THE CHAMPION BLEND, A SPECIALLY CRAFTED COFFEE BLEND CREATED AS PART OF AN INITIATIVE WITH LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS TO PROMOTE AND SUPPORT ISSUES IMPORTANT TO MARGINALIZED POPULATIONS WITHIN OUR CITY. WE HAVE PARTNERED WITH TWO NON-PROFITS THAT ARE ACTIVELY ENGAGED IN THE CITY TO RECEIVE A PORTION OF OUR CHAMPION BLEND SALES TO FURTHER THEIR MISSIONS. WORKING WITH OUR CHARITABLE PARTNERS, WE’LL ALSO DEDICATE OUR TIME, ENERGY AND RESOURCES IN WAYS THAT FOSTER OPEN DIALOGUE, EDUCATION, ECONOMIC PROGRESS, OPPORTUNITY, AND SOCIAL JUSTICE WITHIN THESE COMMUNITIES. THE NAME CHAMPION BLEND NOT ONLY REFERS TO CHAMPIONING CAUSES, BUT ALSO RECOGNIZES OUR PHILADELPHIA NEIGHBORS WHO FIGHT FOR CHANGE. WE HAVE TAKEN TIME DURING THIS VERY TURBULENT YEAR TO LISTEN, TO LEARN, AND NOW, WE’RE WORKING TO BECOME A PART OF THE SOLUTION.
OUR CURRENT CHARITABLE PARTNERS:
-
Philadelphia Black Giving Circle (PBGC):
-
A giving circle is when individuals come together around a common issue/cause and pool their collective charitable dollars to have greater impact. The Philadelphia Black Giving Circle's mission is to cultivate charitable giving within the Black community, build capacity and financial sustainability of Black-led non-profits, and address the most pressing needs facing the Black community in the Greater Philadelphia region. PBGC will be our long-term charitable partner for Champion Blend. For more information about PBGC, please visit phillyblackgiving.org
-
Gemma Services
-
Gemma Services is a Philadelphia-area nonprofit whose mission is to change lives by transforming hope into action for children, youth, and families facing emotional and behavioral difficulties. Gemma Services was formed in 2019 by the merger of two long-standing nonprofits, theVillage and Silver Springs-Martin Luther School, both of which were founded in the 1800s as orphanages. Representing a combined 300+ years of service, today Gemma provides residential and community based behavioral health services, foster care and adoption programs, a special education school, and prevention programs that help more than 3,000 children, teens, and families each year. Many of the children and families served by the organization have experienced significant traumas and Gemma’s dedicated teams utilize evidence based practices and data-driven approaches to help youth and families to heal, learn new skills, and reach their goals. To learn more about Gemma’s work to make hope shine for vulnerable members of our local communities, please visit www.gemmaservices.org.
ABOUT CHAMPION BLEND DONATIONS:
For every 12 oz. bag of Champion Blend sold through our cafes, online or through our retail partners, Rival Bros. will donate $2 to be shared equally between PBGC and Gemma Services. In addition, for every pound of Champion Blend sold wholesale, $2 will be donated. While PBGC is our long-term partner throughout this initiative, we will rotate our second selected charity every 12 months to highlight a different focus within the community. We hope to encourage fellow Philadelphians to support these organizations through donations and volunteerism, whether they are coffee patrons or not. For more information, please visit their respective websites to find out how you can be of service.
For wholesale inquiries, please contact us here:
ABOUT CHAMPION BLEND COFFEES:
As part of this project, we will also be using the same principals in sourcing coffees for the Champion Blend. It’s our plan to always use two coffees in the blend and we’ll highlight the origin and producers. With that being said, the flavor profile of this blend may be fluid as we rotate in different origins from coffee growing regions around the world. As we change the components, we will provide updates and announcements as we introduce the new producers and flavor profiles. You can expect these to change every six to eight months. Listed below, are the coffees we’ve selected for the second iteration of this blend. With this roast and blend, we taste toasted walnut, butter cookies, and blackcurrant.
-
Guatemala - ASPRODECGUA Fully Washed
-
REGION: HUEHUETENANGO
PRODUCER/GROUP: 664 SMALLHOLDERS WORKING WITH CAFE IMPORTS
The Asociación de Productores de Café Diferenciados y Especiales de Guatemala (ASPROCDEGUA) is comprised of 664 contributing members, 394 with organic certification, and 90 of whom participate in the group’s Manos de Mujer program. Each producing member owns a small farm, averaging 2 hectares. In addition to coffee, most of these farms rotate crops including bananas, citrus, avocado, guava, and cassava. Members are offered access to technical assistance and routinely provided services such as soil analysis, test farms, and social projects based on food security, education, and nutrition.
Although the association is not a formal sub–co-op, the premiums earned for their lots goes toward organic fertilizer distribution to the women farmers, among other benefits. In 2020, the premium was used to purchase dairy cows, which were distributed to both augment their household nutrition and to give them better access to organic matter from which to make their own organic compost.
-
Ethiopia - Yirgacheffe Fully Washed
-
REGION: GEDEO
PRODUCER/GROUP: SMALLHOLDERS WORKING WITH ROYAL COFFEE
As one of the most iconic coffee-producing regions in the world, Yirgacheffe coffees distinguish themselves with notes of bright citrus, floral highlights, and a mellow tea-like body. Grown at extremely high altitudes in iron-rich, acidic soils this precipitates incredible growing conditions for specialty coffees. This lot comes to us from smaller, family-owned farms in the Gedeo region, named for the people that reside there. The thick vegetation is a product of the warm tropical climate with moderate wet and dry seasons. Most coffee is shade-grown by small producers using organic practices. The multitude of micro regions creates complex profiles depending on the washing station a particular coffee is from.