Welcome to our ongoing series, "Meet Your (Coffee) Makers!"
We have so many amazing customers who sell our coffee, and each is unique and dedicated to Organic and Fair Trade coffee for different reasons. We love highlighting our coffee partners since we simply could not do it without them.
For today's edition, we traveled to Acton, MA to meet with co-owner Bill Ray, who with his wife Hanka, have been proudly serving Dean’s Beans coffee for over 7 years at their café, The Acton Coffee House. This family-run establishment has included his daughter Eva, who served as a barista and his son Martin who worked as café manager, before heading off to college, graduate school and careers in the coffee industry. *Fun fact, both Eva and Martin went Java trekking with Dean’s Beans to Peru. How cool is that!?*
To learn more about their commitment to fair trade and their own coffee journey, read on!
Tell us your motivation to use Dean’s Beans Coffee!
It was Hanka who found out about Dean’s Beans coffee from Umesh Chuju, the owner of Zumi’s Café in Ipswich, MA. She had been doing a lot of reading about fair trade coffee and wanted to find coffee that embodied her family, career and business values. After speaking with Umesh and reading Dean’s book, JavaTrekker she felt like Dean’s Beans was the best fit and they have never looked back. Bill explained that over the years, both he and Hanka have been approached by “countless other coffee companies,” but that they have stuck by Dean’s Beans because they believe in what we do, our mission to run an ethical business and our delicious organic coffee options.
Like Dean's Beans, promoting change and coming together as a community is also important to Acton Coffee House. Hanka and Bill said the idea behind Acton Coffee house was to make their coffee house “an integral part of the community and to serve local citizens as a meeting and mixing place, as well as an escape.” This is why the space is also part art gallery, holds monthly poetry contests and employs local students as well as employees not traditionally from “coffee backgrounds.”
What are some of your menu favorites?
Your Italian Espresso Roast is the absolute best! While we currently carry at least 10 other Dean’s Beans coffees, we simply adore the Italian Expresso Roast – and use a lot of it!
Any upcoming things you’d like customers to know about?
We are constantly working on creating a green clean business. We are looking into reusable coffee cans and working on getting rid of plastic straws. We are committed to the environment and sustainability.
They are also ever evolving to serve their customers, which they just did by adding Nitro Cold Brew, the hottest iced coffee on the scene.
You can stop by Acton Coffee house located at:
525 Massachusetts Avenue
West Acton, MA 01720
Mon - Fri: 6:30AM - 5:00PM
Saturday: 7:00AM - 5:00PM
Sunday: 7:30AM - 5:00PM