One of the highest B Corp scores in the world

Dean’s Beans Organic Coffee Company is proud to be the highest scoring B Corp certified coffee company  in the world, earning a B Impact score of 168.5 in our 2026 re-certification.
For more than thirty years, we’ve believed in using coffee as a vehicle for positive change.

That belief has shaped every part of our company, from how we source coffee and partner with coffee growing communities, to how we care for our employees, operate our roastery, and protect the environment.

Our B Impact score reflects that commitment. It recognizes decades of thoughtful decisions, continuous improvement and our 2023 transition to a 100% worker-owned cooperative. It demonstrates that specialty coffee and responsible business practices can grow together.

What is a Certified B Corp?

Certified B corporations are businesses that meet rigorous standards for social and environmental performance, accountability and transparency. 

Certification is administered by the nonprofit B Lab, which evaluates how companies operate across 5 key areas. 

• Governance - How a company is managed, including ethics, transparency, accountability, and whether its mission is built into its legal structure and decision making

• Workers - How well employees are supported  through compensation, benefits, workplace culture, professional development, health and safety, and opportunities such as worker ownership.

• Community - How a company works with suppliers, contributes to local communities, promotes economic opportunity, and creates positive social impact.

• Environment - How a business manages its environmental footprint through sourcing, energy use, waste reduction, emissions, conservation, and environmental stewardship.

• Customers - How products and services create value while operating with integrity, transparency, and responsibility.

What does a B Corp Score mean?

Every company completing the B Impact Assessment receives a score based on its overall social and environmental performance. To qualify, a business must receive a score of at least an 80. Average score is between 80-120. The average company completing the assessment scores a 50. 

In 2026 , we earned a B Impact score of 168.5.

That score places us among the highest performing B Corps in the world across all industries, and makes us the highest scoring coffee B Corp certified coffee company in the world. Most importantly, it reflects decades of continuous work to strengthen our impact for people and the planet.

Our B Corp journey

Dean’s Beans Organic Coffee first became a Certified B Corporation in 2018, earning an initial score of 99. Our first certification established a baseline for measuring our impact. It also challenged us to document the practices that had long been part of Dean’s Beans, evaluate our operations, and identify opportunities for continuous improvement to build on the work that had guided us since our establishment in 1993.

In 2021 our score increased to 110 reflecting progress across the business. We strengthened our systems, increased accountability and continued building on our mission to use coffee as a vehicle for positive change. 

In 2023 founder Dean Cycon sold Dean’s Beans to the employees of the company, creating a 100% worker owned cooperative. Our 2024 B Corp recertification earned a B Impact score of 168.5, making Dean’s Beans the highest scoring B Corp certified coffee company in the world. The score reflects the transition to worker ownership together with years of work strengthening our governance, partnering with coffee growing communities, protecting the environment, and our longstanding commitment to continually improving.

Why our score increased

Worker ownership strengthens our business by giving the people who roast, package, ship and support our coffee a direct stake in its future. Decisions are made by people deeply invested in both the mission and the long term success of our company.

That transition strengthened our B Impact score, but even more importantly, it strengthened the culture of cooperation that has always defined Dean’s Beans.

How does worker ownership connect to sustainability and social impact

Worker ownership and B Corp certification are built on a similar belief: businesses create their greatest value when they consider the well being of people and the planet alongside financial success. At Dean’s Beans, becoming a 100% worker owned cooperative strengthened that commitment. The people who are responsible for the daily success of the company are also the owners, focused on the long term success of the company. Our  long term perspective means we make decisions that invest in people and the planet. That perspective aligns closely with the principles behind B Corp certification. It encourages responsible governance, meaningful employee engagement, long term partnerships with coffee growing communities, and continued investment in environmental stewardship. Becoming a worker owned cooperative strengthened a business that was already built around creating positive change.

What does 168.5 mean?

A B Impact score is built from hundreds of questions that evaluate how a business operates, 

It includes:

• Long term partnerships with coffee growing cooperatives

• Sourcing organic, Fair Trade and shade grown coffee

• Investing in People Centered Development projects

• Operating a solar powered roastery

• Transitioning into a worker owned cooperative

• And much more!

The score also reflects the systems and accountability behind those efforts. B Corp certification recognizes companies that measure their impact, continually improve their policies and practices, and integrate social and environmental responsibility into the way they do business. For us 168.5 is both a milestone and a benchmark. It recognizes where we are today while challenging us to continue improving in the years ahead.

What does B Corp mean to coffee?

Coffee is one of the world's most interconnected agricultural products. Every cup relies on the work of farmers, cooperatives, exporters, importers, roasters, retailers, and consumers, with decisions made along the way affecting people, communities and the environment. Being a B Corp provides a framework to measure the impact of those decisions across their entire operation. It evaluates not only what a company sells, but how it treats its employees, supports its suppliers, governs its business, serves its communities and manages its environmental footprint. That broader perspective matters. It encourages continuous improvements, greater transparency, and accountability across the industry.

Looking forward

Every B Corp recertification offers an opportunity to evaluate our progress, strengthen the way we operate, and a challenge to improve. As Dean’s Beans continues to grow as a worker owned cooperative, we’ll keep looking for ways to deepen our impact and build an even stronger business. Our score of 168.5 is an important milestone that serves as both a recognition of the work we’ve accomplished together and a benchmark for the work ahead. We’ll continue measuring our progress, holding ourselves accountable, and using specialty coffee as a vehicle for positive change.