The idea for Higher Grounds started to take shape in 2001 when owner and co-founder Chris Treter was living and working among coffee farmers at the Maya Vinic cooperative in Chiapas, Mexico as part of a post-graduate internship. He became aware that poverty and lack of access to basic resources such as education and water were simply a way of life. It became a passion of his to help the coffee farmers, and find a way to bring organic coffee to the States.  Based in Traverse City, Higher Grounds has B Corp Certification.  B Corp Certification shows that Higher Grounds values the environment, their community, and the communities of their suppliers in addition to Higher Grounds' financial bottom line.People + planet + profit. B Corp certification is to business what USDA Organic certification is to milk. As Higher Grounds grows, they are using their B Corp certification and networks to measure themselves against universal sustainability standards, keeping their triple-bottom-line values (people/planet/profit) at the core of that growth and ensure that the mission they were founded on is protected.

---