Thunder Island Coffee Roasters, a Native American-owned, organic coffee brand that sources from Indigenous, family-owned coffee farms in Central and South America, is set to introduce its coffees in two MOM's Organic Market stores in August.
“We like to support and focus on locally roasted brands using certified organic beans and following practices that protect and restore the environment,” Molly Ashworth, grocery category manager at MOM's Organic Market, told SFA News Daily. “They're in line with our mission at MOM's.”
Thunder Island, based on the Shinnecock Indian Reservation in Southampton, New York, is considered local to MOM's stores in Dobbs Ferry, New York, and Paramus, New Jersey, where the retailer will debut six SKUs of the roaster's whole bean coffee.
The fact that Thunder Island is Native American-owned and operated is also important to MOM's, Ashworth said.
“Our customers seem to value knowing the origin and story of our vendors,” she said.
MOM's uses in-store signage to highlight its vendors' “unique and diverse stories” wherever possible, she added.
Ben Haile, founder and owner of Thunder Island, describes his business as a “native-to-native exchange” in which he buys unroasted, green coffee beans from organic, family-owned farms in Central and South America, and then roasts them at his facility, providing employment on the reservation in New York.
The company launched in 2004 by selling its coffees from a small shop on the edge of the reservation, and it also operated a coffee stand every year at the annual Shinnecock Indian Powwow, which is attended by people from throughout the region, and from other parts of the country as well.
“That built up our website business like crazy,” said Huile.
In 2007 Thunder Island expanded into six Whole Foods Market locations on Long Island, where it has retained a presence on store shelves.
The company's roasts, available as both whole beans and ground for automatic drip, are named after local Native American tribes, including Setauket Bleu, Montauk Blend, Canarsie Blend, Rockaway Roast, and Shinnecock Hills. It also has a Smoke Signals roast.
MOM's will carry all six roasts in whole-bean form, the retailer said.
Huile said MOM's originally asked what Thunder Island's three best sellers were — they are the Montauk and Canarsie Blends, and Smoke Signals — but the retailer decided to carry all six.
Thunder Island buys its beans through a broker that provides a list of farms that meet the roaster's criteria. In addition to being family-owned, fair trade and organic, the farms must also grow their beans at 4,000 feet altitude or higher to qualify as “strictly hard bean,” or SHB.
“These are very high quality green beans,” said Huile.
Huile learned the art of coffee roasting from Stephan Diedrich, who refined his father's coffee roasting machine design to create what is considered one of the best roasters available today and used worldwide.
“I've been roasting for a while, and experimenting over the years with different techniques, and using different types of beans,” said Huile.
Huile said his 1,500-square-foot roasting facility has the capacity to handle the increased volume he expects from MOM's, and he hopes to expand distribution into more retail stores, including additional locations of both MOM's and Whole Foods.
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