Members
The shops that run Common Grounds
Each Member is an independent coffee shop that keeps its own staff, menu, brand and books, and shares the work of running the cooperative. Each section is in the shop's own colors, and in its own words where it has published any.
Member, Mesa
Beanchain Coffee
“Beanchain is worker directed today and a worker owned cooperative on the way.”
A worker-directed coffee shop and free shared workspace on West Southern Avenue in Mesa.
Its mission, which it calls the Beanchain, is a plan to end poverty in America, worked out through stronger small businesses and more people in a position to own them.
What it brings to the cooperative
- Co-founder David Baxter develops The Handbook Company platform, where the ROAST tools would be built.
- Beanchain was the site of Circular Earth's first waste-diversion setup with Mesa Youth Climate Action Fund support: reusable cups, a food recycler and weekly collection.
Member, Tempe
Cafetal Coffee
“Cafetal Coffee is a specialty coffee shop in Tempe, Arizona, proudly serving coffee sourced directly from our family’s farm in Colombia.”
The farm sits on a mountain in Santa Barbara, Colombia, and was started by co-founder Sebastian Ramirez’s great-grandfather. Sebastian and Nikki Ramirez carry the family’s work on at their shop in Tempe.
What it brings to the cooperative
- A founding Member. If ROAST is funded, Cafetal is one of the shops that pilots its tools and supplies the first measurements.
- Best Coffee Shop
- Phoenix New Times, Best of Phoenix 2025
Member, Downtown Phoenix
Fair Trade Cafe
“Coffee with a conscience.”
A downtown Phoenix coffeehouse serving shade-grown, organic, fair-trade coffee, with baked goods made in house, a rotating gallery of local art, and community events.
It is the longest-standing Latina-owned coffeehouse in downtown Phoenix.
What it brings to the cooperative
- Fair Trade Cafe applied for the ROAST grant on the cooperative’s behalf, and would pilot its tools.
- Recognized
- Platinum Phoenix Green Business Leader
The café inside the Arizona Capitol Museum, named after Arizona’s state flower. It opened on February 14, 2025.
It is a regular stop for lawmakers and state employees.
What it brings to the cooperative
- Its place at the Capitol gives the cooperative a view to state policymakers, and if ROAST is funded it pilots the tools there.
Working beside the Members
Our Sustainability Partner
The governance draft makes room for organizations that help run the cooperative's sustainability work: its data, its funding and its strategy. Circular Earth is the first.
Sustainability Partner, Phoenix
Circular Earth
“Better businesses create healthier ecosystems and societies.”
A zero-waste consulting collaborative and think tank. Its consultants are Certified TRUE Advisors with backgrounds in governance, academic research and business consulting.
Circular Earth led the ten-month study, funded by Arizona State University’s Create the Change program, that brought the founding shops together and ended with them deciding to form a cooperative.
What it brings to the cooperative
- The cooperative’s sustainability, data and funding partner: it interprets the study data and maps partners and funders. If ROAST is funded, Circular Earth would coordinate the pilot and lead the outreach to new businesses.
- Mesa Youth Climate Action Fund
- Round 2 projects at Jarrod’s Coffee, Tea & Gallery and the Mesa Dining Room and Community Garden
Run a coffee shop in Arizona?
Tell us about your shop. The cooperative is starting small, and will grow as its first project shows what works.