The Balance of Profit & Purpose

By Tara Walston

I consider myself in the “Coffee Business.”  

As a multi-unit coffee shop owner and an Area Representative helping develop a major coffee brand, BIGGBY COFFEE, with 450 locations in 13 states, visiting a coffee farm can be a transformative experience, both professionally and personally. It deepened my connection to the coffee we serve, enhanced my understanding of the industry, and quite honestly brought the Farm-Direct purpose and meaning full circle as one of the greater purposes behind my business. The balance of Profit & Purpose.  

Tara Walston (right) and her daughter, Maddi, also a BIGGBY COFFEE franchisee.

Great question, let’s start with some background. Bob Fish Co-Founded BIGGBY COFFEE back in 1995. Fast forward, Bob & his wife Michelle Fish, Co-Founded ‘One Bigg Island in Space’ in 2018, creating our 100% Farm-Direct mission.

I remember hearing Bob & Michelle talking about this Farm-Direct thing years ago, to varying degrees of reaction from owner operators in BIGGBY Nation. Some curious, some shaking their heads in disapproval, some not even listening to understand. Mostly, I heard concern of pricing, which impacts our bottom line. Isn’t that what every entrepreneur naturally looks at, bottom line and profit?

At the same time, we are BIGGBY COFFEE! We have always invested in community and believed that giving is getting, and BIGGBY COFFEE exists to help you build a life you love. Were Bob & Michelle on to something? I was curious, intrigued, and yes, cautiously optimistic.

As time progressed, they have certainly pushed forward on a mission much larger than any of us owners imagined back then. As an Area Representative, I helped coordinate an in-market meeting with owners to hear all about One Bigg Island in Space directly from Bob & Michelle, and I stood smiling at the back of a packed event, standing room only. There was no grumbling, ok, one operator, but isn’t there always that one? Rather, a room of hands up waiting to ask questions and hear more. The vision has landed, owners are buying in.

A Name, A Face, A Place for EVERY cup of coffee we serve.

Waiting for our ride at the Managua Airport in Nicaragua

Let me explain “Coffee People” and Farm-Direct now that I have traveled with OBIIS to El Recreo Farm Estate in Jinotega, Nicaragua. It might make more sense.

I remember meeting Miriam Morales, daughter of Carlos & Leana Ferrey of the El Recreo Farm at her first experience with at our annual BIGGBY Nation Summit. So happy and friendly and excited to be there. And when we met, she gave me the warmest hug! I recall her words “Tara, someday you must bring your team to my farm in Nicaragua, you will love it.” And so on that day, I knew we would meet again in Nicaragua. Of course, we met several times after that including the wedding of our Michigan friends Matt & Shannon!

Miriam Morales at the BIGGBY NATION SUMMIT in 2022

Fast forward, October 2025, it happened. Maddi, Sarah and I were lucky enough to be offered a spot on the trip to El Recreo! Maddi is my daughter who chose to become a BIGGBY COFFEE owner/operator and additionally helps lead our development team in opening new stores from Michigan to Illinois. Sarah has been with us since we opened our first store in South Haven, Michigan in 2016 and helps lead corporate training alongside Maddi throughout the territory. We’re “those” BIGGBY girls, we bleed orange, we cheer loud, we love deep, and we are fired up to learn about coffee farming. Side note, I grew up on a farm, so I laugh that the farm girl is about to return to the farm. How exciting!

Visiting the farm where your coffee beans are grown fosters a deep connection to the product you serve every day. I no longer see coffee, I see people.

Sarah Hallgren, Maddi Walston and Tara Walston at El Recreo

The faces on the farm that start at 2:30am to brew “cowboy coffee” and make tortillas for the workers, and the crew that lines up at dawn to work. Sometimes I laugh and hear Bob Marley that played during the 2:30am kitchen duty, so unexpected, but couldn’t help but love it even mid-sleep!

]This isn’t home. Some days we didn’t have power, some days we didn’t have electricity. I recall how difficult climbing those hillsides were, even with my fancy hiking boots, yet those ladies passed me by with flip flops and wearing baskets around their waist. I smile when I think of the dirt on my hands and under my nails, as I planted 3 of my own BIGGBY COFFEE trees, I’m proud to explain that in 3 years my little trees will be producing coffee. I no longer see my 16oz Americano Extra Shot, instead of think of roughly 70 coffee beans per shot = 280 beans to make my drink each day!

Paula Thompson, Sarah Hallgren and Tara Walston planting coffee trees at El Recreo

Farm-Direct is knowing by paying a fair price and working directly with farmers, people like Miriam and Hector Morales and her brother Carlos Ferrey of El Recreo can impact their people. I watched early mornings and late evening as they took time to chat with people around the farm. We saw first-hand how they feed them lunch daily and send home food for their families. And how they provide housing for a couple who have aged out of working but deserve their place on the farm. The love they have for people is powerful, and through the stories, we learned it comes from the hearts of their parents Carlos & Leana Ferrey who always put their community first.

Sharing lunch with the farm workers at El Recreo

Farm- Direct means Sixto Rodriguez, who taught us to plant trees, care for them, and even pick the cherries. Sixto placed a basket on my hips and snapped his fingers as I was too slow in my process! He pushed us to learn and experience his world, while making us laugh, including a near landslide crisis with Sarah and me plunking my bottom in the mud as he pushed me to keep going up the steep hillside and jump a 4 ft trench!

Sixto took us hiking up a hillside at dusk one night, Bob had asked if he would show us his farm. Turns out we were the first visitors to ever see his fields. When we left El Recreo Farm and stepped onto his land, the look of pride in that man’s eyes was unforgettable, his entire body stood strong with his arms out to show us his world. The first visitors, what an amazing moment in time for all of us on this trip. We stopped to catch our breath, enjoy his moment, see an amazing sunsetting in the backdrop, and snap a few photos of a proud man and his coffee trees. The laughs and tears of joy in that moment will carry forward with every cup we serve in our stores. I no longer see coffee, I see people.

Best of all, when I think of Farm-Direct, I hear the words of the people on the farm when Bob asked what has changed since the partnership with OBIIS and BIGGBY COFFEE. Each of the stories had a common theme, one of hope, change, opportunity, and growth. Several described the farm as dying, now the see it growing and improving thanks to our partnership. These are words of the workers, not owners, not Miriam, but her people on the farm. I appreciated how she encouraged them to have a voice and share their experience, hopes, and even dreams with us.

As we sat around a table hearing about their experience with Farm-Direct Partnership, they asked many questions about us. Suddenly we realized, the workers didn’t know how we use their beans, what our coffee tastes like, or how many customers per day line up to experience the fruits of their labor. The BIGGBY crew all jumped up and shared photos of drinks, stores, people, our BIGGBY NATION SUMMIT where other farm-direct partners were recognized. We invited them to join when they can, we would love to host them in our world.

It was in that moment that I realized, WE ARE ALL COFFEE PEOPLE. Around that table, we had connected the dots from dirt, plants, cherries, to the powerful people who developed them into the quality beans we serve. From the farm workers to the coffee shop owners, we are all coffee people together at this moment. We all have the same visions of hope, opportunity, and a bright future.

Coffee is not just a commodity, it’s a tree, a farmer, a family, a community that deserves more. We saw the OBIIS mission of buying coffee in action, real partnerships, ensuring sustainability, fairness, community impact with every cup. BIGGBY COFFEE has a goal of 100% Farm-Direct, it’s a better way.

A name, a face, a place for every cup of coffee we serve.

Thank YOU for supporting us in our mission.