The late Bob Marley spread a message of peace, love and sustainability through his music. Today, his son, Rohan Marley, works to spread his own version of that message through coffee. That’s right—coffee.
He created Marley Coffee—a multi-million dollar enterprise that produces pesticide-free coffee on his Jamaican farm. He gives a nod to his dad’s musical fame by naming some of his coffee varieties after some of the well-loved Marley songs: One Love, Buffalo Soldier, Lively Up!, and Get up, Stand up.
The website store offers ground coffee, whole bean and single serve capsules, along with light, medium or dark roast and regular or decaf versions. The company is currently focused on launching EcoCup™, an easy-to-recycle sustainable single-serve capsule that will greatly reduce the amount of waste in comparison to traditional K-Cups and single serve compatibles.
Related: Bewdly Coffee: Wake Up With Gourmet Flavors
Born in Jamaica, Rohan Marley moved to the U.S. with his family in 1972. He studied sociology at the University of Miami and played as linebacker for the Hurricanes. In 1999, he returned to his roots and used inheritance from his father to buy a 52-acre farm.
Marley Coffee is invested in giving back to the world and it does so through 1Love.org, which is a movement to do good in honor of Bob Marley’s vision of hope and unity.
“My passion is giving back to the earth and giving back to the people, so as long as we are making coffee, it will be grown organically or certified through the Rainforest Alliance so that we make sure to take care of the land as well as the people farming the land,” said Marley.
“We also donate one cent of every single-serve capsule sold to the Water Wise Coffee Project, an organization dedicated to improving the water quality in coffee-producing countries around the world. Currently, Water Wise is helping to build vetiver grass wetlands of Ethiopia in the Sidama region’s Kolla River to filter the water used to clean the coffee cherries.”
