MOLINE, Ill. — A pair of Quad City coffee business owners strapped on their running shoes to make a on-foot coffee delivery to Atkinson, Illinois... from Moline.
Ben Hermann and Braden Mosley, co-owners of Native Root Coffee, ran a 33-mile ultra marathon delivering coffee and highlighting just how much hard work from their Colombian partners goes into the coffee-making process.
Native Root Cafe is a brand company that circumvents the coffee industry's middlemen, working directly with the indigenous Colombian farmers that grow the supply and paying them at a higher rate than other companies.
"The more crazy stuff we do, the more reach essentially our farmers get just because we directly partner with all of our farmers. So all of our farmers are indigenous farmers down in Colombia, so we took out all the middle men in the coffee industry, so it actually allows us to pay them 10 to 15 percent above market value. So we just want to make sure they're being well taken care of," says Hermann.
Native Coffee later told News8 that the pair completed the run after 10 hours, and estimated they they burn about 5,500 calories.
Alongside the run, Native Coffee also came up with a Crossfit workout plan that incorporates a 150 lb bag of coffee to pay homage to their farmers' hard work.
Native Root Coffee doesn't have a physical store in the Quad Cities; instead, you can find their coffee online or at local Hy-Vee stores.