Upstart company sells 'Coffee with a Cause'

By: TOM PFINGSTEN - Staff Writer

FALLBROOK (CA) -- An upstart coffee company is trying to add meaning to that morning cup of joe by blending business with a charitable endeavor that funnels money to worthy causes, its co-owners said last week.

Chad Mills and Scott Holmen, both residents of Fallbrook, allow their customers to choose a nonprofit organization that will receive a portion of what they pay for a bag of roasted beans.

Fallbrook-based Crown Coffee is about to enter its second year of selling coffee beans, mostly via the Internet, an enterprise that Mills, 31, and Holmen, 33, say they founded to earn a living and to benefit charitable organizations.

So far, the company has donated $12,000 to local charities, Holmen said last week.

It's an example of how a new wave of socially conscious businesses are making their way into daily life, Mills added.

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