2026 Impact Awards Winner: Van Houtte, KDRP

In 2025 and 2026, Van Houtte Coffee Services deepened its commitment to its partnership with &Back Coffee by sending employees to Ecuador on immersive &Origin Trips designed to support, educate, recognize and inspire employees across the organization.

As our exclusive national distribution partner in Canada, Van Houtte Coffee Services has played an essential role in helping scale both the reach and impact of &Back Coffee across workplaces and communities from coast to coast to coast. Together, we have created a meaningful engagement experience for both employees and customers alike by offering opportunities to connect directly with the farmers, communities and purpose behind the coffee they represent and serve every day. 

Through the &Back Coffee &Origin Experience, Van Houtte Coffee Services employees travel to coffee origin in Ecuador to witness firsthand the journey from “bean-to-cup-&Back.” These immersive experiences bring together employees from sales, customer experience, leadership, operations and business development teams to connect directly with coffee farmers, local communities, sustainability initiatives, and the broader ecosystem behind &Back Coffee.

Participants visit farms and farmers’ homes, learn about coffee cultivation and harvesting, engage in cupping and coffee education experiences, and spend time in the Amazon rainforest at Minga Lodge in Ecuador. Employees see firsthand how investments, supported through the collective efforts of Van Houtte Coffee Services, &Back Coffee, and local grassroots organizations, contribute to agricultural training, technical support, and community-led initiatives that help improve quality, productivity and long-term opportunity for farmers, their families, and their communities. 

The experience extends beyond coffee education. Through storytelling sessions, community dinners, cultural immersion, and shared experiences in the Amazon rainforest, employees build stronger relationships with colleagues while reinforcing the broader purpose behind their work. By investing in opportunities like this, Van Houtte Coffee Services demonstrates a meaningful commitment to employee recognition, engagement, and development, creating experiences that inspire learning, connection, and purpose in and far beyond the workplace.

A key component of the initiative is the ongoing &Back Coffee sales incentive (“SPIFF”) program, launched in 2025 and expanded in 2026. The program rewards employee engagement and sales performance with the opportunity to earn participation in future &Origin Experiences. Van Houtte Coffee Services also supported the launch of the &Back Ambassador Program, designed to extend participation opportunities beyond traditional sales roles and encourage broader employee involvement across the organization. Through activities such as customer tastings, social engagement, storytelling, event participation, and brand advocacy, employees across departments were empowered to actively engage with the &Back Coffee mission and share its impact with customers and colleagues alike.

The impact of the initiative has been significant. Year over year, survey results have demonstrated that every trip participant would recommend this experience to a colleague. Participants also praised the educational value of the trips and the strengthened connection they felt to both their employer and colleagues.

Participant feedback also consistently highlighted the power of connecting directly with farmers and seeing the impact firsthand, with many describing the experience as “perspective-shifting.” Employees returned with a renewed sense of purpose, becoming ambassadors within the organization and helping share the stories, relationships, and impact behind &Back Coffee with customers, colleagues, and partners across Canada—fuelling a flywheel of positive impact, locally and globally.

The initiative has also strengthened how employees communicate with customers and operators. By experiencing coffee at origin, participants develop a deeper understanding of sustainability, sourcing, and the people behind the product, enabling them to engage in more authentic and meaningful conversations with customers. 

Together, Van Houtte Coffee Services, Keurig Dr Pepper Canada, and &Back Coffee have built a partnership rooted in shared purpose and measurable impact. To date, the partnership has resulted in more than 201,000 lbs of &Back Coffee sold across Canada, reaching more than 600 customers nationwide*. In 2025 alone, more than 3.1 million cups of &Back Coffee were served through the partnership, while supporting initiatives such as the sponsorship of more than 70,000 Melipona bees. More than 30 Van Houtte Coffee Services employees have now traveled to coffee origin through the &Origin Experience program, creating a powerful connection between employees, customers and the communities behind the coffee they help serve every day.

At its heart, this initiative is about connection. Connection to the people behind the product, to the communities growing the coffee and to the impact that can be created when employees are given the opportunity to experience it firsthand. Van Houtte Coffee Services continues to demonstrate a meaningful commitment to investing in its people through experiences that inspire learning, engagement, recognition and shared purpose.