In recognition of Earth Day, Rogers Family Coffee of Lincoln is planting a native rainforest tree on its Central American coffee farms for everyone who joins its online coffee clubs.

Rogers Family Coffee, formerly of San Leandro, is in the process of moving its operations to Lincoln, and does about 80 percent of its roasting in town, said Jon Rogers, the company’s founder and CEO.

The tree planting will work to reduce carbon emissions, fight global warming and protect a vanishing bird habitat, said Jim Zelinski, the company’s spokesman.

Shade-grown coffee has a big impact on carbon emissions, according to Delta Willis, senior communication manager for the Audubon Society.

“The (absorbing) of the carbon is much better when you have a mix of shade trees and coffee,” Willis said. “When you have coffee trees combined with shade trees, there are 20 tons of carbon absorbed per hectare (2 ½ acres) per year. With just coffee trees, six tons of carbon are absorbed per hectare per year.”

Willis added that with the destruction of rainforests in South and Central American countries, shade trees planted on coffee plantations help provide habitat for birds migrating south for the winter.

The Audubon Society licenses some shade-grown coffee for those reasons, Willis said.

Rogers’ Audubon Shade-Grown Coffee is one such line, according to Zelinski.

In addition to the obvious natural benefits, Rogers said it also makes good business sense.

“You get better coffee if you’ve got trees shading the coffee,” Rogers said. “I don’t really know why. They tend to hold the nutrients in the soil. It’s a variety of things but it just makes the coffee taste better.”

The best way to reduce the company’s carbon footprint, Rogers said, is to grow shade trees.

Rogers Coffee Company is not even close to being carbon-neutral, Rogers said, as it puts “something like 7,500 tons of carbon into the atmosphere, and we take out about 15,000 tons. We’re carbon-negative.”

“We are a different kind of coffee company,” Rogers said. “We had to make sure the quality of life of the people on the farms improved. We have constructed a huge number of houses.”

Rogers said the emphasis is always on quality, be it the taste of the coffee or the environment for the employees.

“If you build housing, better workers come over, and you get better quality. Last year, we spent almost $1 million on that, and this year, we’ve budgeted $1.4 million.”

Rogers Coffee products are available at retailers like Costco and Save Mart, Rogers said.

The Costco in Roseville is the closest store to buy coffee at, Rogers said, and the Kirkland Signature brand is one of his products.

Rogers Coffee Company has more than 3,500 product lines, including San Francisco Bay Premium Gourmet Coffee, Pleasant Hill Farms and Café Jerusalem.

Rogers operates in Mexico, Panama, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Ethiopia and Rwanda.

Currently, the Lincoln roasting plant near the airport has 80 to 100 employees, Rogers said. When the move from San Leandro is completed this year, 150 jobs will be in Lincoln.

The move was the result of wanting to get off the intersection of two fault lines, Rogers said, adding that Lincoln represented a place that has a good quality of life and easy access to highways.

To sign up for one of Rogers’ coffee clubs, go online to rogersfamilycoffeeco.com, and a tree will be planted on one of the company’s all-organic farms in Central America. The program will continue a minimum of 100 years, through Earth Day, 2109.

Brandon Darnell can be reached by e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .