Coffee from the Jungle
A direct relationship, across continents, in service of a forest.
I'm Jessie, co-founder of Wild Nomad Elephant Commons.
I grew up on a small farm outside Damascus, Oregon, bottle-feeding lambs, rescuing baby birds, and following our dog Bandon through the pastures. Whatever emotion I was feeling, I always felt calmer after time outside with the animals. That hasn't changed.
In January 2019, I traveled to the jungles of Northern Thailand and walked alongside Asian elephants in their natural forest habitat for the first time. That week changed the direction of my life. It also began the relationships that would eventually lead to Wild Nomad and to my co-founder, Yo.
Wild Nomad exists because of those relationships. What began with elephants has grown into a much bigger understanding of how connected everything is: the Karen families who have cared for these forests and elephants for generations, the farmers growing coffee beneath the jungle canopy, and the possibility of creating livelihoods that allow both people and wildlife to remain connected to the land.
I do this alongside my partner Hannah, who traveled with me to Thailand in January 2026, and our twelve-year-old son. Hannah's own work building B Corps is rooted in the same belief that business can be a force for good. And showing our son that it's possible to build something around the things you care about, and that the choices we make today help shape the world he inherits, matters deeply to me too.
— Jessie
Meet the co-founders at origin.
Yo was born and raised in the highlands of Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand. His family has lived alongside these forests and elephants for generations. His grandfather owned six elephants, and Yo grew up learning the jungle alongside them.
After nearly thirty years guiding visitors through Northern Thailand, Yo began turning more of his attention toward the land. During COVID, he planted coffee beneath the existing forest canopy and began encouraging neighboring Karen families to do the same. What started close to home has grown into a network of farming families working together to produce the coffee Wild Nomad brings to Portland.
Bee, Yo’s wife, works alongside him in Thailand, helping manage the farm and the relationships with the families and communities that make this work possible.
Yo and Bee are the connection between the coffee, the farmers, the forest, and the communities at the heart of Wild Nomad. This coffee could not exist without them.
Grown where it belongs
The coffee Yo and Bee began planting beneath the jungle canopy in 2020, with no buyer and no guarantee of what would come next, is now part of something much bigger.
Today, more than 70 Karen farming families contribute to the Wild Nomad harvest. Their coffee grows beneath the existing forest canopy in the highlands of Northern Thailand, at roughly 900–1,100 meters. This is agroforestry: growing coffee within the living forest rather than clearing it away. No synthetic inputs. No monocropping. The trees, roots, soil, streams, wildlife, and coffee all remain part of the same ecosystem.
During harvest, farmers return to the coffee plants again and again, hand-picking cherries as they reach peak ripeness. Yo and Bee work directly with the families throughout the process, coordinating the harvest and helping ensure the coffee is prepared for its journey from Northern Thailand to Portland.
This coffee comes with a relationship to the people and the place that grew it. That matters to us.
The connection is not metaphorical.
The Karen people of Northern Thailand have cared for elephants for generations. As forests disappeared and traditional livelihoods changed, many elephant-owning families were left with few ways to support their elephants at home. Commercial tourism became one of the only financially viable options, and many elephants are still living in tourism camps today.
Coffee is part of how we're working to change that. Wild Nomad buys coffee directly from Karen farming communities, creating income from a crop that can grow beneath the existing jungle canopy instead of replacing it. Coffee sales support the farmers who grow and process each harvest while helping build a long-term economic model rooted in keeping these communities, forests, and elephants connected.
Our goal goes beyond coffee. As Wild Nomad grows, we are working to create sustainable, long-term support for elephant-owning families who want to bring their elephants home from tourism camps and allow them to live free-roaming in the forest again.
Every bag is part of that ecosystem: farmers, families, forest, and elephants returning home.
Ready to try Wild Nomad?
Our forest-grown Thai coffee is roasted in small batches here in Portland. Order a bag online, find us at Portland Saturday Market and other local events, or reach out about wholesale for your café or shop.
