Meet Hao Bao Bao Coffee — Brewing Hope, One Cup at a Time
- Mark
- Feb 3
- 6 min read
We are honored to highlight one of our incredible ministry partners, Hao Bao Bao Coffee—a small business born from a deep love for children and a desire to make a lasting difference.
Hao Bao Bao Coffee began in 2018 after the founders, Darren and Brittany Mann, met their son in China and spent time at his orphanage. Although they had lived in China, this was the first time they were able to go inside of the orphanage and truly see the faces of vulnerable children waiting for families. Speaking of their experience in the orphanage, the Manns said that it "truly broke our hearts that these children would never know the love and support of a family.”
As teachers, with limited resources to adopt another child, they knew they needed a way to do more. Combining their love for coffee with their heart for adoption, they created a business where purpose would always come first. The name Hao Bao Bao means “precious baby” in Chinese.
Today, Hao Bao Bao Coffee roasts beans to order, sources from small farms whenever possible, and even offers beans from Yunnan, China—their son's birth country. But what truly sets them apart is their commitment to families pursuing adoption.
Each month, Hao Bao Bao features a Connected Hearts adoptive family and donates a portion of every coffee purchase directly to that family’s Connected Hearts fund. Through this partnership, they have helped more than 48 children come home to their forever families.
The Manns connection to Connected Hearts runs deep. They participated in our adoption funding program to raise funds for their first adoption. After their first adoption, we partnered with them again to raise funds to adopt a little boy named Asher. Sadly, due to changes in China's adoption program, the Manns and many other families have not been able to move forward with their adoption. To honor their son Asher, who is still in China, they now make donations to waiting families in honor of him. As they shared,
“It has truly been a blessing to hear each family’s story and then see them be united to their precious child. While our hearts are grieved that we most likely won’t ever be able to adopt our son, we are so grateful that we can donate money in his honor each month. The fact that because of him we have been able to help bring 30+ children home gives us so much comfort and peace.”
The Manns also shared their hope for every customer who purchases their coffee:
“We hope our customers feel like they are part of this joyous celebration too—putting faces and names to the children being brought home and rejoicing with families along the way.”
Hao Bao Bao’s story is a beautiful reminder that when a business leads with heart and purpose, it can change lives far beyond its own walls. Their work shows how one small business, grounded in compassion, can help rewrite a child’s future and bring hope to families around the world. (Have a Business: you can help children find their forever families while showing your customers that your business stands for something bigger. Click here to learn more.)
If you’d like to support Hao Bao Bao Coffee—and Connected Hearts Ministry at the same time—you can purchase their Connected Hearts Blend, where $2 from every bag sold is donated directly to help children find forever families.
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With Valentine’s Day coming soon, consider giving a gift that warms the heart in more ways than one.
A bag of Connected Hearts Blend Coffee is a meaningful way to connect with your loved one—and connect a child’s heart with a forever family.
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Below, you can read Hao Bao Bao Coffee’s full responses and learn more about their journey, their mission, and the families they’ve helped bring home.
Shop Hao Bao Bao Coffee
& Help Bring a Child Home!
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Why/how did you decide to start Hao Bao Bao?
After meeting our son in China in November 2018, we were able to spend a few hours at his orphanage. We had lived in China previously, but weren't allowed to go inside the local orphanage, so it was our first time truly seeing the precious faces of these vulnerable children. We were told that our son was the last child to be adopted from his orphanage and it truly broke our hearts that these children would never know the love and support of a family. We knew that there were hundreds of other children in China that could be adopted, so we started the process again as soon as possible in May 2019. We had already done multiple fundraisers to raise funds for our first son's adoption and as teachers, we didn't have a lot of savings or ways to earn more money at our jobs.
We also knew that adopting one more child wouldn't change the world for the millions of waiting children, so we needed a way to bring awareness to their desperate need for a family. Then, we had an idea to start a small business, with all of the profits going to our second adoption! Darren learned to roast coffee in college (fun fact: he and his friend hid in their dorm floor's utility closet so that the smoke from the roaster wouldn't set off the fire alarm!) and had been roasting personally for over fifteen years already. He shared his freshly roasted coffee beans with family and friends for years, who always encouraged him to sell it, but the timing was never right with us moving to China. But now we could combine our love for coffee and bring awareness to the needs of vulnerable children and families!
We named our coffee roastery "Hao Bao Bao Coffee" as "hao bao bao" means "precious baby" (a term of endearment for children) in Chinese. We started selling to our family and friends, then quickly grew to selling online at haobaobaocoffee.com and finally at our local farmer's market in Sanford, Florida, as well as many Central Florida events over the years!
Please tell us a little about your company.
We roast-to-order beans, which means that we only roast coffee beans once an order has been placed, so that the beans are at their nutritional peak and give our customers the most delicious taste possible! We offer a wide variety of beans from numerous countries, including hard-to-source beans from our sons' birth country: Yunnan, China. We proudly partner with smaller farms to directly source our beans whenever we can so that from bean to brew, everyone wins! We also have handcrafted blends and love partnering with other businesses or charities to make their own specialized blends too.
What inspired Hao Bao Bao Coffee to support adoptive families?
After our second adoption was fully funded in January 2020 and all China adoptions were suspended, we weren't sure what to do with our small business while we waited. Then, another China adoptive family reached out and asked if we would help them fundraise for their adoption and so our monthly "Featured Family" was started! We love partnering with an adoptive family each month and donate $1 from every bag of coffee sold to their Connected Hearts Ministry Fund. We also post the family's CHM account link so that others can donate too. We also partner with family preservation charities to fund surgeries, educational opportunities, and safe housing for vulnerable families in countries like China and Uganda.
What has been most meaningful to you about partnering with Connected Hearts Ministry?
It has truly been a blessing to hear each family's story and then see them be united to their precious child, especially as we waited these past five years to adopt our son from China. While our hearts are so grieved that we most likely won't ever be able to adopt our son, we are so grateful that we can donate money in his honor each month. The fact that because of him we have been able to help bring 30+ children home gives us so much comfort and peace. We know that the Lord does not waste anyone's story and we look forward to seeing how He continues to use CHM and our coffee business to continue to change the lives of precious children around the world. We have been able to personally connect with a few of our Featured Families, including one who lives in our city, and it's been the biggest blessing to meet some of these children whom we've been able to help bring home!
How do you hope your customers feel knowing their everyday purchases help families and children?
We post the Featured Family's story on our website, as well as updates on the family's adoption journey so our customers can put faces and names to the donations made because of their purchases. Our hearts greatly rejoice when a family brings home their precious child and we hope that our customers feel like they are a part of this joyous celebration too!
What would you say to other businesses considering using their business to make a difference?
Being a small business owner is truly a joy, because we get to do what we absolutely love every day. But it can also be exhausting when you need to be a jack-of-all-trades, as well as be there for your family too. Being able to have a "why" behind all of our hard work and then seeing the tangible results of our donations in the smiles of the children adopted makes everything worth it! There are a few things worth devoting your life to and helping precious children is one of the most important legacies we can leave for our own children!
