SUSTAINABILITY IS AT THE HEART OF COLOMBIA COFFEE ROASTERS
Maria at Colombia Coffee Roasters shares changes made in the roastery and coffee shops to ensure a sustainable future for generations to come and for coffee production, and how the company is committed to playing its part in Oxford achieving the Zero Carbon goal by 2040. >>
Sustainability is at the heart of Colombia Coffee Roasters
The effect of climate change on the environment, the economy, and society is tremendous. Agriculture, including coffee production, and packaging contributes significantly to climate change due to its excessive emissions of greenhouse gases. We decided to do something about it and compensate for our emissions and ensure a sustainable future for future generations and for coffee production.
Reducing carbon emissions
We are in the process of receiving sustainability certifications. However, we work everyday to ensure our operations are sustainable, and balance our emissions. We are committed to contribution to the Zero Carbon Oxford goal to achieve zero carbon emissions by 2040.
Origin
- Our coffees are hand-picked, shade grown and have been Bird-Friendly and Rainforest Alliance certified.
- We make sure to pay fair, above-market prices to the farmers we work with.
- Many of our coffees are organic, and grown without pesticides.
- We are in the process of contributing to carbon off-setting initiatives in the regions we source our coffees from.
“We have been working for many years with farmers from different regions in Colombia. We also feature guest coffees from other origin countries in our product range.“
Making sustainable changes in the roastery and the coffee shops
At the roastery
- Our coffees are transported into our facility via ship instead of air freight.
- We use a Loring Falcon S15 coffee roaster. Thanks to it, we have been able to cut up to 80% of our energy emissions.
- We pack roasted coffee in 100% recyclable, aluminium-free bags. Our supplier donates to carbon-offsetting initiatives in coffee-origin countries. Our coffee bag supplier works exclusively on projects with The Gold Standard Certification. By investing in carbon offsetting initiatives and other development projects in coffee-producing communities in origin countries, the greenhouse gas emissions needed to produce coffee bags can be compensated by reducing these emissions elsewhere.
- For wholesale customers, our coffee is packaged in barrels. This allows us to preserve freshness and avoid using bags or cardboard boxes. As a result, we are able to further balance out the negative effects of production on the environment.
In the coffee shops
- We encourage our customers to use reusable cups. Our takeaway cups and cutlery are 100% recyclable.
- We have removed single use plastic, and we use plastic-free packaging.
- We partnered with Envar. We send them our coffee waste and they make great products from used coffee grounds.
Future plans to reach the sustainability goals
Currently we are focused on acquiring sustainability certifications, such as Living Wage and Climate Neutral. More on this very soon. We also constantly monitor our processes and see which changes we can make, and will carry more initiatives in the future.
Maria ended by saying, “We are always looking for ways to make a difference both, in our local community in Oxford, and in Colombia, where we purchase our coffee.”
This excellent coffee is roasted in-house so you can enjoy the best coffee in Oxford from the comfort of your home or at Colombia Coffee Roasters cafés in The Covered Market and Summertown. Its highly-skilled baristas put countless hours into getting the best out of every coffee.
