The free EcoToolkit can help your venue save energy - and money

Do you own a café and want to make it greener? If so our newly launched EcoToolkit will help you find out what more you can do.

When we first carried out a study to identify the environmental impact of our products; we were surprised to find out that the biggest carbon footprint doesn’t come from shipping or even growing. It’s in fact in the consumption and particularly when our coffee, tea and cocoa is drunk in cafés and venues.

As we don’t actually own the outlets that sell our coffee, this was an area we could not directly control, so instead we created an EcoToolkit which would help venues identify simple ways that they can reduce their environmental impacts.

The toolkit is online and free for anyone who owns a foodservice outlet to use, whether they are a Cafédirect customer or not. It covers energy, water, waste and procurement, giving advice and actions, many of which also help save money. The recommendations range from how to track energy consumption to ensuring the espresso machine runs efficiently.

If you run a venue that serves hot drinks, why not take a look at and see what more you can do to reduce your impacts? The EcoToolkit also has some exclusive offers, from a discount on green energy from Ecotricity, to discounted KeepCups and 10% discount on rainwater harvesting systems from Kingspan Water.

Check it out: www.cafedirect.co.uk/ecotoolkit

The weather in 'Stumptown' was strangely 'homely'!

…It’s all in a day’s work for Cafédirect’s marketing team!

Portland, Oregon is the spiritual home of the specialty coffee shop, just 175 miles from Seattle it lives and breathes coffee and this year it was the host city for the largest coffee event in the world: the Specialty Coffee Association of America’s (SCAA) annual Expo.

In-between brewing workshops, the world barista championships and meeting our producers (a selection of the larger cooperatives travel to the coffee expo each year) we made the time to visit a selection of Portland’s finest coffee shops.

First up was the legendary Stumptown Coffee Roasters, so called because the city of Portland was created by felling an area of forest leaving only a collection of stumps.  Stumptown roast their own coffee beans in one of their seven shops in Portland and pride themselves on sourcing a range of high quality single origin beans.  This is a picture of a beautiful cappuccino enjoyed whilst watching the rain outside, feeling oddly at home (Portland’s other nickname is Puddletown…!)

Next up was Barista.  Barista focus on sourcing the best of Portland’s micro-roasted beans from people like Stumptown to create the perfect coffee experience from the best baristas.  They offer three blends of espresso and five different single origin coffees.  We opted for an Ethiopian Beloya brewed in a French press and a beautiful Peruvian coffee from Cecovasa – a  cooperative we also buy coffee from (and is used in our Medium, Rich and Espresso blends, as well as our Decaf Freeze Dried).

Lastly we visited Coava, who were arguably the most serious about their coffee.  Each drink was prepared with such precision and concentration it almost felt rude to drink it! Located  in a warehouse in Portland, we watched in awe as baristas painstakingly measured each millimeter of milk and served our coffees as precisely as scientists. I must admit that it did put my morning cafetiere to shame, but has at least inspired me to invest in a timer for the office coffee round!

All in all the trip to Portland was inspiring, it’s wonderful to see people so passionate about coffee and it really reminded us of the burgeoning coffee scene right here in the UK – especially here in East London, where a new breed of exceptionally passionate, skilled people are opening up independent cafes to rival even the likes of the heralded Portland cafes…

By Lorraine Kelleher, Strategic Insights Manager at Cafédirect

An incredible 75% of the world’s coffee is grown by smallholder farmers with tiny plots of land, and at Cafédirect we are seeing first hand that these farmers is at risk from the effects of climate change, their livelihoods and the quality coffee supply is increasingly under threat.

So today we are launching our Coffee Climate Crisis report and video, which tells of a groundbreaking project and the remarkable story of the CEPICAFE coffee farmers’ co-operative in northern Peru.

We had to find a solution that would help and enable the producers to tackle climate change themselves, and make a lasting difference.  As you can read in our special report, it wasn’t an easy task. But we think the results speak for themselves.

But we cannot do this alone – everyone who is passionate about coffee can do their bit.   You really can make a huge difference by buying responsible brands that are investing in the future of smallholder coffee farmers and therefore the future of our daily cup of coffee.

Please help us to spread the word …

Share this video
Read our report
Share this blog on Facebook and Twitter (use the icons at teh top right of this post, or copy this blog link into your update)
Become a Friend of Cafédirect

Tom Chance, founder of social enterprise, 'Giveacar'

14th May is the start of Walk to Work Week, so if you are thinking about ditching your old, unreliable car in favour of more environmentally friendly travel solutions, you may be interested in this scheme…

‘Giveacar’ is a social enterprise, set up to allow people to recycle old or unwanted cars for charity, and, thanks to a new partnership, the proceeds can now be donated to the Cafédirect Producers’ Foundation (CPF). If you have an unwanted or broken-down car in your garage then Giveacar (which is a nationwide service) can convert it into a donation. CPF helps empower around 250,000 smallholder farmers worldwide, by working in partnership with communities to tackle the challenges they face and develop long-lasting ways of reducing poverty – so donations from Giveacar will help to make a big difference!

Here’s how it works: Giveacar will collect your vehicle free of charge, at a time convenient for you, no matter what state your car is in. It will then be sold at auction or scrapped, depending on its age and condition and the proceeds (all or half – you decide) will be donated to The Cafédirect Producers’ Foundation.  They only use treatment facilities authorised by the Environment Agency when scrapping cars, ensuring that your car will be recycled in an environmentally friend way. At least 85% of the weight of your vehicle will be recycled, meaning that not only are you supporting the CPF’s work with smallholder farmers worldwide, but you are also helping to protect the environment.

If you have a car that you are thinking of getting rid of and would like to donate it to CPF, please visit the Giveacar website for more details – www.giveacar.co.uk.

About The Cafédirect Producers’ Foundation
The Cafédirect Producers’ Foundation (CPF) is a charity which supports 250,000 small-scale farmers in Africa, Latin America and Asia, working in partnership with communities to tackle the challenges they face and develop long-lasting ways of reducing poverty. CPF was established by Cafédirect in 2009 as part of Cafédirect’s ongoing mission to invest in smallholder communities.
CPF is a UK registered charity (number 1133218)
For more information on CPF visit www.producersfoundation.org

Created by award-winning agency Airside, the video comes shortly after our we completed our first international WeFarm pilot project, where 30 farmers in rural Peru spent two days exchanging knowledge and ideas with 15 smallholder tea farmers in Kenya using nothing more than a simple mobile phone and local SMS messages!

WeFarm works through the innovative application of text-web-text software. This allows rural farmers with no access to the internet to obtain the information they need to improve their livelihoods. It’s like a sort of ‘Wikipedia’ for the 70% of the world’s population who do not have access to the internet – and we believe this is the first successful demonstration of this concept worldwide!

Achieving this proof of concept after two years’ hard work was an amazing moment for WeFarm – but now it’s time to upscale, and take it to the next level. We want WeFarm to be the first port of call for any farmer, anywhere who has a problem to solve or a solution to share, and we need you to help us make it happen!

Are you a socially-conscious web coder or developer who wants to make a difference? Maybe you’re an investor who wants to see a different kind of return? Whatever your talent, if you think you have something to offer WeFarm, contact the CPF team for a chat at contact@wefarm.info and follow progress on Twitter (@we_farm).

Pride and passion is the big thing that smallholder farms have over big ones. When you work for something yourself, you care more about it. And when you care more about it, you make it better. That’s why we want to big up our smallholders and CELEBRATE SMALL!

You can help us make a start – send us a picture of the small things that have made a big difference to your day and if it brightens up our day then we might even send you some of our lovely (smallholder grown) tea as a thank you!

Maybe it was the tall man who helped you reach the tin of beans on the top shelf of the supermarket, or your dog chasing his tail on your daily walk – or perhaps it’s just your daily morning cup of coffee (we know we couldn’t do without it ourselves!) Whatever your small big thing is, send us your picture so we can share it with others (and hopefully brighten up their days too).

All the photos sent in will be made into a special piece of artwork, celebrating small and showing how lots of little things can have a big impact. So please get snapping! You can send us your pictures in a variety of ways:

Post them on Facebook
Tweet them @Cafedirect_HQ
Email them to friends@cafedirect.co.uk

Jambo sana and karibu Kilimanjaro! My trip to the mountain.

As I mentioned in my previous blog I’m writing these lines from the slopes of Kilimanjaro after concluding a visit to KNCU, our producer partner and supplier of Kilimanjaro Gourmet Coffee.

The week was amazing, visiting some of our partners in East Africa including KNCU. The Cafédirect team started this visit with a quick tour around the office where we met the staff of the cooperative and caught up on our respective businesses – and also had the opportunity to share some time with Amen, Coffee Quality manager and coffee taster of the Cooperative. Look at this vintage pack of Cafédirect Kilimanjaro Coffee that we found in his office!

Our old Kilimanjaro packaging!

After the meeting we found ourselves heading to the impressive “Union Cafe” (above), the new project of the cooperative. This visit was amazing for me because I was there two years ago when the building was a mini-market, and now the café is up and running, serving espressos, cappuccinos complete with latte art and even “Iced Kilimanjaro Cafe”! Cafédirect feels specially about this project as the workshop for the branding was partially co-founded by us under our Producers Partnership Program. Now the place is full of people all day long; local people starting to drink high quality coffee, as well as tourists enjoying an oven pizza before starting their experience climbing the mountain. I even had the carrot cake and americano for lunch, and an avocado and ham pizza for dinner!

However, despite the impressive delights of the new café, for me the best experience is always being able to visit the farmers in their houses, seeing the benefits our unique business model for myself and hoping to strengthen our relationships and have a better understanding of the taste and quality of Kilimanjaro Coffee that is available to drink in UK. This time we had the pleasure of visiting Amana Es Munisi (pictured below).

Visiting Amana Es Munisi

But anyway, we must go back to our coffee story. The season is almost over in Tanzania; this time it has been especially difficult because of the impact climate change has had, but fortunately, during this trip I was able to see some coffee cherries developing in anticipation of the next season!

Sadly this is my last blog about Cafédirect Kilimanjaro Gourmet Coffee, but the experience is not over yet, you only need to go to your favourite supermarket to experience the taste of Kilimanjaro for yourself! There are two ways you can enjoy this remarkable coffee – you can buy it ready ground (‘Roast and Ground’) or as whole Coffee Beans, perfect for grinding at home. Both of them with the same lively, deliciously and aromatic, with the clean intense flavour that can only come from the finest Arabica beans, so you know it’s not only a regular drink, its Kili and has great history and fabulous quality and taste behind!

Find out more about Kilimanjaro coffee.

As we’ve already explained, the journey starts on the farms of our skilled smallholder growers in the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro, before the beans are processed, sold at auction and stored for shipment to the UK.

Coffee beans are packed up and sent to the UK

When the agreed time of shipment comes all of the carefully graded Kilimanjaro beans are taken to the port of Tanga by lorry, on a journey that takes 1-2 days from the cooperative, where they are loaded into a Cafédirect container that can carry 16,800 Kgs! From here they are shipped to their final destination in Europe, where they land one month later. Not too long ago we took one of these containers on a tour of the UK, giving away lots of lovely cups of Kilimanjaro coffee to festival goers. I hope you had the chance to see it, and most importantly and taste the coffee!

We carefully roast and grind our coffee in Dublin and then pack it for distribution across the UK and the rest of Ireland to one of hundreds of supermarkets, independent retailers, online shops, restaurants and bars. Finally it reaches its destination: someone like you – one of our millions of customers who enjoys the lively, aromatic, clean and intense flavour of coffee our Kilimanjaro coffee!

In fact, I’m actually writing these lines from Moshi, where I am visiting KNCU, so stay tuned for the final instalment of this series, and to hear about the end of the harvest in Tanzania and the headlines from my trip!

CPF works in partnership with smallholder farmers and their organisations to design innovative solutions to the challenges they face so, in response to poor communications networks in these communities, CPF has developed WeFarm to enable farmers who are thousands of miles apart to share ideas, projects and information with the potential to improve their lives.

Using WeFarm, a coffee farmer in Uganda (for example) can give advice to a coffee farmer in Nicaragua, using just a basic mobile phone (like Lucy from Peru, above). WeFarm works without the need for an internet connection, making it accessible for the most isolated communities in rural Africa, Latin America and Asia.

WeFarm was piloted in at Kiegoi Tea Factory in Kenya in November last year, with exciting results, including over 1,000 messages being sent in the first two days! Pilots are currently underway with coffee farmers from CAC La Prosperidad de Chirinos and CAC La Frontera de San Ignacio in northern Peru.

Now, here’s where you come in: CPF has entered WeFarm into the Knight News Challenge, an international media innovation contest based around the theme of ‘Networks.’ The winning organisation will receive a share of $5 million, so they really need your help! All the entries are posted online where they can be commented upon, shared and ‘liked’ – which will be an important consideration for the judges who evaluate them, so please add your comment to the entry (not here) or share on Facebook / Twitter to help CPF and the amazing WeFarm project move a step closer to a share of the winnings!

Click here to help support WeFarm!

Allow us to introduce Liz Baker, expert Brand Manager and  latest member of the Cafédirect Marketing team!

“I’ve been here for less than a month but already I’ve been busy as learning about how Cafédirect does things differently, and just how integral the growers really are to the business. I’ve been working my way through the whole range of coffees, teas and hot chocolates – not too bad, as far as inductions go! So far I am unsettled on a favourite, but I have to admit to being partial to a cup of Sao Tome hot chocolate each afternoon…

In order to improve my tea expertise specifically, I was even lucky enough to go along to a Tea Masterclass, hosted by the very knowledgeable (and well-travelled!) Jane Pettigrew. Held at a suitably elegant hotel in Mayfair, we spent our day learning about the fascinating history and numerous production methods of the world’s favourite drink. Naturally, this required that we tasted all manner of interesting teas (15 in total!), including black teas from Kenya and various Oolongs, Darjeelings and Assams. Jane and her co-presenter Tim Clifton (tea taster-extraordinaire and international tea consultant) shared their wealth of knowledge and fabulous stories from their visits to tea plantations, illustrating just how important different farming and production methods are to the taste and quality of a good cup of tea – just as they are in coffee, cocoa and wine.

One of the more 'unusual' teas we experienced!

This day of learning was a real highlight for me – it’s opened my eyes to a whole new, exciting world and made me realise how much we rush to drink our cup of tea in the mornings, without really savouring it, and appreciating where in the world it has come from, and the journey it has taken to reach our mug.

So, as I continue on my journey into the world of Cafédirect, I hope to be in touch with you more often, updating you on our latest developments and stories from the world of coffee, cocoa and…tea!”