Ethical Coffee Brands (brews that are doing good!)
Most of us love a cup of real coffee. But what is it exactly? It’s basically a beverage made from roasted ground beans found inside the red cherries of the coffee plant, which contain natural caffeine (you can buy decaffeinated coffee, but look for Swiss-water and other eco methods, not ones that remove caffein with chemicals).
A tropical shrub (you can’t grow coffee in England!), the cherries take nearly a year to ripen, then are roasted to give good flavour. Enjoyed black or with added oat drink, it’s a lovely beverage to start the day.
NHS says that it’s best to avoid caffeine for pregnancy/nursing (or no more than 2 cups of weak tea daily – or 1 cup of mild coffee or cola). Also avoid caffeine for certain medical conditions.
Use a sink protector to catch coffee grounds, then bin (caffeine may affect compost creatures). Same with tea leaves and coffee pods (they should not be composted).
What exactly is coffee?
There are two commercial species of bean, but many different flavours, usually described a bit like wine (chocolate, honey, cherry, caramel etc), and the flavours often depend on where the coffee beans are grown (from Latin America to Africa).
Most people like instant coffee for convenience. But you can also buy coffee to brew yourself in zero-waste coffee-making tools.
The most popular coffee drinks are:
- Espresso (a shot of coffee, brewed under high pressure)
- Americano (an espresso diluted with water)
- Latte (espresso with steamed milk)
- Flat white (similar, but more coffee)
- Cappuccino (equal parts steamed milk, espresso and thick milk foam)
- Macchiato (espresso with just a little milk)
- Mocha (espresso latte with chocolate)
If you order coffee out, check ingredients as many syrups are not vegan.
Issues with conventional coffee brands
Most big-name coffee brands are owned by multi-national corporations (Nescafé is owned by Nestlé, the world’s most boycotted brand due to water aquifer and baby formula marketing issues). Big brands coffee from global suppliers, rather than direct from farmers (for better income, welfare and traceability). Many use pesticides and treat beans with chemicals that are linked to kidney and respiratory issues.
A few low-quality coffee brands have been found to contain ground corn, twigs and even glass fragments.
Ethical brands avoid large-scale monoculture farming of coffee berry bushes, to support biodiversity that helps birds, insects and bees. And small-scale farmers use shade-grown bushes which also helps them grow and sell other crops to local markets.
Costa Coffee meanwhile has been bought by Coca-Cola and is decimating local high streets from enjoying drinks at locally-owned coffee shops, which retain money and profits within communities. It recently had to pay millions in unpaid wages to some of its workers.
Sanctuary Coffee (donates profits to help animals!)
Sanctuary Coffee takes this idea further by supporting animal charities with every cup.
After adopting a greyhound, the founders learned that greyhound charities receive no government funds to help the 3 million dogs rescued from the racing industry.
Now sold in 200 shops & cafes, other beneficiaries include a Welsh animal sanctuary that undertook a huge rescue from an illegal slaughterhouse that resulted in a government raid (the pigs cost almost £5000 a month to feed).
The range includes a Colombian blend (to support small farmers), a House Brew (to fund co-operatives) and a House Espresso (if you like your coffee strong!) Sanctuary Coffee also offers wholesale and can help with setting up machines, grinders and barista training.
Other coffee brands that help animals
It’s heartening to see how many coffee brands in the USA also use profits, to help animals. Some of note to inspire are:
Grounds & Hounds Coffee (donates 20% of profits to fund shelters with rescues, spay/neuter programs and vaccines. The creatively-named blends include Soul Pup, Morning Walk, Good Boy, Paper & Slippers and Rescue Roast!
The company was set up by a young American entrepreneur after adopting his two rescue dogs. Subscription packages include dog-inspired ceramic coffee mugs.
- Underdog (every cup, saves a pup!)
- Rescue Coffee Co (Go Fetch! or Downward Dog!)
- Fluffy Cow Coffee donates to farm sanctuaries)
Bird & Wild (shade-grown coffee to help songbirds)
Bird & Wild uses profits to help the RSPB and songbirds in coffee-growing regions. All their coffee is shade-grown to allow farmers to grow organically (and grow other crops alongside, for more income to sell at local markets).
Glass jars are sent with recycled shredded cardboard) and wholesalers can buy coffee buy the case, at discounted prices.
Shade-grown coffee plantations also help for more plant and insect diversity. To compare, unshaded coffee mono-cultures found as few as 6 to 12 bird species, whereas just one shade-grown coffee plantation in Mexico noted 184 bird species (including 46 migratory).
One shade-grown coffee plantation in India found 28 species of mammals alone (shade-grown coffee is also better for endangered bees, who like the flowering plants).
Read how to create safe havens for birds (feeding, nest-boxes) and preventing bird strike. Don’t play birdsong near birds (confuses and can attract predators).
Kiss the Hippo Coffee (pays 50% more than Fair Trade)
Kiss the Hippo is a London roastery that offers quality organic coffee, the beans treated at the world’s most eco-friendly coffee roaster! The beans are then quality-checked, before being sent to customers. Used coffee grounds are made into bio-fuel and all employees are paid a proper living wage.
This brand visits farms yearly, to check the farmers are being treated well. And interestingly, pays its farmers at least 50% above normal Fair Trade prices.
All decaffeinated coffee uses either sugar cane or Swiss Water methods, to avoid chemicals. The coffee is naturally kosher (though not certified) and free from gluten and common allergens.
If you don’t have a coffee machine, you can buy ready-ground options, all you need then is a cup, a teaspoon and a kettle!
You can buy coffee by country of origin:
- Brazil
- China
- Columbia
- Ethiopia
- Guatemala
- Honduras
- Mexico
- Peru
- Rwanda
The range includes:
- Christmas Coffee (cinnamon, strawberry, chocolate)
- Low Caf (white sugar, cranberry, hazelnut)
- Honduras (orange, nectarine, fudge)
- Columbia (plum, raisin, shortbread)
- George Street Blend (chocolate, berries, butterscotch)
Decaf Pods (dark chocolate, toffee, Brazil nut). Not compatible with Nespresso® Vertuo.
If buying the canned cold brew, pop ring-pulls back over holes before recycling (and pinch tops shut) to avoid wildlife getting trapped.
Skylark (a non-profit coffee brand in Brighton)
Skylark is the world’s first non-profit coffee brand (the roaster spins at the foot of the South Downs). It pays twice the Fair Trade rate to coffee growers, giving other profits to environmental organisations, and those seeking to stop exploitation in the coffee trade (roasters receive the most profit normally, not the growers).
The company has key artistic support! The poetry on their bags is from Robert Macfarlane and art by Welsh painter Jackie Morris. If you’ve never read it, treat yourself to a copy of their gorgeous book collaboration The Lost Words.
Redemption Roasters (giving prison leavers a job and income)
Redemption Roasters trains people who have left prison, with skills to become skilled baristas. They roast blends, and also have 11 London coffee shops to pop in for an empowering espresso!
This brand goes further, even working with a project in Colombia, to support farmers who were previously growing for the drugs industry, to instead produce coffee to earn sustainable incomes.
More coffee doing good for others
- Change Please Coffee uses profits from its brews to train homeless people to become baristas, funding a living wage job and accommodation advice. The beans are sold whole or ground, including 1kg packs, ideal for coffee shops, pubs, hotels and restaurants.
- Send Coffee funds 48-week training courses to become baristas, for London residents with learning difficulties and special educational needs (the course also includes financial literary and self-care). Choose coffee from Brazil, Uganda or Ethiopia.
- Kickstart Coffee (Cambridge) uses all profits to plant coffee trees in Uganda, and fund educational needs for children and teachers.
- Manumit Coffee offers coffee made by a co-operative of former slaves, and reinvests profits to help stop modern slavery.
Exhale Organic Coffee (high in antioxidants)
Exhale is a brand of organic coffee (this is proper coffee, so you need to make it in a coffee-making machine of some kind) that is packed with antioxidants, the Decaff version is made with The decaff version is made with Mountain Water Process (less ‘coffee miles’ than the Swiss Water).
Why farmer-owned coffee brands rock!
Pachama Coffee (US) is a good example of a farmer-owned organic coffee brand. Each listing has a bio of the farmer that grew your beans! For instance, this one is from a farmer who is in a co-operative of 2000 families in the mountains of Mexico, who has been growing beans since 1982.
Just like reading a paperback book that’s been printed by a local company on recycled paper, does it not feel better to drink your morning coffee, knowing that the farmer is being paid and treated fairly?
Most big coffee brands are listed companies on the stock exchange, so they will never ‘let farmers own the beans they sell’, as it would affect their profits and dividends to shareholders.
Most coffee farmers earn a tiny fraction of the retail price of an expensive jar of coffee (a standard jar that costs you £6 is likely to earn the farmer around 10p).
This is because most instant coffee is made from Robusta beans, which are bought at a global commodity price, often below the actual cost of production by the farmer. Most of the high cost of coffee is due to the cost of importing and marketing, plus profit margins for both brands and supermarkets.
