We've used available data to help us get a broad understanding of the footprint of Counter Coffee as a business, for coffee as a product and for our specific products.
This isn't supposed to be an academic study - but we do hope it helps bring to light the overall impact coffee has and the scope for improvement to help us focus on feasibility for net zero.
The coffee industry faces a tough predicament over the next few decades, as climate change hits, the precise temperatures needed for growing some of the best arabica coffees also change. To stay between 18-21 degrees centigrade it is likely that farms will have to move to higher ground, suitable locations are in short supply and are often forested. This means that climate change will have a direct, compounding affect on coffee production, which will affect livelihoods, prices and ecological habitats.
For us the first step in doing our part is understanding our footprint so we can make decisions on how to minimise our impact.
We've looked at this from a cradle to grave approach to give a full view. This takes into account, coffee farming and distribution, packaging, inbound and outbound logistics (shipping and posting), roasting and grinding, as well as brewing at home and lastly the disposal of packaging and used coffee grounds.
What's clear from the above is that 95% of the footprint comes from the farming practices used, as well as the brewing methods and accompaniments for enjoying coffee. At a farm level, fertiliser has a massive impact (up to 95% of the 40%), but fossil fuel for local transportation, water usage, pesticides also contribute.
At a customer level, heating water and the use of dairy milk are the main drivers for the footprint. Heating just the water you need for the coffee you want to drink and switching to milk-alternatives are great starting points to cutting down the impact.
At a product level - farming practices including yield per acre drive the key differences, as well as the distance the coffee has travelled. Brazil is a low footprint country for coffee production, partly due to the scale and efficiency of the mono-crop farms.
There are multiple factors that drive 'sustainability' with carbon emissions just being once bit of the puzzle. This will be an area we continue to research into as we explore direct trade, but other factors like biodiversity, water usage, employee welfare and local impact all need to be taken into account as well.
