To be sustainable, the industry has to be economically viable, minimise its environmental impacts, and be socially responsible. Help us make coffee survive forever.
With increasing awareness of financial, environmental and social pressures facing coffee businesses up and down the supply chain, United Baristas is highlighting the importance of building a sustainable business for its autumn-winter campaign.
The 2005 World Summit identified ‘sustainable’ as having economic, environmental and social dimensions. Many of the current challenges facing the industry – whether managing the impact of climate change on coffee production, addressing skills shortages in the UK following the Brexit referendum, or the ongoing viability of coffee shops for example – are subsets of the broader, and ongoing, sustainability challenge.
“Issues around sustainability are part of the United Baristas DNA”, says United Baristas founder Tim Ridley. United Baristas started as a Marketplace for baristas to buy and sell coffee equipment directly with each other to both increase capital efficiency in the industry and to lower its environmental impacts. New United Baristas services are tackling issues around business viability, staff recruitment, and the better maintenance of equipment.
“Sustainability is part of the United Baristas DNA”
Tim Ridley, United Baristas Founder
Alongside services, United Baristas has been publishing a series of articles to help business owners build viable businesses and the industry lower its carbon footprint. With the Coffee Forever campaign United Baristas want to encourage baristas and businesses to action these insights and commit to building a better, more vibrant, and more viable coffee industry.
Coffee Forever merchandise
There is also a range of Coffee Forever merchandise, available for a limited time. £1 from each item of clothing (50p from each tattoo) is donated to World Coffee Research to help coffee survive forever.
Notes to Editors
United Baristas started four years ago with a Marketplace for baristas and businesses to buy and sell used coffee equipment. The key objective was to facilitate the sale of used coffee equipment so that it would remain in use throughout its full working life. The service has been a success for the coffee industry with hundreds of machines kept in use, with all the personal, commercial and environmental benefits that ensue.
Over that time United Baristas has expanded its services to include United Baristas Careers, a recruitment platform; United Baristas Business, which connects buyers with sellers of coffee businesses: and United Baristas Workshop, which guides baristas and business to better source and maintain coffee equipment. The services have grown quickly to become a key components of infrastructure for the specialty coffee community, doubling in size each year since launch.
United Baristas has also offered actionable insights and advice on building a sustainable coffee business on our website, including the most recent series on coffee carbon footprint.
Contact
For further information, interviews or additional press images are available from the United Baristas Newsroom.
