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WHAT DOES A COFFEE COMPANY EVEN KNOW ABOUT SUSTAINABILITY?

NOT ENOUGH, BUT WE’RE WORKING ON IT

Protecting and saving what we love is important to us. A river; A mountain; Our people; The Coffee Industry. It all matters, because it’s all connected. What’s become apparent to us is that when we treat our coffee products as disposable, it impacts how we care for our coffee farmers. There is also a connection between the way we trash and discard our stuff and the way we are trashing the planet, which is the ultimate source of all of it.

We’ve spent enough time digging into our supply chain to know that even “greener” options have their issues. Such is the nature of outsourcing.

What we can promise is a sincere attempt to address the core tensions between the market’s demand, our need to protect our business’ growth alongside the planet and people’s need for a break.

We’re not here to greenwash, or add to the overuse of the word “sustainability”. Like many businesses, we’re far from perfect but we will never stop striving to do better and analyse our practices as we grow. 

Bear Market Sustainable Coffee Sourcing

OUR GOALS

MISSION STATEMENT CARBON ZERO 2025

Since our inception, 7 years ago, sustainability has alway been at the forefront of our core values and we go to detailed lengths to uphold it throughout our entire supply chain. As a company, we have made significant strides towards being more sustainable.

Each year we get closer to achieving our goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2025. Steps taken include:

  • Compostable packaging initiatives,
  • Direct trade coffee supplier alliances,
  • B-Corporation certified suppliers,
  • Eco friendly roasting equipment and
  • Electric delivery vans.

Our journey to sustainability is one of honest analysis, transparency, effective change and ongoing commitment.

We actively encourage and welcome our customers to continuously challenge us on our practices and are always willing to go outside our comfort zone.

REMOVING SINGLE USE PRODUCTS

WASTE NOT, WANT NOT

"If you use a commodity or resource carefully and without extravagance you will never be in need."

One of our key objectives was the removal of single use plastic takeaway cups, packaging and unnecessary waste. Seeking to minimize our consumption of natural resources through reusable product and operational conservation. We've achieved this through the following actions:

  • In 2014 we became one of the first coffee shops in Ireland to source 100% compostable packaging for all our single use products.
  • Adopted the use of reusable keep cups early on, with more than 45% of our customers adopting this practice. Rewarded our customers for their efforts by offerring a 15c discount on all drinks. We work exclusively with Irish suppliers to supply our keep-cups.
  • Reduce container and bag waste by roasting our own coffee and using reusable containers. By roasting our own beans and using reusable buckets, we cut our Roastery packaging waste down to zero.
  • Our Coffee Pods are a 100% compostable bioplastic (Terrablend®), which is made of renewable raw materials. The additives are also biodegradable and environmentally friendly. Terracaps ® is certified as CO 2 / climate neutral by Climate Partner. Similarly, all our coffee packaging is certified carbon neutral.
Bear Market Coffee Shop Lowering Carbon Emissions Sustainability

LOWERING OUR EMISSIONS AND WASTE

ROAST YOURSELF OR YOU'RE ONLY KIDDING YOURSELF

In 2021 we opened our own Roastery in order to control the quality of our beans and reduce waste. Before we roasted our own coffee, we would deliver thousands of bags of coffee to our shops, which resulted in a lot of waste.

  • By roasting our own beans and using reusable buckets, we cut this waste down to zero. We roast all of our coffee on our Loring Smart Roast machine, the most environmentally-friendly commercial roaster available.
  • Loring roasters use 80% less energy and emit 80% less emissions than a comparable standard roaster. The recycling of hot air from the roaster drum eliminates the need for an afterburner.
  • To top it off all our coffee is delivered fresh every week in our 100% electric van to each store in reusable 10kg buckets.

WHAT'S NEXT ON OUR JOURNEY

WHAT WE'RE CURRENTLY WORKING ON

⏳ Hiring a Sustainability Consultant

⏳ Installing Solar Panels

⏳ Origin Green Certification

⏳ A Cup Swap Scheme

⏳ Percentage Fundraising

To be continued...

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