First Choice Coffee on sustainability

Chris and Rosie Robinson live by the basic principle that saving the environment means saving money, too, and "micro-manage" their use of everything

Aimee Hughes of First Choice Coffee has found that all the sites she's working with are committed to serving their customers ethically sourced products.

"The Tudor Farmhouse and the Royal Sportsman are both using our Grand Café 100% Rainforest Alliance Certified coffee, while the Wildwood is using Grand Café Fairtrade.

"There is still some confusion among consumers on the difference between the ethical certifications," Hughes says.

"Consumers generally have a preference for ethically-sourced products but many could not tell you the difference between Rainforest Alliance and Fairtrade. Our triple-cert coffee ticks all the boxes as it's organic, Fairtrade and certified by the Rainforest Alliance."

Stephen Brecher adds: "It almost goes without saying that operators should be serving ethically sourced coffee. Local sourcing will remain high on the agenda and is integral to the success of some businesses. Clearly, coffee can't be locally sourced, which is why operators have a responsibility to choose ethically sourced coffees to give reassurance to the customers that the product they are drinking is benefiting the coffee-growing communities and that every bean can be traced back to its origin."

Hughes adds: "Coffee grounds also make great compost and do wonders for your rose bushes! However, coffee grounds provide a carbon to nitrogen ration of about 20 to one, so it is important to balance out the soil carbon levels by adding some brown leaves, straw or wood chips to your coffee ground compost mix."

Brecher also advises operators to consider whether they are using equipment efficiently as this can reduce the carbon footprint of a business.

"Following our training, the team at the Mulberry Tree in Kent is making speciality coffees to order, so they are using only the milk they need and using less steam to foam the milk, reducing waste of ingredients and energy," he says.