Brand transparency is a big deal, and it’s possible that trust has a larger effect on purchasing habits than ever before. Plenty of people care about where their goods come from and what they’re made of. With that in mind, we think it’s a great idea to highlight a handful of coffee roasters in New York and New Jersey that promote an environmental and/or economically-sustainable operation. These businesses benefit not just themselves and their customers, but also work alongside coffee bean producers to meet their needs.
According to Dictionary.com, in the field of environmental science, sustainability is “the quality of not being harmful to the environment or depleting natural resources, and thereby supporting long-term ecological balance.” When we describe sustainable coffee in New Jersey and New York, we’re referring to companies that wear those values on their sleeve. Sourcing coffee beans from farms that avoid negatively impacting the environment is one part of this, but being economically sustainable is important as well. Engaging in Fair Trade prices, or the process of fairly compensating producers for their goods and services, is extremely important to keep healthy businesses running. We wouldn’t have coffee in the first place without coffee bean farmers, after all, so it makes sense to engage in fair trade.
Below are just a few examples of coffee roasters in New Jersey and New York that hope to make positive changes with their sustainability efforts.
Penstock Coffee Roasters
Previously known as OQ Coffee Company, Penstock Coffee Roasters makes its mission statement very clear. They offer high-quality, fairly-sourced and ethically-produced coffee while promoting sustainable coffee efforts. The business is located in Highland Park, NJ, but their coffee is also sold at a handful of café and coffee shops throughout the state.
Irving Farm New York
Irving Farm sources their coffee using a green buying program, in which they build meaningful relationships with coffee bean farms. This allows the company to provide farmers with support and gather feedback to make their product the best it can be. Irving Farm’s first cafe opened in 1996 in Gramercy Park. Today, they hold eight locations in Manhattan.
Forty Weight Coffee Roasters
Forty Weight purchases most of their beans through Direct Trade partnerships, a process in which coffee roasters buy their beans directly from farms. This can give them more control over specific aspects of the growing process, from the coffee’s quality to its environmental impact. But for companies that don’t engage in Direct Trade, Forty Weight buys in Relationship Coffees, in which farmers receive higher compensation than the Fair Trade minimum.
“Our goal over the next five years will be to become a 100% Direct Trade Company,” Forty Weight’s philosophy reads. “Taking comprehensive control of this aspect of our business will provide a level of integration, engagement, and oversight that we strongly value.”
Forty Weight Coffee Roasters began as a small business just prior to 2010, with only $8000 to its name. Today, their successful roastery and lab continue to operate in Ithaca, NY. We’re proud to partner with Forty Weight and offer their premium coffee selection to our customers.
TopBrewer
Transparency is important to TopBrewer’s sustainability efforts. They emphasize two aspects as the most crucial of these efforts: sustainable growth and sustainable trade. Their sustainable growth is followed by not causing unnecessary harm to the environment in their coffee bean sourcing; one example of this is by avoiding the use of artificial pesticides.
According to TopBrewer’s informative sustainability page, sustainable trade is “when the commercial exchange of products generates economic and environmental benefits, including the creation of economic value, reducing poverty & inequality, and preserving environmental resources.” TopBrewer’s exclusive roaster, AMOKKA Coffee Roasters, is involved in every stage of the roasting process to ensure consistent, high-quality results.
Scanomat, the company behind TopBrewer, was founded in Denmark during the early 1960s. The world’s first fully automatic cappuccino machine was released in 1985 by Scanomat. Today, the TopBrewer is among the most high-quality coffee machines around. TopBrewer Pro is available in the NYC Metro Area exclusively through Corporate Essentials.
Coffeed NYC
In an effort to demonstrate its dedication to sustainability, Coffeed NYC runs the appropriately-named Coffeed Foundation. The Coffeed Foundation has a charity program that provides aid to local communities in need, but they aren’t trying to make a difference all by themselves. They have four community partnerships that focus on different aspects of improving life, education, and nature in New York, and possibly one day, the rest of the world. These four partners are The Foundling, Hunters Point Parks Conservancy, City Growers, and the New York Restoration Project.
Coffeed has a number of locations within New York City as well as Long Island, but their first international spot is located in Seoul, Korea, where it has operated since December 2014. They also offer event planning assistance and catering services.
Wandering Bear
Wandering Bear has a very clear focus that is made apparent as soon as you open their home page. Put simply, cold-brew coffee offered on-tap or on-the-go is the company’s bread and butter. In the years since its formation in 2013, Wandering Bear has made sustainability efforts in the coffee market that deserve to be highlighted here.
Among Wandering Bear’s notable efforts is its commitment to reusable design. Their coffee on tap boxes can be recycled after the bag inside is separated, leading to a decline of waste entering the environment. In addition, the coffee is Fair Trade certified and USDA Organic.
Wandering Bear is part of the Corporate Essentials cold brew on-tap program, offering our customers with their premium lineup of cold-brew drinks.
Every business wants to be desirable to people. Positive company efforts such as environmental awareness or paying fair wages to workers is an intelligent and effective method to grow supporters and garner goodwill. These sustainable coffee roasters in New Jersey and New York are just a few examples of organizations that work to make a positive impact on the world!
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