British Coffee Association Launched First Sustainability Mission

Similar to the National Coffee Association of the United States, the British Coffee Association has for the first time established a sustainability committee, whose mission and aim is to provide a platform for a more sustainable coffee industry in the UK. The committee wants to achieve a common consensus of social, economic and environmental opportunities and challenges within UK coffee industry.

The largest UK coffee companies are the members of this association. They are engaged in actions with the aim to collaborate, join forces and determine sustainability objectives, as well as to deal with economic and regulatory issues.

Krisztina Szalai from Taylors of Harrogate and Victoria Moorhouse from Costa Coffee chaired the meeting and issued the first three goals concerning the work of the British Coffee Association, which include the improvement of environmental sustainability of the coffee industry, increasing of the social responsibility and determining the measures that can improve the economic capability of coffee production.

The committee has focused on three priority areas: a circular economy for the UK coffee industry, the long-term relations and collaboration with farmers and the waste reduction, which means the encouragement of recycling within the coffee industry, which will in turn lead to moving from the non-renewable sources. The last but not the least is the preservation of human rights, meaning the fight against any sort of modern slavery within coffee chains.

The members’ obligations are to regularly come and attend 3-hour meetings, to share best practices and to sign annual reviews of the Sustainability Mission statement.