Sustainable coffee by Green Wheel

Sustainability is a consumer’s choice

Sustainability, explained quite well by economist Kate Raworth in her Doughnut economic model states that there should be boundaries between basic human needs and our planet’s ecosystem. In other words, let us be smart about what resources we use today to allow future generations also to thrive.

let us be smart about what resources we use today to allow future generations also to thrive.​

If we look at the world of coffee, by some standards the second most traded commodity in the world, through the lens of the doughnut theory we find both progress in many areas but also stagnation in many others.

On the stagnation side, we see a deliberate design-based approach of coffee delivery “systems” that respond to fast-paced consumer lives rather than answering long term sustainable goals.

However, current technology in how coffee is processed is getting better, more reliable, less farming intensive delivering tastier lighter coffees that need less or no add ons to mask its potentially bitter flavor.

As we continue to see value vs volume-driven coffee consumption growing at the rate it is, we will see efficiencies and great change in segments of the coffee value chain that will have great impact such as plantations becoming less intensive and more care on each cup of coffee prepared.

Farmer with a mule, showing part of the coffee process

Sustainability is a macro variable that gets impacted by small changes at each step of the process. If we look at each step individually and work towards using resources to the best of their ability we are already heading in the right direction. If we reduce the number of steps and potentially reduce the number of resources used, we are heading in the right direction. If we give back to the planet at least part of what we are taking, we are heading in the right direction.

As consumers, we have a responsibility to choose products that align with sustainable practices and to hold companies to high standards in how they use our planet's resources.

In coffee specifically, knowledge has grown tremendously in the past years both from a production and a consumption point of view and today, companies such as green wheel coffee can deliver delicious coffee from sustainable less invasive farming and packed in what is considered a more eco-friendly solution to preserve both flavor and natural resources "compostable plant-based packaging".

In coffee specifically, knowledge has grown tremendously in the past years both from a production and a consumption point of view and today, companies such as green wheel coffee can deliver delicious coffee from sustainable less invasive farming and packed in what is considered a more eco-friendly solution to preserve both flavor and natural resources "compostable plant-based packaging".

Let's continue this journey together as consumers and producers to a more sustainable future.

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