Anyone who works in the coffee business produces carbon dioxide, and not too little. Coffee itself is affected by climate change. Global warming will cut coffee production in half by 2050, and that with growing demand.
Coffee Annan & Climate
The goal of Coffee Annan is to break up dusty and colonialistic value chains. By roasting in the respective countries of origin, we want to set an example and add value to coffee-producing countries. Achieving this goal must not be at the expense of the environment, which is why we offset our carbon footprint.
1 - Analysis - Where do emissions occur, and how can we reduce them?
The analysis helps us to recognize where we are good and where we have room for improvement.
CO2 is created along the entire production chain, starting with the plantations, diesel combustion in processing plants, transport to the warehouse, roasting plant, etc.
The roasting itself generates CO2 and, of course, the shipping to the end customer. In addition, there are customer visits, trips to the plantations and roasting plants, which also result in CO2 production.
2 - Reduction in everyday business.
The best way to become a climate-neutral company is to avoid creating any CO2. As a coffee roaster, this is simply impossible, but we can already save a lot through mindfulness. The first measure we take is an efficient supply chain from the farm to the end customer to reduce transport. Through direct trade without intermediaries, we have significantly fewer intermediate steps than conventional coffee roasters. We try to work digitally as much as possible and also reduce customer visits. If visits to customers are essential, we travel by train whenever possible.
When it comes to apparel, we use organic products and environmentally friendly printing inks. We pay attention to reducing plastic and that our packaging material has a high percentage of recycled materials.
3 - Measure CO2.
How many tons of CO2 we actually produce within a year can be calculated. We will publish our first sustainability report in January 2022. In it, we compensate for every single step in our value chain from the plantation to the end consumer and determine the actual amount of produced CO2. We will support environmental projects in the individual coffee countries we are operating to fully compensate caused CO2. #climate neutral
4 - Be climate neutral.
Our goal is to support our own climate project in every country in which we operate to achieve our goal of a climate-neutral coffee. In Ethiopia we chose the NGO “Menschen für Menschen”, which plants trees in the Amhara region.
Project description - Menschen für Menschen: Compensating for CO2 emissions and fighting poverty.
The aim of the project is to plant 1,000,000 trees and 60,000 fruit trees within three years. As a result, the atmosphere can be relieved of more than 58,000 tons of CO2 in ten years. At the same time, the project offers the poorest families new life prospects.
Local smallholders raise the seedlings in the foundation's nurseries. A total of 24 different types of trees will be transplanted to promote biodiversity.
The trees not only bind climate-damaging CO2, but also act as protection against erosion and water storage because the rapid drainage of precipitation is prevented. Around 32,000 people in Ethiopia benefit directly from this program, which trains smallholders to achieve good yields despite climate changes.
