Aussie roaster announced as founding member of global sustainability group – BeanScene

Nomad Coffee Group has been unveiled as a founding member of the B Corp Coffee Coalition, a group of Certified B Corporations working to improve the sustainability of the coffee value chain.

The Melbourne-born roaster is one of seven bodies to make up the initial group, joining Brazilian co-operative Sancoffee, Swiss specialty coffee brand ViCAFE, Singapore’s Bettr Coffee, Danish roastery Clever Coffee, Kenyan specialty roaster Spring Valley Coffee, and US-based bean importer Cafe Imports.

“The coffee sector is facing increasing climate pressure, structural inequalities, and rising expectations around transparency with responsible sourcing,” a B Lab Switzerland statement reads.

“B Corps are already driving change within their own ecosystems, yet resilience at this scale requires coordination beyond individual company efforts.

“The B Corp Coffee Coalition was created by seven B Corps to address an issue they all identified: duplication of efforts and lack of actionable best practice sharing.

“[They] felt the need to create a structured space for collaboration in which members will be able to align on shared priorities, exchange best practices, and develop practical approaches to strengthen long-term sustainability, resilience, and equity across the coffee sector.”

Nomad Coffee Group Sustainability Manager Nick Percy says almost a year of effort has gone into the creation of the coalition, and he’s excited to see it expand in the future.

“This has been about nine months in the works, getting everything set up with the right governance and protections to make sure that not only this coalition creates value for all those involved, but also protects everyone’s privacy,” he says.

“We joined a little down the track of getting it set up, but the coalition identified that it needed someone to represent the Australian and New Zealand markets, which gave us the opportunity to join as the seventh founding member.

“It’s silly to think that any one business has the answers, and we are no different. What’s really great about being able to work together in this fashion is that not only is it a global movement, but more importantly, we have a good mix of everyone along the value circle, including producers, retail, roasters and green buyers.”

As it stands, there are two working group topics set up in the coalition, and Nick says these will continue to be shaped and refined as more businesses and organisations join.

“These first working group is titled ‘From Poverty to Prosperity’, focusing on understanding what this can mean across the value circle, and looking beyond income alone to support strong livelihoods,” he says.

“The second is titled ‘Purpose-Led Coffee Workforce’ – the focus here is on employment attraction, retention and engagement all across the coffee sector.”

Entry to the coalition is available to all B Corp certified coffee businesses, with an open Q&A set to be held on 30 April at 4pm EDT.