Roasting Sustainably: Dear Green's Vision For A Climate-Resilient Coffee Industry – CoffeeTalk

Dear Green Coffee Roasters, a Glasgow-based specialty coffee company founded in 2011, is committed to sustainability and ethical sourcing. The company produces a variety of specialty coffees, including single-origin roasts and custom blends, offering customers high-quality alternatives to mass-produced coffee. Coffee is not just a commodity but also serves as a symbol of social connection in many cultures, making it an ideal centerpiece for Dear Green’s ethical and sustainable mission.

The company sources specialty-grade coffee, working directly with farmers to ensure quality and fair pricing. Sustainability is woven into every aspect of Dear Green’s operations, supporting climate change adaptation efforts in coffee-growing regions and working towards Net Zero emissions. They advocate for the introduction of agroforestry practices and an end to deforestation in coffee-growing areas. Dear Green is transparent about their positive actions, shortfalls, and targets, going beyond greenwashing to become true advocates for change in the industry.

Education and transparency are key components of Dear Green’s approach. The company openly discusses the climate crisis and its impacts on coffee production, aiming to help consumers understand why the price of coffee should reflect its true cost. In this conversation, Lisa touches on broader industry challenges and potential solutions, including the role of larger coffee companies in driving sustainability, the need for government interventions, and how consumer behavior might need to shift as coffee production adapts to a changing climate.

Lisa Lawson’s personal experiences during her visits to coffee growing locations have shifted her understanding of the environmental crisis and its direct impact on farming communities. She heard first-hand stories from farmers, especially in Kenya and Colombia, which described how low rainfall led to lower yields and fast-ripening coffee, which reduced both crop quality and their income. Some even had to relocate from third-generation farms due to inconsistent climate patterns, making farming unsustainable.

Farmers urgently need support to adapt to the changing climate, and while green tech is important, it’s not always the immediate help they need. More funding is required for direct climate adaptation, and it’s crucial that we recognize the rich knowledge these farmers have of their plants and their environment.

Lawson has also seen the effects of Brazil’s recent droughts and frost, which drove up global coffee prices, as a stark reminder of how interconnected the coffee industry is and how vulnerable it remains to climate impacts.

Dear Green, a coffee company, is working to address the projected loss of coffee-growing land by 2050. To ensure this, they believe that better governance around the actions causing the most harm, especially from the Western world, should be implemented. This includes ending deforestation and introducing agroforestry where it isn’t already in place. A higher price for coffee should be paid to support coffee-growing communities directly, along with support for farming and agronomy practices.

At Dear Green, they donate to World Coffee Research to support climate-resilient coffee plant research. They also pledge towards Net Zero and invest in having a team focused on sustainability. More companies need to go beyond greenwashing and be true advocates for change.

Climate change could reshape the coffee industry for consumers in terms of pricing, quality, and availability. Lower-quality coffees will likely dominate as they are easier to produce at lower altitudes and are more pest-resistant. High-grown arabica, which has more complex flavor profiles, is predicted to become rarer and more expensive. Producers will likely continue to experiment with innovative processing methods to meet consumer demands, explaining the higher prices for coffee in the future. Education will be key to bridging the gap between consumers and the agricultural roots of coffee.

To tackle environmental risks more aggressively, companies should be reviewing their financial institutions, pension providers, energy suppliers, and waste production processes. Measuring a company’s carbon footprint can highlight significant changes that can be made, particularly in reducing Scope 3 emissions such as business travel. Businesses need to transition away from fossil fuels, increase organic coffee purchases, and shift from offsetting to insetting by investing directly in their supply chain. Supporting producer-led projects and climate adaptation will help ensure quality and sustainability.

Micronationals have the power to make the biggest changes with the greatest impact, whether it’s creating less waste, using renewables, or refusing to invest in places where deforestation is occurring. Smaller players can be influential, but big businesses combined with government policy will ultimately drive systemic change.

Governments should support and incentivize organizations to implement Sustainable Development Goals into their operations, and policies around public transport and waste management can also help businesses lower their environmental footprint. Funding opportunities are crucial, especially for SMEs to hire dedicated sustainability professionals. Making B Corp certification compulsory would make a huge difference in ensuring businesses operate with the environment, workers, and communities in mind.

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