Sustainabilty is a the heart of WB.coffee. We have been taking numerous measures to reduce, reuse and only if that's not possible: recycle. There a plenty of companies with b-corp and other labels that don't even recycle there waste properly, use non-rechargeable batteries, waste water, etc. So don't be fooled by them..

Our Lab and warehouse are 100% powered by renewable energy from the Netherlands (no grey energy with co2 compensation). We have a waterless urinoir, saving hundreds of liters of drinking water from being flushed away. 

We are 100% free from (fossil) gas, brew and roast on (solar) electricity. 

WB.coffee is a circulair coffee company. We re-use our coffee ground and also offer coffee grounds re-use for our customers and private people. What we do is growing mushrooms, making body scrub and supplying compost to gardeners. 

Where does your coffee come from? 

We receive loads of samples for quality evaluation at Amsterdam Coffee Lab. Some farmers and farmer cooperations are able to send us coffee directly. In some cases we have to buy through an importer (green coffee trader). Whenever possible we try to avoid this middleman as ultimately it does not increase farmers earnings, whilst it does increase our purchase costs. It is also important to know that green coffee trading is dominated by big corporate commodity traders. Many smaller, "independent"green coffee traders are owned by venture capitalist or big corporations. In some countries these corporations own coffee milling facilities (this is where coffee gets prepared for export). So it is not always possible to import coffee without getting your hands dirty. 

With advancement of (communication) technology more and more farmers have direct access to micro roasters, such as WB.coffee. Often this is through a platform or export and transport service provider. More and more of these are owned by export countries or have a clear and trustworthy social and sustainability policy. We also buy top lots in international auctions. The ownership of the auction platform can be an issue here. As we said, it's not always possible to buy green coffee without getting dirty hands. 

The transport by modern sailing cargo ships is a development we support. If possible we pay a premium for this shipping method. 

What we pay for:

• the farmer gets market price + a premium for quality (specialty grade coffee) 
• Import fees, transport, storage and delivery 
• Quality control and food safety 
• Roasting Packaging (not apllicable with Coffee Refill Program) 
• Operational costs (our rent, marketing, etc)  

The most important is the quality premium. This is vey often mis-marketed as a premium to the farmer that is somehow social or exceptional whilst in reality everybody in the specialty coffee industry pays this premium.

No Greenwashing or Sjoemel-koffie

At WB.coffee we hate greenwashing and what we call in dutch sjoemel-koffie. Most of the supermarket coffees are not sustainable and the same goes for many online sellers that are in reality investor owned and have sleek marketing....and that's not to make the coffee farmers millionaires! 

If there is a lot of marketing and advertising from your coffee supplier there is a big chance that there are investors behind it and they are pushing out Small and Medium size Business that are way more sustainable also in terms of local economy, employing people in an honest and long term relationship, etc. So better support your local roaster than buy coffee from an online shop that is not that honest and caring afterall.

Even better than ordering coffee from WB.coffee (except of course if you live in the Amsterdam region) is to buy from a local roaster that sells traceable coffee and might even buy directly from the coffee farmers. Just ask us and we can point you to an ethical coffee roaster that also knows how tasty specialty coffee should taste. 

No Farmwashing & social washing 

Often people say I have a subscription or I buy from this roaster that buys directly from the farmers. In 99% of the cases unfortunately you are being sold a half truth at best. 99% of the specialty coffee is bought through intermediaries. Mostly importers (green coffee traders) buy green coffee from exporters. In some countries they are allowed to buy directly from framers or cooperatives with an export license, but even than often services of dry mills are used and transport and insurance is arranged through 3rd part suppliers. 

According to the International Trade Centre’s Coffee Guide, 4th Edition, less than 10% of the final retail price of a coffee beverage goes back to the producer. You can read a bit more about it here. 

Every roaster that buys specialty grade coffee pays a premium on top of the market price. Many roasters sell this as a bonus for the farmers which is not true. Roasters that sell commercial grade coffee sometimes pay a small premium for fair trade or bio certified coffee but don't mention that it costs farmers money to get and maintain that certificate. 

Setting up a foundation for charity projects (schools, healthcare, etc) is also a common practise but we never seen roasters being transparent as to how this charity relates to their turnover and profit. 

What do you mean by social washing? 

If you are ethical and support poor famers abroad, you are also good for your employees, right? Unfortunately many coffee companies use interns and self employed people to save on labour costs. Is the person who is packaging your coffee really treated as well as the CEO of the company? 

A small local roaster often makes impact at the local level. Creating a community, being able to be a connection between the coffee farmer, roaster and the consumer. Often their staff is like family and treated well. 

Big start up/growth model roasters claim to do the same, but in reality they employ mostly sales people (they must continue to grow or their investors are getting unhappy). Often they pay bonusses on corporate contracts/sales targets. They also employ a lot of marketeers. Those marketeers that create the image of a connection between the coffee farmer, the roaster and the consumer. Often they will even fly professional photo and film crews to coffee farms to make a story that helps them sell their coffee. The (background)actors are the poorest local farm workers and they don't benefit from being featured. 

A lot of flying and Co2 emmisions by people who are not agronomists or coffee experts that can truly make an impact for the coffee farmer. Like a cheese importer who is bringing his restaurant customers to visit a cheese farmer in the Netherlands. It's not likely that the cheese farmer will learn anything significant from them.

What we do differently at WB.coffee: 

• 100% transparency about our ownership (100% family owned, and we are not millionaires) 
• Paying a fair price for specialty grade coffee (premium for specialty coffee that enables coffee famers rather than looking at it from a neo-colonial perspective) 
• Offering plastic-free alternatives whenever possible 
• Saving water 
• Offering zero waste coffee with our Coffee Refill Program 
• Collect and re-use spend coffee grounds 
• Pay taxes

How do I know if my coffee supplier is truly sustainable and fair? You might be surprised to learn our opinion about companies that appeared in the media as being sustainable. Companies that are funded by Triodos bank and selling commodity coffee in capsules. Companies that sell coffee from Africa just to help the farmer. We can't be naming and shaming if we want to keep their lawyers at bay. Many of these "for the farmer" coffee sellers are doing things better than the commercial coffee sector (95%+ of all coffee sold and what you get mostly at HoReCa). The questions we have are however valid. 

If you are so for transparency and fairness and a better life for farmers why do you: 

• use a mirage of BV's (legal entities) just like Starbucks and Nestle are doing ? 
• work with rich businessman in Africa and sell it as "for the farmer" ?
• sell your coffee cheaper than truly ethical and sustainable coffee roaster do ?
• not disclose your UBO's (Ultimate Beneficiary Owners) on your website ? 
• publish an impact report that reads like it's written by a marketeer ? 
• why do you throw in some numbers but no way to check anything, let alone see how it relates to the total profit and turnover ?

What can I do to make impact with my coffee order?

One of the most important steps you can take is to bundle orders and shop smart. Whatever big commerce is telling you, 5 deliveries with 5 packages is not as sustainable as 1  shipment. At WB.coffee we don't do drop shipping from different warehouses. WB.coffee is your one stop shop! That's why we call WB.coffee the webshop for smart people.

We offer over 2000 products so you can always add filters, coffee, tea, chocolate, presents, kitchen tools to your order. We even stock a bunch of products that the Coffee Nose wanted to share with you. Such as the best (and sustainable) deodorant he has ever encountered. Oatmeal for breakfast, vegan and organic proteins, etc. Don't miss the gifts section at WB.coffee

Why do you use plastic tape for my package when you claim to be sustainable? 

The brown paper tape has a sticky side, just like plastic tape. Plastic tape can be made from plant based plastics and be recycled. Paper tape cannot be recycled. At least for now we are not aware of any facility that recycles them. The sticky side is rejected a paper recycling facilities.

We re-use packaging material that we receive from our suppliers. Some of our suppliers, like Moccamaster, do the same, so plastic wrap that was securing a pallet shipment can be reused twice before you receive it as packaging material to protect your product. If you receive a nice - one time use - paper packaging material with an online order you should wonder if your supplier is throwing away materials that are suitable for reusing (circular system) at the backdoor and getting a green image at the front door! That's why our packages don't look so fancy!

If you cannot reuse the packaging a shipping material, please make sure it gets recycled!

You can bring your spend coffee grounds to WB.coffee in Weesp and we will re-use it. We also collect capsules (since Blokker is no longer around) for recycling.