The Best Brands of Ethical Coffee (time to switch!)
Many people who enjoy a morning coffee, want their purchase to be more than just a caffeine fix. Sanctuary Coffee takes this idea further by supporting animal charities with every cup.
NHS says that it’s best to avoid caffeine for pregnancy/nursing (or no more than 2 cups of weak tea daily – or 1 cup of mild coffee or cola). Also avoid caffeine for certain medical conditions.
Use a sink protector to catch coffee grounds, then bin (caffeine may affect compost creatures). Same with tea leaves.
After adopting a greyhound, the founders learn that greyhound charities receive no government funds to help the 3 million dogs rescued from the racing industry.
Now sold in 200 shops & cafes, other beneficiaries include a Welsh animal sanctuary that undertook a huge rescue from an illegal slaughterhouse that resulted in a government raid (the pigs cost almost £5000 a month to feed).
The range includes a Colombian blend (to support small farmers), a House Brew (to fund co-operatives) and a House Espresso (if you like your coffee strong!) Serve with organic oat milk for a frothy coffee treat.
Sanctuary Coffee not only offers wholesale coffee, but can also help with setting up machines, grinders and professional barista training.
Other Coffee Brands That Help Animals
It’s heartening to see how many coffee brands in the USA also use profits, to help animals. Some of note to inspire are:
Grounds & Hounds Coffee (donates 20% of profits to fund shelters with rescues, spay/neuter programs and vaccines. The creatively-named blends include Soul Pup, Morning Walk, Good Boy, Paper & Slippers and Rescue Roast!
The company was set up by a young American entrepreneur after adopting his two rescue dogs. Subscription packages include dog-inspired ceramic coffee mugs.
- Underdog (every cup, saves a pup!)
- Rescue Coffee Co (Go Fetch! or Downward Dog!)
- Fluffy Cow Coffee donates to farm sanctuaries)
Bird & Wild (shade-grown coffee to help songbirds)
Bird & Wild uses profits to help the RSPB and songbirds in coffee-growing regions. All their coffee is shade-grown to allow farmers to grow organically (and grow other crops alongside, for more income to sell at local markets).
Glass jars are sent with recycled shredded cardboard) and wholesalers can buy coffee buy the case, at discounted prices.
Shade-grown coffee plantations also help for more plant and insect diversity. To compare, unshaded coffee mono-cultures found as few as 6 to 12 bird species, whereas just one shade-grown coffee plantation in Mexico noted 184 bird species (including 46 migratory).
One shade-grown coffee plantation in India found 28 species of mammals alone (shade-grown coffee is also better for endangered bees, who like the flowering plants that thrive in them).
Read our posts on how to create safe havens for birds (feeding, nest-boxes) and preventing bird strike. Don’t play birdsong near birds, it can confuse and attract predators.
Kiss the Hippo Coffee (pays 50% more than Fair Trade)
Kiss the Hippo is a London roastery that offers quality organic coffee, the beans treated at the world’s most eco-friendly coffee roaster! The beans are then quality-checked, before being sent to customers. Used coffee grounds are made into bio-fuel and all employees are paid a proper living wage.
This brand visits farms yearly, to check the farmers are being treated well. And interestingly, pays its farmers at least 50% above normal Fair Trade prices.
All decaffeinated coffee uses either sugar cane or Swiss Water methods, to avoid chemicals. The coffee is naturally kosher (though not certified) and free from gluten and common allergens.
If you don’t have a coffee machine, you can buy ready-ground options, all you need then is a cup, a teaspoon and a kettle!
You can buy coffee by country of origin:
- Brazil
- China
- Columbia
- Ethiopia
- Guatemala
- Honduras
- Mexico
- Peru
- Rwanda
The range includes:
- Christmas Coffee (cinnamon, strawberry, chocolate)
- Low Caf (white sugar, cranberry, hazelnut)
- Honduras (orange, nectarine, fudge)
- Columbia (plum, raisin, shortbread)
- George Street Blend (chocolate, berries, butterscotch)
Decaf Pods (dark chocolate, toffee, Brazil nut). Not compatible with Nespresso® Vertuo.
Although the site says these are compostable, see below (just use a sink catcher and bin, as caffeine could harm compost creatures).
Kiss the Hippo Cold Brew
How to Recycle Canned Coffee
You don’t need to crush cans. But do pop the ring-pulls back over the holes (or pop whole lids inside cans), to avoid curious creatures like hedgehogs (or snails/slugs) getting trapped inside.
Skylark (non-profit coffee from Brighton)
Skylark is the world’s first non-profit coffee brand (the roaster spins at the foot of the South Downs). It pays twice the Fair Trade rate to coffee growers, giving other profits to environmental organisations, and those seeking to stop exploitation in the coffee trade (roasters receive the most profit normally, not the growers)
The company has key artistic support! The poetry on their bags is from Robert Macfarlane and art by Welsh painter Jackie Morris. If you’ve never read it, treat yourself to a copy of their gorgeous book collaboration The Lost Words.
