By Catherine Franks
On Tuesday I was given the opportunity to chat on Radio Scotland’s ‘Drive Time’ about the price of a cup of coffee. The topic was being discussed due to the article “Could paying £5 for a coffee soon become the norm?”
Honestly, there has been chat in specialty coffee circles about flat whites needing to break the £4 mark for some time now. And when it comes to green coffee prices those of us working in the industry have talked of little else over the past 6 months. The costs of green coffee have been steadily rising and have hit an all time high (see our blog The Market in your Mug).
Let’s zoom out from our coffee mug and take a look at the bigger picture for a minute.
The world is a mess, what's driving this?
The elephant in the room here is climate change. This enormous beast of an issue is driving a lot of changes in our world and until we sit up and pay attention we will sit in gently warming water like the proverbial frog not thinking its that big of a problem for us personally. We will continue chatting about the various ‘inconveniences’ like the price of a latte or genuine hardships like our cost of living situation until very suddenly it all becomes completely unmanageable and full blown crisis hits. All of the really big issues of our day are being driven by climate change (and its accompanying dramatic weather events) - wars over resources, the movements of people and the accompanying rise of the far right, rising costs and increasing inequalities. If we look at all of these things on their own they seem overwhelming and the enormity freezes us in place. But if we take a very big step back and look clearly, the situation is actually pretty straight forward.
I consume therefore I am
Put simply, our economic system is driven by over consumption. For years now there has been talk of being a green consumer and making more ethical choices about how we consume. I certainly agree with one aspect of this in that I believe that when we do consume we should make deliberate choices in how we do this. But, remember the recycling mantra - Reduce , reuse , recycle? It’s the same with consumption where reduction needs to be our first line of attack. There is a lot of really interesting work being done on the idea of de-growth but you are much more likely to hear the mantra of growth, growth, growth coming from those leading our own government. But not all growth is good, it needs to be focussed with laser accuracy, where needed. Maybe we should expect more long term planning from our leaders and focus on rationalising and reorganising the resources we have already. There is a severe housing shortage in some parts of the country whereas in others there are swathes of empty housing and dying towns. How about relocating the investment and jobs rather than the people?
We simply do not need to consume the way we do. For the past 70 years, the entire post war period for us in Europe and the US, consumption has been pushed at us with the idea that growing our economies endlessly is the way to increase wealth. But then we come to a point where we hit the roof on what the planet’s capabilities are and what its resources can sustain. At this point do we take the Trump stance of renewing the old imperialism and seizing the resources of others, claiming that fast dwindling supply for ourselves and leaving the rest of the world to starve? I know for absolute certain I don’t want to live in that kind of world. There is another option and if you have not already, I would urge you to look at Kate Rayworth’s Doughnut Economics. We must find a way to meet our basic needs whilst living within the boundaries of our planet’s capabilities. A lot of smart brains (much smarter than mine) are working on this. Let’s listen to them and spread their message.
At Steampunk reducing consumption has driven our ethos from day one. We still use the same refurbished espresso machine we opened with, we have never sold bottled water and make tap freely available on our terrace, we offer refills of our coffee tins, we give a discount when you bring your reusable cup, we reuse and repurpose whatever we can, at all times we tailor our offering to minimise waste. We have offered workshops on how to stylishly mend your clothes, shared tips on how to reuse pallets for projects in order to re-home our regular supply of them. I could go on but I won’t and I want to underline the fact that we are not alone in this and there are many many others doing fantastic work in their communities and their spheres of influence too.
The cost of coffee
Getting back to the cost of coffee, as a roastery and cafe we really get to see this issue from both angles of the supply chain.
As a cafe we have seen the steep price rises of energy (doubled), staffing costs (with a big jump again coming in April) and steep rises in the costs of all ingredients, packaging and consumables. As people who also live in the world and are faced with our own budgeting dilemmas, we understand that the price we charge matters. Too high and fewer people will be able to afford to go out for coffee and too low we won’t be around to serve it. We truly understand how difficult it is to run a hospitality business in the current economic climate.
Flip to the supply side and as a roastery we are keenly aware of the rising prices of green coffee - our staple offering from Brazil (just released today) has seen a doubling of the cost of the green coffee in the past two years. We think these increased green costs offer an opportunity for growers to be more fairly paid and to work towards redressing the supply chain which has up until now been very unfairly weighted towards the global north when it comes to profit distribution.
Ok, so what can I (as a coffee drinker) do?
These are all big ideas and it is all well and good thinking about them and trying to understand the mechanics of what is happening in the world, but what are some practical things we can do in our day to day lives to effect change, specifically with regard to our role as coffee drinkers?
Remember, you are a coffee drinker not a consumer
The most important thing to remember: First and foremost you are a citizen, a human, a family member, a friend and yes, a lover of coffee. You are not ‘a consumer’.
We must stop thinking of ourselves that way, as consumers. Our consumption does not and should not define us as people. Does your friend like you because you bought a new jacket? I certainly hope not and if so you need new friends. At any rate I don't believe it is true. They remember the time you made them a birthday cake, or when you walked their dog when they were ill or when you collected their kids from school or sat and listened to the story of their terrible day. When we are gone, our loved ones will remember the walk we shared together along the beach or our stupid jokes or embarrassing laugh. They will not remember what car we drove from 2003 to 2007 … well maybe in my case ;-). So be a citizen - get active in your community, go out and vote; be a human - care about things and show that it's cool to do that; be a friend or family member who takes the time to be there when needed.
Reduce your consumption
When it comes to coffee and the equipment you use to brew it, there are a lot of canny ways that you can experiment and play around with different bits of kit and still have all that fun and the ritual of brewing without over consuming. Try asking friends what they use and maybe borrow their kit and try it out before buying? Mine the back of your cupboard and find that old brewer lurking, get your pal to do that too and swap. Buy Nothing sites are also great for finding unwanted items to re-home locally. You can of course find great bits of kit in the charity shop - check out our blog and video about charity shop coffee finds.
Prioritise spending
When it comes to getting the best deal out of scarce resources, prioritising where you spend your coffee money really matters. Trying to reduce your daily spending? Invest in the best quality beans you can, brew them at home for your daily cuppa and use a flask to take your coffee with you. That way you are supporting the people who grow the coffee and the businesses who care about sourcing and roasting with integrity and attention. It is better to support the coffee producer end of the supply chain than the take away coffee/convenience/lifestyle end of the supply chain, if your budget means you have to choose.
Picture the world you want and use your spending to support that
When you do go out to meet a friend and have a coffee together, be intentional about where you spend your cash. Support independent businesses not chains - our prices are similar but money spent in local indie businesses benefits the local economy rather than going into shareholders profits. Fast growing chains like Black Sheep are purely a real estate and profit-maximising-to-cash-out operation. Do you really want to fund this get rich quick scheme with your hard earned money? Why not fund that genuinely independent small coffee kiosk (shout out to the super cute Tuck Shop at NB train station) or all those wonderful indie cafes that bring genuine local jobs and training, support the community, give gallery space to local artists, raise funds for a genuine causes…the choices are out there. If these businesses get your support rather than a Costa or Starbucks, we can influence the shape of our local economy. North Berwick keeps getting named one of the best places to live in the UK and one of the main reasons for this is our thriving High Street and the amenities this brings to the local population. Not to blow our own trumpet, but the fact that you can get an excellent coffee here is almost always mentioned in these articles.
Picture the high street that matters to you and support the business community who provide that. Do you wish to see a bustling town centre with a variety of interesting shops, cafes and restaurants or do you want to see derelict buildings, and streets empty of all but a few big chains. Imagine everyone working in huge warehouses off the bypass or in vans delivering goods. No shops, no human interaction. I personally will no longer send a penny of my money to Jeff Bezos. I am trailing behind many of my friends in this, I am truly embarrassed to say. Many folk I know swore off Amazon long ago whereas I (and many others) continue to fall for the convenience, the laziness of not cancelling the Prime subscription, the easy Kindle books. Amazon seems so entangled in our lives, too convenient, too hard to stop. Well that has changed for us as a family now. Our Prime subscription will cancel instead of renew and I’ve stopped buying anything through them since the start of the year. I’m not renting movies through Prime and if I can’t find it locally I will do without. If its really necessary I will google it and pay that shipping cost to get it from a business directly. I have yet to figure out alternative e-reader options.
Finally, here's one easy thing we can all do
If we are going to get a take away coffee, let’s all focus on using reusable cups. This is not only good for the planet, in most places you also get a decent discount. The Scottish Government is still considering a levy on disposable cups and if that happens we will all be paying an extra 20/30p for a disposable cup. How about we all try to get into the habit of reusables again (this really slipped during Covid), then we will be ahead of the curve. I’ve chucked a reusable cup in my car and keep one in my bag too so that I am never caught short when a desire for coffee strikes.
We are in this pot together
I am sure that many of you are already doing most of these things - in fact I am certain of it as I speak to so many of you every day, and I hear so many voices all saying the same things and I want you to know you are not alone.
Many of us see the pot we are sitting in and we know we are the frogs. We are individually making changes but we must talk to each other about how we can leap out of that pot together. We all share one pot and we will boil or thrive together. The choice is ours.
One last thing: At the moment I am reminded of a book I used to read my children, Yertle the Turtle, by Dr Suess. Do you know it? Reminds me very much of the current orange king. All it takes is a simple burp…