The Regenerative Impact of Ampersand’s Coffee
The coffee industry is one of the biggest in the world, as coffee is one of the top beverages consumed in the U.S., with over 60% of American adults consuming coffee every day. At Ampersand Coffee Roasters, we are committed to playing our part in creating a regenerative world – one coffee cup at a time.
From roasting to brewing our delicious coffee, we apply as many regenerative practices as we can. Starting at the very foundation of Ampersand Coffee Roasters: coffee.
Our coffee comes from all over the world: from African countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo and Ethiopia, to South American countries like Bolivia and Peru. We ensure that all of our coffee is Fair Trade and Organic Certified by collaborating with farms that meet all of the requirements for the certification. This means that every single origin and blend has been sourced with fair labor and organic practices.
Taking things a step further, we also source coffee from farms with Regenerative Organic and Bird Friendly certifications.
Regenerative Organic Certified (ROC) coffee is farmed in ways that are organic while preserving conditions for long-term soil health and ethical practices for the environment and the people involved. In other words, ROC maintains the farm so that it can keep producing. At Ampersand, we have three ROC origins: Peru, Nicaragua, and Colombia.
Bird Friendly Certified coffee, like ROC, is organic and cultivated in farms that mimic natural forests with the main purpose of supporting the local fauna, especially migratory birds. Our Bird Friendly Certified origins are Guatemala, Honduras, and Peru–all available in medium and dark roasts!
All three certifications are marked by seals on our bags. These serve as a guarantee to consumers that farmers apply consistent and long-term practices.
At our roastery and Tasting Lab, we do our best to reduce our waste. This means reduced use of single-use plastics, composting, and recycling consistently.
In our Tasting Lab, we reuse, compost, and recycle as much as we can. Our coffee beans arrive at the store from our roastery in reusable containers rather than plastic bags. Once we’ve used all of the coffee from a container, it is washed and sanitized before being returned to our roaster to be used again. The glass bottles of our syrups are also washed and sanitized to be reused for fresh batches of housemade syrups.
Similarly, even though our cups are compostable and recyclable, we encourage the use of reusable mugs. Whether it’s a travel mug or a repurposed glass jar, customers receive a 10% discount on their drinks when they bring in their own clean container.
For both our Tasting Lab and roastery, we compost our used coffee grounds and recycle materials such as cardboard boxes and plastic milk jugs through the city’s facilities.
Other materials, like used bags for our retail coffee, are recycled through a separate organization. You can return your 12 oz or 5 lbs bags of coffee at our Tasting Lab!
The burlap sacks our green coffee beans are delivered in can’t be recycled, but that doesn’t mean they’re thrown away! Instead, we give them out to customers. Some use them as DIY planters in their yards, others as tapestries to hang on their walls, and some are more crafty, repurposing them into tote bags.
Regeneration is more than composting and recycling, it’s working for a better today while preserving the opportunities of tomorrow. At Ampersand Coffee Roasters, we know that each act of regeneration today has the power to create meaningful and lasting impacts in our communities.
Written by Mariana Bastías