The UK specialty coffee roaster says an ‘unwavering’ focus on ethical business practices and sustainability enabled it better its previous score by 13 points
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Origin Coffee’s EMS targets include reducing non-recyclable waste from 41% to 25% by 2025 | Photo credit: Origin Coffee
UK-based Origin Coffee has been recertified as a B Corp with a 95.6 B Impact Assessment score – 13 points higher than its previous accreditation in 2020.
The Cornwall-based business, named Best Specialty Coffee Roaster at the 2023 European Coffee Awards, hailed its emphasis on local sourcing and the establishment of a new Environmental Management System (EMS) as key to its re-certification.
Origin Coffee’s EMS targets include reducing non-recyclable waste from 41% to 25% by 2025 and sourcing 65% of coffee from underrepresented communities by 2026.
Additionally, in March 2022 Origin Coffee appointed Sarah Walker as its first full-time Sustainability Manager – a move CEO Tom Sobey highlighted as demonstrating its ‘unwavering dedication to driving positive change’.
“The ‘B’ on our packaging represents a multitude of conscientious choices that have been made to improve our entire product ecosystem. In the realm of coffee, it signifies fair compensation for our farmers, better farm practices, environmentally mindful roasting methods, improved transportation practices, well-informed marketing efforts, and a commitment to transparency. Being able to include this emblem makes us very proud of everything we do,” Walker said.
The B Corp certification process evaluates businesses across five impact areas – governance, workers, community, environment and customers – to build a score out of 200. Businesses need to score a B Impact Assessment score of 80 or above to gain certification. The median score for businesses completing the assessment is currently 50.9.
B Corps are required to recertify every three years to demonstrate maintained or improved operations across the impact areas.
There are currently 8,100 B Corp companies across the world, including 1,880 in the UK. Other certified UK coffee roasters include Climpson & Sons, Union Hand Roasted Coffee, Ozone Coffee Roasters and Pact Coffee.