The Sydney-based specialty coffee group boosted its sustainable and ethical credentials after doubling down on fairer pay for farmers, waste-reduction programmes and green energy initiatives
Australian specialty coffee group Single O has attained B Corp certification with an overall B Impact Score of 90.7.
In a press release, the Sydney-based specialty coffee roaster and café chain said the certification, which took two years to complete, was testament to its single-origin coffee sourcing programme, positive community impact and waste reduction initiatives across its roastery and coffee shops.
“We’re stoked to have outwardly formalised and benchmarked our commitment to social and climate causes by becoming B Corp certified. The process has helped illuminate future initiatives and strengthened our commitments in all impact areas,” Single O said on LinkedIn.
Single O opened its first café in the Surrey Hills suburb of Sydney in 2003 and currently operates three coffee shops and a 100% green energy-powered roastery in its home market. The specialty coffee group launched in Japan in 2014 and now operates four coffee shops and roastery across the East Asian country – currently its only international market.
The group, which pays coffee farmers 2.28 times above the C price, credited its proprietary Freepour Coffee On Tap batch brew bar system, which uses less energy and produces less waste than using espresso machines, and 100% home compostable coffee bags as significantly supporting its drive to halve carbon emissions across its Australian operations by 2026.
The carbon-neutral business, which offset over 8,100 tonnes of CO2-e between 2020 and 2023, has also saved over 100 million plastic milk bottles from landfill since co-creating and implementing the Juggler milk dispensing system across its cafés in 2012. The system saves 80% of plastic waste compared to standard 2-litre milk bottles and complements Single O’s single-use coffee cup reduction drive, which includes reusable cup incentives, the creation of Standing O bars and Loan-A-Mug baskets at its sites.
B Corp-certified companies are businesses that meet high standards of social and environmental performance and are evaluated by B Lab across five impact areas – governance, workers, community, environment, and customers.
Candidates must score a minimum of 80 points across impact areas to become B Corp-certified and must recomplete the assessment every three years.
Single O, which is also pursuing separate B Corp certifications for its Japanese operations, joins a group of over 550 B Corp-certified businesses in Australia, including fellow Sydney-based specialty coffee roaster Sample Coffee Roasters, Melbourne-based Market Lane and Nomad Coffee Group, which owns the Veneziano Coffee Roasters, Flight Coffee, Black Bag Roasters and Coffee Hit brands.
