Q&A
Why a new brand?
Elements coffee was established in response to the need for more sustainable coffee in everyday consumption. Coffee is one of the most endangered crops, mainly due to growing demand and deteriorating growing conditions. The main reason is climate change, which is changing conditions in the countries where coffee is grown. The coffee tree is very sensitive to the climate. This results in unstable conditions for farmers, deforestation due to the demand for new soil or greater use of unsuitable or healthy fertilizers and pesticides that can penetrate into your cup. Therefore, it is more important to pay attention to where the coffee comes from and how it is grown. But that is not happening. More than 50% of coffee in the Czech Republic is sold under brands rated in the worst category in terms of sustainability and 30% under brands rated in the second worst category. These manufacturers do very little in terms of monitoring their supply chains and protecting the environment. Often, part of their production comes from farms associated with slavery, child labor, dangerous working conditions, deforestation, or the use of banned chemicals in cultivation, which reduce the purchase price of coffee.
More sustainable coffee is then sold mainly in smaller cafes, specialty shops and roasters, mostly as gourmet coffee associated with higher prices due to smaller production, greater variety, search for new flavors and other aspects that will be appreciated especially by great coffee lovers. Cheaper coffee is then much better, but it is usually very unsustainable and not very interesting in taste. With our brand, we try to solve the problem and make sustainable and high-quality coffee more affordable.
Coffee should be organic and sustainable. However, there are no known certifications on the packaging. Why?
When it comes to marking certifications, we have taken a slightly different approach here. There are many certifications and each means something different, which often creates misleading impressions for customers. In addition, in our case, parts of our packaging and coffee are associated with a total of about 9 certifications (such as Fairtrade, Bio, FSC, Ok Home Compost or Climate Netural) and therefore their complete display would be a problem. That's why we've chosen two new custom labels for environmental friendliness and waste reduction, which cover the environmental sustainability of our coffee:
Each year, we plan to publish a report detailing our goals and operations to promote transparency in what we do. Our goal is to create a transparent brand, stick to the highest possible standards and leave your efforts to find information to us. Certifications such as BIO or Fairtrade can of course be requested from us additionally.
How is your packaging different from others?
Packaging is also a problem for coffee around the world. Although they are often referred to as recyclable, in most cases they are composed of multiple layers, which are separately recyclable, but their separation for recycling is not very possible or practical. That's why it almost always ends up in landfills. Although alternatives are beginning to appear on the market, they are mostly focused on degradability when they end up in landfills. The problem is not only the material, but also the need for a CO2 leak valve that emits roasted coffee. Without it, the package would burst after a while. Our packaging consists of two parts. One is recyclable and the other is fully degradable and can be composted at home. The inner packaging is 100% leaking and therefore we do not need a valve. The downside, however, is the shorter time for which the coffee stays fresh in the packaging. Therefore, we always pack fresh coffee to order and we recommend pouring the coffee into an airtight, opaque container as soon as possible. However, our coffee in bean form should last fresh for about 3 months. You can find more about packaging in our "About Elements" section.
How is your coffee different from others on the market?
Our coffee is somewhere between the supermarkets and the roasters. The supermarket will offer you a significantly lower price, but in the vast majority of cases the coffee is unsustainable and of lower quality, due to its price and the cost of its distribution and display. Supermarket coffee is also usually very roasted and usually offers only a bitter, not very interesting taste. In roasters, on the other hand, you get high-quality coffee, which is much more often sustainable or transparently delivered. However, roasters often have significantly more expensive coffee and a better selection, which is usually associated with trying new flavors and the overall experience. We offer coffee in the same quality category as roasters, but we have embarked on a simpler offer that allows us to offer such coffee about 20% cheaper to make it more affordable. We selected and tested the coffees so that they would taste as good to people as possible, and they could keep their taste stable for every household. So our coffee can serve either as a more affordable everyday supplement for lovers of trying new flavors, or as a better and more sustainable replacement for supermarket coffee for customers who do not solve coffee so much and are just looking for a good one.
What is your "social impact"?
Our goal is to improve the lives of disadvantaged people who are connected with our coffee as much as possible. At the very beginning, it is farmers who are facing an existential crisis in the world. The world price of coffee has been very low for a long time, and in many cases farmers are not able to sell their produce at a price that would at least cover their costs. Due to the fact that in remote areas of developing countries, where coffee is grown, there are not many alternatives in employment, many farmers continue to grow coffee below cost and wait for a higher purchase price or get into debt. Other farmers solve the situation by deforesting and expanding agricultural land, emigrating, growing other crops, using chemicals to increase production. An alternative for farmers is organic production, or fair trade, thanks to which they can sell coffee at a much higher price, but there are costs associated with it. Cooperatives that train farmers, provide them with loans or other assistance, and above all buy coffee from them, which can then reach Western markets that are otherwise inaccessible to farmers, usually help them grow Fairtrade / organic coffee. We buy coffee from such cooperatives and indirectly help farmers and the environment, which is slowly destroying the ordinary coffee market. In the future, we plan more cooperation directly with farmers and organizations that are dedicated to better coffee growing.
Our coffee is further roasted and packaged in a sheltered workshop in the Czech Republic, which offers job opportunities to those who are socially disadvantaged. Our goal is to show that even a simple purchase of a regular product can leave a significant positive mark. In the future, we want to further integrate this model and create more added value for the people around us.
What is ecological ink and gluing?
Although ink is not quite commonly mentioned in connection with ecology, common inks contain so-called volatile organic compounds, which accelerate the drying of the ink and can pose a risk to the people who work with them, air quality or nature. Due to the increasing regulation of these substances and the popularity of ecology, ink alternatives are now emerging that contain alternatives instead of volatile organic compounds. These include water-based inks, eco-solvents based on soy or other sources or UV printing. We use a mixture of water-based inks and soy on the envelopes, which enables a safer working environment and a smaller footprint on the environment.
Adhesives can also be problematic, whether due to their health effects through vapors or problematic recycling - a large amount of glue on paper reduces the quality of the final recycled product or makes it unusable for processing. That is why we use an adhesive that belongs to the group of dispersion adhesives that are suitable for everyday work, as well as for children. We also reduced the amount of glue so that the effect of the glue on recycling was minimal.