COFFEE TIME: Louise Anderson, of Coffee 2u, left, with Wendy Holden, Marketing and Administration Assistant at The Factory, celebrate the arrival of an Eco Coffee machine at the Alder Hills business centre
Business people in Poole’s Alder Hills area are being invited to taste the Eco Coffee™ and help boost a charitable housing association.
A new café area has been set up at The Factory, the workspace, business development and social enterprise centre administered by Bournemouth-based housing association BCHA.
And, given the dearth of nearby coffee shops, The Factory hopes to attract employees from neighbouring businesses to have a morning cuppa there.
At the heart of the new drinks area, created from reclaimed pallet wood, is ethically sourced sustainable coffee, provided by Dorset-based Eco Coffee Company Coffee 2u through a unique eco-awareness partnership arrangement.
Coffee 2u has installed a state-of-the-art Krea Touch bean-to-cup eco coffee machine in the newly created café area at the entrance to The Factory building.
Factory staff have been busy leafleting neighbouring premises to inform them about the new set-up.
A cup of coffee costs just £1.70 with all profits going to support BCHA. The drinks range includes No. 22 Blend Eco Coffee™ and Fairtrade hot chocolate and visitors will also always be able to get a cup of tea.
The café will be open from 9am to 5pm and The Factory is also planning to have a limited range of soft drinks available during the summer months.
Wendy Holden, part of the development team at The Factory, said: “We are always looking for ways to improve our services for staff, co-workers, tenants, visitors and Dorset Scrapstore so we jumped at the chance to work with Coffee 2u.”
“It was also felt that because we are in an area with few coffee shops we should throw open the facilities to other businesses in the immediate area, thus generating much-needed income for BCHA.”
“We are delighted with our partnership with Coffee 2u and hope it proves to be successful and long-standing.”
Coffee 2u, headquartered on the Woolsbridge Industrial Estate at Three Legged Cross, was founded in 2017 by Managing Director Stuart Atkins and supplies coffee and coffee machines to businesses across the south.
Towards the end of 2018 the team were able to launch their exciting new range of Eco Coffee which provides a sustainable solution to the population’s ever growing coffee consumption and most importantly, the waste associated with this.
In adopting the Eco Coffee concept, the consumer can be certain that their spent coffee grounds, that would otherwise be a waste item contributing to ecological pressures, are collected and put to good use.
Coffee consumption is significantly contributing towards global warming; with more than 500,000 tons of waste coffee grounds being disposed of in landfill in the UK each year.
Coffee grounds accelerate the decomposition of other food wastes that are sent to landfill. As they decompose, they produce methane, which is a greenhouse gas with more than 20 times the global warming capacity of carbon dioxide.
Eco Coffee is a unique solution to this. Coffee 2u supply their customers with the coffee, once used, the coffee grounds are collected, dried and used as a biofuel to roast the next batch of Eco Coffee.
Louise Anderson, part of the firm’s business development team, said: “When I was first approached by Wendy at the Factory, following a brief discussion of her requirements, I was invited to visit the premises to see what it was all about.
“I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect and was anticipating the usual office set up and had in the back of my mind a few recommendations for coffee machines for them. It became apparent to me within a very short time that this was an incredibly diverse and unique working environment and all for the benefit of an important cause.
“I instantly recognised that there was a certain symmetry concerning the message that both Eco Coffee and The Factory are promoting with regards to sustainability and growth and so a partnership between our two organisations felt quite natural.
“We were founded on the principle of providing high quality coffee, tea, soft drinks and coffee machines to suit any environment, eco-friendly products including compostable, recyclable and re-usable cups, lids and straws.”
“We launched our brand Eco Coffee in 2018 with the aim to provide south west England with honest, delicious and responsible coffee, while enhancing the ‘reduce, re-use and recycle’ programmes.”
