Two Chimps Coffee are an ethical, climate-positive coffee roastery based in Rutland. They source and roast high-scoring speciality coffees from small farms and estates worldwide. Then, at their Rutland-based roastery, their team roasts the green beans by hand to bespoke recipes. Roasting multiple times each week makes sure every coffee is as fresh as possible. Because when it comes to coffee, fresh is always best!
Speciality coffee can sound a bit daunting – a bit ‘fancy’ – but Two Chimps Coffee are all about keeping it fun, writing about coffee in a way coffee lovers can understand. And, yes, that means the odd monkey pun! Their coffee always has quirky names, too, like Chuffed as Chips and Bright Lights of the Bathroom!
In 2021, Two Chimps became a climate-positive roastery. This means that they successfully offset all the carbon emissions of coffees, teas and hot chocolate flakes.
Why Did You Decide To Make Two Chimps Coffee A Climate-Positive Company?
Both myself and my partner, Laura, have always been aware of our environmental impact. Whether that be by walking instead of driving or buying second-hand goods, we’ve always tried to keep our carbon footprint small.
Then, in 2019, a bundle of joy came into our lives – we had a baby! Little Felix made us see the world in a different light. Whereas previously the planet had been important to us, now it was essential. We wanted to lead by example and teach Felix, now three, how to live in an environmentally friendly way.
This shift in mindset was what made us take the climate-positive pledge for Two Chimps. Now, every speciality coffee we source and roast is entirely carbon neutral – it’s an achievement we’re very proud of!
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What Does Being Climate Positive Mean For Your Business?
Being climate positive is in everything we do at Two Chimps. From donating our coffee chaff to chicken owners (it makes great chicken bedding!) to printing coffee roast logs on the back of pre-printed, non-confidential paper, we’re a bit obsessive about recycling and reusing!
Partnering with Ecologi allows us to offset our remaining emissions. They help us to plant trees and support carbon-reducing projects in the UK and beyond. It’s also a great way for customers to see that they are making a difference, as we plant trees for new orders and subscriptions.
We’re thrilled to be climate positive, but we’re not stopping now – we’re always looking for ways to move forward! Recently, for instance, we swapped to eco-friendly glue dots and 100% recyclable stickers.
What Are The Challenges Of Running A Climate-Positive Business?
Putting our ideas into reality! We are a small business and, like any business, need to pay for every new step we take. We’re keen to start delivering coffee in electric vans, but their cost makes this unfeasible at present. And will electric vehicles have as much resale value five years from now? I am not sure anyone knows yet. So, yes, it’s certainly hard to balance our environmental aspirations with the realities of running a business!
It’s also crucial that sustainability doesn’t impact the quality of our product. Packing coffee in paper bags would be amazing for the planet, but would it keep coffee fresh? No – the beans wouldn’t be able to degas properly. As such, we strike a happy balance with our fully recyclable, freshness-sealing LDPE coffee bags instead.
What Are Your Next Sustainability Steps?
Along with electric vans, we’re also considering solar panels for the roastery. We will be opening up a dialogue with our landlord soon about the possibility of solar energy; the final decision rests with them! We would certainly welcome governmental action on this issue. It would be great to have more freedom to make eco-friendly developments!
