The SloCrafted Life

Teresa von Fuchs heads up a team of innovators at Bellwether Coffee, a venture-backed startup aiming to make coffee shops more sustainable not only for the environment, but for the people who own and work in them. When we talk about sustainability in the coffee shop industry, we have to talk about financial sustainability of the business and the sustainability of workers within the industry, which means opportunity for advancement and increased salaries over time. That's why the Bellwether machine caught our eye. Not only are they roasting beans in a way that reduces environmental impact and creates a better experience for customers (fresher beans roasted on-site), but they also create ways for small coffee shops to weather the economic storms of small business ownership by creating a way for them to generate income outside of selling individual cups of coffee (by selling bags to customers and wholesalers), but they also allow the shop to create a way for baristas to advance within the company by learning to roast and developing new flavor profiles that expand the shop's offerings.

When we talk about how to solve the environmental problems of the world, we can't pretend those problems are divided from the economic stability or physical safety of the workers involved. Bellwether has created a solution that tackles all facets of the problem, not just one, because when the shop owner is empowered to be able to purchase un-roasted beans, they have a much wider and more affordable spread of options, and that allows them to support fair trade, environmentally-friendly sources that are often not available to them without a way to roast the beans - so this really creates positive ripples throughout the entire supply chain.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• 19:31 How Bellwether handles the overwhelm of coffee vendors that are available when a small shop begins roasting, so that they can feel confident they are supporting and buying from growers that treat their employees well and grow in sustainable ways 
• 23:55 How we, as Americans, can solve problems starting here on our own soil, and how big of an impact the things we do here in America have on the environmental impact of the goods and services we consume (cafe operations are the single biggest contributor to the carbon footprint of a cup of coffee, and it is usually built upon low-wage unskilled labor)
• 28:00 Bellwether's name is rooted in the goal of lighting a new path, and how this company is trying to do just that
• 41:47 What can we as consumers of coffee to help change the industry for the better? How can we be better consumers and help fund the change we want to see in the world?
• 44:00 What if you want to bring your own mug to a cafe? What should you do to make sure you're being a conscious consumer and still not creating an unclean environment?
• 46:30 Are most coffee shops composting? How are they being limited by regulations as to how they can be green?
• 49:00 UnRavel's Zero Waste Cafe - and what they're doing that you can implement now
• 59:00 Social justice and race in coffee production and marketing

About Bellwether Coffee Roasters:

Bellwether Coffee Roasting offers coffee shop owners a unique way to scale their coffee offerings, without the environmental burden of traditional roasting styles. This venture-backed startup is changing how coffee gets roasted in both small stores and large chains, using new technology. 

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