How can coffee be carbon neutral?

How did they obtain this data?

Our supplier, Falcon Coffee, has teamed up with the University of Brighton to figure out the best way to calculate emissions on coffee farms. They started by choosing an origin, and they settled on Jaen in Peru.

In October 2022, a team visited various producers in this area to gather important information. Equipped with a set of carefully chosen questions, they were focused on finding relevant data related to potential emission sources (things causing emissions) and sinks (things that reduce emissions).

After surveying 25 producers and receiving data from 146 producers, they gathered all the information they needed to get the results they were looking for.

What causes emissions in coffee production?

Throughout the farming process, there are multiple emissions released at various stages. The most significant issue has been identified as the release of nitrous oxide from fertilisers and carbon dioxide from the fuel used for equipment and vehicles.

Next, there is the waste created by the washing/wet processing method, leading to an excess of wastewater, cherry flesh, and emissions produced by fermentation, all of which cause the release of methane and carbon dioxide. At the dry mill, emissions are primarily caused by electricity usage.

Falcon also tracked the carbon dioxide released by roasting and brewing. However, this does not apply to Two Chimps Coffee, as we do this onsite from our Rutland roastery. We offset any emissions that we release!

The results

After months of reviewing their data and multiple calculations, Falcon can determine that 2.5 kg of CO2e is released per 1 kg of green coffee. But what does this mean? For comparison, a roundtrip flight from London to Paris emits 244 kg of CO2e. Therefore, when you put it into perspective, the footprint for coffee production is relatively small!

Interestingly, Falcon further compared the environmental impact of washed vs. naturally processed coffees. For naturally processed coffees, the emissions ranged from 0.5 to 3.3 kg of CO2e per 1 kg of green coffee, while washed coffees released 1.5 to 6.6 kg of CO2e per 1 kg of green coffee. This is no surprise, as naturally processed coffees do not use as much water as washed coffees, as they are fermented inside the cherries and, once de-pluped, are only washed once to remove any sticky cherry residue.

How does this data affect Two Chimps Coffee?

This data will help us on our sustainability mission, as we can strive to offset these emissions and the ones created on-site. Falcon also intends to use their new knowledge and apply it across other origins, which means we could get this data for each of our brews. Eventually, our goal will be to be ultimately carbon neutral from the farm to you turning your kettle on at home. Watch this space, folks!