Pretty ProgressiveCustomers care about the values of the businesses they support. Selling an effective product or providing excellent service is no longer enough to satisfy most prospective customers. Today, one of the most important values that customers seek out in businesses is sustainability.
Although the food and beverage industry has been slower to adopt environmentally friendly practices, more and more establishments are beginning to find new ways to be more eco-friendly. To learn more about some sustainable coffee shop ideas worth trying, continue reading below.
Reusable Cups and Straws
Many business owners assume that sustainability is going to end up costing them money. However, this assumption is almost always false. In fact, promoting sustainable practices can often add another revenue stream for your business.
For example, reusable cups and straws are a simple and effective way to reduce the amount of waste your café creates drastically. Customers pay a one-time fee to buy a high-quality cup and straw, making this purchase convenient for you and your customers. And this way, they can feel like they’re helping the environment, and you can spend less on disposable containers.
If you haven’t already, consider implementing more reusable café items into your store to promote sustainability.
Eco-Friendly Ingredients
The wholesale products your café buys also have a significant impact on the environment. Unfortunately, depending on the types of ingredients and brands you buy, your purchase could indirectly support unsustainable organizations. To avoid this trap, evaluate your café menu to ensure that all ingredients are environmentally friendly.
For example, one of the best eco-friendly ingredients is raw, unfiltered honey. While buying conventional honey often supports factories that use large amounts of energy to bottle their products, sourcing your honey locally will be much more sustainable.
Beekeepers sustainably collect, bottle, and sell raw honey directly to stores, businesses, and individual consumers. In fact, seasoned companies in the food and beverage industry know that one of the best buyer’s tips for purchasing honey for your business is to only invest in local honey. It will be a sweeter and more eco-friendly product for your customers to enjoy.
Energy-Efficient Lighting
Most coffee shops aim to reduce their total energy consumption. Perhaps the most effective way to do this is to switch from conventional fluorescent bulbs to LED lamps.
LED lamps use less energy to shine and last longer than traditional bulbs, meaning your café can increase its eco-friendly practices while decreasing’s its monthly electric bill.
Updating older appliances with newer, more energy-efficient models can also make a significant difference.
These are just a handful of sustainable coffee shop ideas worth trying. If you haven’t already, start embracing these environmentally friendly practices in your store to see how it benefits your business and your customers.
