IncaFé Organic Coffee
April 2021 Sustainable Business Champion
It is rewarding when people choose our coffee for it being organic and representing a living wage for our growers.
Carmen & Joop, IncaFé owners, pictured with Dawn, owner of Empire Tea and Coffee
The black and gold branding sitting outside cafes around our region may come across as large-scale and ubiquitous. However, we uncovered a surprisingly humble and incredibly conscientious couple when we did our research.
All that's between your customer's flat white and the green coffee beans is a family-owned coffee roastery along coastal New Plymouth, Taranaki.
IncaFé is family-owned and operated in New Plymouth by husband and wife, Carmen and Joop.
Their dream grew out of travelling to the coffee region in central Peru and falling in love with it. Since their start in 2006 they’ve ensured the business decisions prioritised the environment and their relationships. Not to mention their coffee is consistently outstanding (and organic) as they pride themselves on taking it slow from the fertile fields of Peru to the coffee cup. What else could we possibly ask for?
So with that said, we couldn’t think of a better time to name IncaFe’s Carmen and Joop, our Sustainable Business Champions for April; and during the same month as the BringIt! Campaign, encouraging coffee drinkers everywhere to remember their cup. They have set a new standard for all coffee bean importers and roasters, not only for Aotearoa but also for the world.
Here’s how:
Above market value pay and direct relationship with farmers
Fully certified organic and fairtrade
First roaster in New Zealand to be carboNZero certified
The entire range of IncaFé coffee bags, 200g or 1kg of any blend, is home compostable
Coffee bean bags from their roastery in Whaiwakaio are donated to community groups (great for gardens and worm farms!)
Creators of the 4evercup
Innovative bulk packaging to supermarkets that is completely cardboard in design - no tape needed
Winners of the TSB Chamber of Commerce 2020 Environmental Excellence Award
We slowly established strong relationships with small scale organic coffee growers. These growers like to grow their coffee slow, as this simply creates better coffee.
Read more about Carmen and Joop’s story on their website.
The 4evercup
The 4evercup is a purposefully engineered takeaway coffee cup that is made with the consumer and environment in mind. Carmen and Joop went through the design process themselves, and are now presenting an awesome takeaway cup that is becoming more and more popular among coffee drinkers all around Aotearoa.
Follow the brand and its development on Facebook and Instagram, and purchase them in any cafe that sells IncaFé coffee.
We tested it & here are the reasons why we love the 4evercup:
Keeps the hot drinks really hot for longer
No sleeve required
Stainless steel that doesn't break when dropped
Easy to sterilise and wash
Perfect size for a standard coffee and any cup holder
The price is right
Want to learn more?
Have a look at our articles on the BringIt Campaign, promoting reusable coffee cups
Single-use Abstinence and why it’s so important to avoid unrecyclable packaging
And Takeaways Explained for a more detailed review of the different materials used in takeaway containers and cups (spoiler: BYO is the best option!).
