Ethical espresso
- Stuart Ridley
- 1 July 2010
Photo credit: Anthony Geernaert
When Single Origin
started, socially responsible coffee was still a very
niche offering. Now, it's a highly respectable proposition; Emma and Dion Cohen have incorporated the ethos of it into much of their business.
Some places have a low tolerance for the lengthy social aspect, though as Nick explains, it’s not hard to connect with customers if you can be genuinely social. In turn, the bloggers rave about their meeting place, which
does wonders for the Single Origin brand and boosts its web search rankings. Popular food blogger Billy Law, for example, has been a regular for years and designed the brand’s first website in 2006 after a casual meeting with the owners. They recently gave him behind-the-scenes access to the coffee roasting operation in
Alexandria so he could create a photo story for his blog fans.
Co-founder Dion Cohen believes these human relationships with customers give small businesses a (softer) edge over Big Brand Names. “I used to spend my life in the corporate world; I used to have a lot of meetings in coffee shops because of the social aspect. You don’t have to be corporate to be professional,” he says. “I left the corporate world for a reason: to try and actually be human!”
Ethics, passion and credibility
We scan the menu. Asterixes are everywhere! Flip the pages to a glossary at the back for detail. According to staff member Nick Smith, it’s better that way. “We don’t want to shove information down people’s throats, though you can find it if you want,” he says with a grin. There’s a story behind everything, like the ham they buy and how they smoke a fish; and yes, especially the ‘single origin’ philosophy. Coffee beans don’t have to be anonymous, insist Dion and Emma, his business partner and wife (she too left the corporate world when the café took off. Her previous career as an advertising copywriter is evident in the subtly clever marketing of Single Origin).
“It’s the same as a lot of industries, you make choices around quality – we won’t compromise,” says Emma. Sharing this belief in person and online helps customers understand coffee doesn’t simply come in bags to be put through a machine and sold for three bucks. There’s a lot of blood, sweat and tears before you take your first sip: “Millions of people are employed in the coffee industry, largely in the parts of the world with the greatest poverty,” she explains. “So it’s important you buy from ethical farms and for a fair price. Fair Trade, Rainforest Alliance… all these organisations help.”
Origin of a trend
In 2003, the Cohens and two friends opened the café to tap into the growing market for ethically sourced products. The other two original business partners have since moved to the country and pursued their dream to set up a farm.
Coffee has always been a competitive commodity industry, though as Dion points out, the link between its source and taste could be clearer: “Aside from Toby’s Estate’s Estate-Grown and Sustainably-Grown messages, few people were showcasing single origin coffees and great grades – there wasn’t a lot of competition at the premium end.”
The big brands plied their café-owner clients with promotional items, though the products were scantily clad in hype. Dion says the early noughties saw customers yearning for more transparency: “What is the origin of your coffee? Where’s the proof it was produced sustainably?” So, those are the questions Single Origin Roasters sets out to answer with an entertaining and fact-filled website, supported by personalised promotions to select press.
Early press promotions included handmade, hand delivered samples. Emma exploited her copywriting skills to pitch the Origin story, emphasising the importance of Certified Fair Trade while providing tips on how to enjoy the beans.
“Your product speaks volumes if you can get it under people’s noses – in a nice standout way,” she laughs. The team pitched in to create miniature coffee sacks presented in recycled timber boxes and stamped with an image of Big Boris on top. The resulting press write-ups not only massively increased trade at the store and wholesale demand, they caught the attention of a prestigious potential client.
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