Beyond Coffee: How The Barista Gives Back

At The Barista, we’re about more than just roasting and serving excellent coffee. Our business is all about doing the best we can to make a positive impact. We’re committed to delivering high-quality service with a smile, while also doing our bit for the environment and getting involved with our local community.  

Today, we’re looking into all the different ways The Barista gives back – not only to our clients and the public but also behind the scenes in our own team. Read on to find out more about our approach to CSR, our sustainability initiatives, and the community engagement efforts that reflect the standards we uphold.

Championing sustainability

Sustainability is a driving force behind so much of what we do at The Barista. We’re constantly trying to innovate and make a difference with small, eco-friendly changes that can make a big difference. 

As an ESSA-accredited sustainable events supplier, we’re no strangers to the hurdles faced when trying to align event services with eco-friendly ideals. But, we’re committed to doing whatever we can to leave a lighter footprint on the environment wherever we go. Here’s a little bit more about our commitment to sustainability and what we do to reduce our carbon footprint:

• Recycling: We recycle all milk bottles and packaging in addition to using an onsite cardboard skip.
  
  
• Energy consumption: We’ve installed LED office lighting to increase efficiency. 
  
  
• Sustainable suppliers: We always try to make sure the suppliers we work with are on the same page – whenever possible, items purchased are either recyclable or made from recycled materials.
  
  
• Branded bar panels: We use a reusable printed fabric material that limits waste.
  
  
• Recyclable cups: We’ve been championing recycled cups for a long time! All our drink cups can be disposed of ethically.
  
  
• British sugar: We switched to a UK sugar provider to reduce our carbon footprint.
  
  

We’re proud that we’ve been independently audited by the Event Supplier and Services Association (ESSA) and have attained a Tier 4 status in sustainability. To find out more, visit our sustainability page and check out our blog on what our ESSA accreditation means.

Embracing community engagement

We know that community engagement is a big part of giving back and fostering positive change. That’s why we always try to extend a helping hand to those in need and do our bit to help build a stronger, more compassionate local community.

• As many as possible leftover branded cups are donated to St George’s Crypt, a Leeds-based charity that offers care and hope to homeless and vulnerable people. This summer alone, we’ve donated a fantastic 4,415 cups to St George’s Crypt, which will help the charity serve hot drinks to those in need while also cutting down on our waste.
  
  
• Our excess stock from juice bars is donated to FareShare, a national network of charitable food redistributors. They take quality surplus food and get it to frontline charities and community groups facing food insecurity. Our donations of fresh fruit often find their way to local schools where children don’t eat balanced diets at home.
  
  
• We’re in the early stages of a new initiative with a local Special Education Needs (SEN) school for young adults, where we’ll use coffee-making to equip the students with real-life skills that help empower them in the world of employment. Watch this space!
  
  
• We believe strongly in supporting the businesses on our own doorstep. We’ve chosen a local greengrocer in Farsley as our supplier of fruit for our juice bars. Our custom-branded aprons come from an embroidery business located right on our commercial centre premises. And, when it comes to milk, all our deliveries come from the local milkman – reducing our carbon footprint and helping to strengthen our local ties.  

Nurturing team spirit

We know that when our team thrives, so does the quality of our services. The people behind The Barista make everything that we do possible. We’re a close-knit bunch who genuinely enjoy spending time together and know that shines through in our service. That’s why we make it a point to invest time in team-building activities and shared experiences as a group.

After a busy season, we decided to unwind this summer with our annual team trip, our key team-building activity of the year. Every summer, we go on a trip to the Yorkshire Dales. It’s the perfect chance for the team to chill out, decompress and spend some much-needed quality time together. This year’s trip was our fifth and the biggest yet, with a team of 15. We enjoyed activities like raft-building and games of rounders, and of course, we took a coffee machine for the best espresso martinis!

Looking ahead, we’ll be hosting a Macmillan Coffee Morning on Friday, 29th September. It’s our way of joining the World’s Biggest Coffee Morning, Macmillan Cancer Support’s flagship fundraising event. We’ll be brewing up delicious coffee and serving treats to raise funds for this incredible cause. In 2022 we raised an amazing £510.21 and we would love to try and top that this year, so please drop by in you’re in the area. You can find us at 15G Springfield Mills, Farsley, Leeds, United
Kingdom, LS28 5LY. We’d love to see you there!

In other team news, we’ve already had a successful tree-planting session with Leeds City Council and are gearing up for another early next year. This hands-on experience not only contributes to a greener world but is also the perfect way to bring our team members closer together in an environment outside of the events world. While we’re in the early stages of planning, we’re also exploring the idea of increasing the team’s volunteering opportunities during the low season. We’re committed to finding meaningful initiatives that not only reflect our values but allow the team to get involved in the local community in a positive way. 

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Committed to making a difference

We hope you’ve enjoyed reading more about our ongoing journey towards corporate social responsibility. We’re committed to making a positive difference, and that means caring about sustainability, connecting with our local community, and nurturing a positive, happy team culture.

We’re also committed to being as transparent as possible with our customers and continuously holding ourselves accountable. We believe in constant improvement and as much as it’s important for us to talk about it, it’s also important that we can share our plans with our customers. Take a look at our Sustainability Policy and our Sustainability Procurement Policy for an open and honest look at our aims for the future. 

Going forward, we’re also looking forward to engaging in even more team-building adventures and local initiatives that make a positive impact. As always, we’ll keep you posted, so stay tuned for more updates on how we’re continuing to spread smiles and give back.

If you’ve got an event coming up that could use an extra special touch, we’ve got you covered. Get in touch to find out how we can help you impress with our excellent coffee and outstanding service.

If you want to stay up to date with the team, you can find us on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and X.