Our Operating Principles at burwell beans coffee roasters
Roasting Goodness: Our Ethical, Eco-friendly, and Community-Centric Principles
Ethically Sourced
We work closely with our professional importers and farmers to select the finest quality green beans. As a result they must meet a specialty quality score, based on Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) criteria.
We provide full transparency and traceability of the beans, back to the farmers, producers, and exporters. What’s more, we currently have two direct-trade relationships with farms in Brazil and Guatemala, and our vision is to continue growing this type of sourcing relationship.
We operate our roastery under Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) regulations, to full compliance with the Food Modernization Act and are registered with the FDA. Our goal is to ensure the highest supply chain quality, traceability, and ethical standards are maintained throughout our roasting process.
ENVIRONMENTALLY CONSCIOUS
From the beginning, we’ve invested heavily in the most advanced, energy-efficient, and environmentally friendly equipment available. For example, exhaust from the roaster is connected to a Vortx EcoFilter™ that removes smoke, dust, and chaff and generates zero greenhouse gases, zero volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and zero nitrogen oxides (NOx). Hence, this is critical, as VOCs and NOx interact with sunlight to generate ground-level ozone.
Our packaging is fully Omnidegradable®, including the zipper and bag valve. This means they biodegrade in anaerobic landfills, oceans, lakes, soil, and landfills, swamps, and forests.
Additionally, we compost all of our coffee chaff, grinds, and other compostable waste streams in our roastery (we partner with Black Earth Compost) and reuse or recycle other waste streams wherever possible.
Our burlap sacks that the green beans arrive in, do not go to waste. For instance, a local bee-keeper takes them to use as smokers for the hives. Additionally, we often donate them to customers for protecting outside plants during winter. In fact, customers have made them into tote bags or wall art!
At Burwell Beans, we take pride in our coffee – and in acting as stewards for our magnificent planet.
GIVING BACK AND COMMUNITY
Our purchasing strategy ensures that the farmers – our coffee producers – are paid fairly to keep their farms and livelihoods sustainable. For this reason, Burwell Beans uses reputable importers that support the livelihoods of the producers and farmers, by displaying full transparency of their supply chains. Our direct relationship purchases with Guatemala and Brazil, allow full transparency from seed to cup. As a result, the producers get paid more and are able to reinvest in their farms, families, and workers.
Dedicated to serving our community, we support and donate to local charitable, educational, and social events, whenever possible. Likewise, we’re constantly seeking local and national opportunities to support worthwhile causes. Examples are music, education, female empowerment, veteran support, mental health and local community.
