our {model};
We in Kafi started with a vision to create a sustainable coffee cup. We drafted a model for our coffee bar and established the following listed goals to promote sustainable brewing while protecting our surroundings. With all these steps, we hope to inspire others and pave a way for wider adoption of the model by undertakings across our industry. You can also look at our steps here.
+ Go Local
The procurement plays an important part of the model as it helps us to understand supply chain, sourcing and supplier relationships. We diligently explored, identified and interviewed local vendors
& suppliers to understand their supply chain. We then carefully selected our partners who are based locally and made decisions to procure items & materials with a similar conscientious and scrupulous selection process. Sourcing locally helps in reducing our carbon footprint and impact to our surroundings. It also promotes local wealth and helps forge lasting friendships thereby generating greater sense of community.
+ Traceability
Traceability is another pillar to our model as it helps us understand the journey of our raw materials and how everything is connected in today's globally economy. We made a conscious effort to educate and inform our self and pass on the information to our customers about the items including food, wares and other materials procured and sourced through our various local suppliers and partners. Tracing items and raw materials helps us understand the impact of sourcing and trade decisions and how it impacts our ecology, environment and our choices as consumers.
+ Direct Sourcing
A model only works if we are supporting farmers and producers to make the right choices while growing our raw materials everyday. We may be able to trace our raw materials for a sustainable sourcing model but it would be of no avail if we are not supporting the people on the ground. We made sure that our partners are working with farmers and their families to make it worthwhile for them to continue their effort of following expedient agricultural practices. Global sourcing often requires comprehending complex trading laws but we expect our suppliers to ensure compensation of fair prices to the growers by collabrating directly with importers.
+ Maker Movement
We continuously reviewed our business plan to identify opportunities of hand making and fulfilling some of our material needs. We decided to craft our wellness latter recipes with ingredients where we can handmade our extracts. The ingredients were selected based on the adherence to our tracing and sourcing model. All our extracts are natural with no preservatives and enriched with locally sourced honey to add more nutrients and a bit of shelf life. We also moved forward in getting our wares hand made in east london by working directly with a talented potter and were delighted by the aesthetics and warmth of our cups.
+ Re-Lifecycle
It never occured to us that the marketplace has a wide gap in product offerings which are made from recycled material vs products which can be recycled for future use. Hence it became a challenge to only source recycled products and adapted to following philosophies, (1) source materials which can be recycled and composted such as all our take away cups and lids (though we strongly encourage to bring your own cups)
(2) procure 100% recycled materials such as all our glass light fixtures, water glasses and menu/loyalty cards (3) avoid need of recycling by sourcing our Dairy in glass bottles and returning them to our supplier for reuse.
+ Re-Claim
Sometimes it is easier to mold materials to give them second chances to shine again then to recycle or worse landfill them. We are thrilled to work with the Wood Recycling Center @ St Albans who not only collect and reclaim old wood pallets and industrial wood planks but also employ people who may find it difficult to find a job. All our furniture and the coffee bar has been designed and made with reclaimed wood from the center. We were also diligent in saving and reusing materials while building our cafe and also decided to not upgrade/modify our WC to align with the cafe design as it was clean and functional.
+ Living wages
Kafi is proud to be a fully accredited living wage employer.
We made a commitment to support people who are going to help us make this model viable and achievable in the long run. We want to provide a safe and enjoyable working environment along with fair wages and pensions/vacations to everyone who has committed to help us implement and execute this model on day to day basis.
+ Community Support
Our cafe is part of the community and we are making great strides to partner with non-profits and other charitable organizations in our area. We want to actively work with local organizations and start supporting them in their different visions and goals. We would encourage feedback from our customers and partners to help us achieve this goal.
+ You
The sustenance and commercial success of the model will only be conceived if you, our patrons, are not seeking out the businesses who are actively working to implement such models. You form the foundation of all our pillars as you have the power to choose and invest your time, effort and money for seeking out the most sustainable cup of your favorite beverage. So please support us in our journey and do remember to bring a cup.