Let's be transparent: coffee isn't an eco-friendly product. In fact, it's a term we're not entirely comfortable with. A product is rarely eco-friendly in absolute terms; it might be more so than another, but it's rare for its carbon footprint to be negative. At Celsius, we prefer the term "responsible," which implies an awareness of the impact and a commitment to minimizing it.
When we consider so-called "convenience" coffee—that is, the kind that is mass-produced worldwide without traceability—the figures are even alarming: it is the sixth most greenhouse gas-emitting food product. Ahead of it are beef, lamb, cheese, and chocolate. It's important to note that these estimates are based on kilograms of food and do not take consumption into account: it's rare to consume a kilogram of coffee (equivalent to 120 espressos) as quickly as a kilogram of cheese, for example.
Origin of emissions - nf
In detail, conventional coffee owes its high carbon footprint to these main factors:
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Agricultural practices : 59%, mainly due to the use of fertilizers and the production of nitrous oxide, 300 times more warming than carbon dioxide.
- Land use change : 15%, the shift from very rich soils (forests) to poorer soils (monoculture farms).
- Transformation process : 12%, the decomposition of organic matter (pulp and skin) in wastewater, which produces methane, 25 times more warming than carbon dioxide.
- Distribution and consumption : 11%, this includes packaging and the consumption of coffee for consumption: heating the water and pressurizing it.
- Transportation : 3%, the most well-known issue. We mostly want to consume local products today, but this proves impossible for coffee. Transport by ship produces CO2 through the combustion of hydrocarbons.
Source: Act For Coffee n°4 by Belco
Specialty coffee answers - nf
Once these figures have been established, we can look at the position of specialty coffee in this diagram:
Agricultural practices : one of the key principles of specialty coffee is precisely to encourage virtuous agricultural practices by limiting the use of pesticides. Not all specialty coffees are certified organic, far from it, but to achieve a flavor interesting enough for the world of specialty coffee, it is often necessary to do without products reserved for the agricultural industry.
Land-use change : It has been widely demonstrated that monocultures are not beneficial to flavor, as the soil becomes depleted and no longer adequately nourishes the plant. The resulting fruit is low in sugars and aromas, lacking in taste. Specialty coffee, on the other hand, strongly encourages permaculture (for example, forest coffee) and a return to more diversified farming practices, and therefore does not fall into this category of greenhouse gas emissions.
Processing methods : Processing methods are increasingly being monitored to reduce their impact. At Celsius, we tend to favor natural and honey-processed coffees over washed ones due to their lower environmental impact.
- Don't change machines too often: in case of breakdown, seek priority for repair.
- Don't oversize your equipment: the world of specialty coffee is particularly dynamic, and brands are especially ingenious in offering us ever more new and high-quality equipment—we're the first victims of this. However, if your consumption is limited to two coffees a day, perhaps you don't need a dual-boiler espresso machine that will consume the equivalent of your refrigerator's energy? And perhaps you don't need 14 different drippers for your filter coffee consumption?
- Turn off your machine after brewing your coffee, even if it switches off automatically after a while; it will always save energy. This is especially true for automatic espresso machines.
- Don't throw away coffee: even if you change the type of coffee in the same machine, drink the result of the first cup. At worst, you'll have a strange coffee, and at best, a nice blend!
Transportation : France will likely never be a major coffee-producing country, so our coffee will have to travel quite a distance to reach us. Sail transport is gaining momentum, and we intend to use it as soon as possible. In the meantime, for local deliveries, we've purchased an electric cargo bike from Celsius, allowing us to manage the last few kilometers more responsibly.
It is therefore difficult to quantify the carbon emissions of specialty coffee compared to convenience coffee, but the difference is certainly immense. The small world of specialty coffee is extremely sensitive to these issues, and allows for in-depth research by all links in the chain to emerge and attract this flourishing market.
Forecasts - n
To meet current estimates of future global demand, coffee production levels would need to at least double over the next 30 years.
If this new production were to be met through deforestation and full-sun cultivation, the inherent risk to primary forests and natural habitats would be potentially significant. Currently, as deforestation and agricultural intensification continue, so too do carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions. Estimates suggest that, without deliberate action to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, the coffee sector will be responsible for emitting between 1.65 and 3.3 gigatonnes of carbon by 2050. This would exacerbate the impact of climate change on coffee yields and could lead to even more deforestation.
It is therefore essential to make direct investments in soil carbon capture within agricultural value chains, and to undertake reforestation and land conservation efforts. Carbon offsetting is another way to address the urgent situation, although the issue currently lacks a framework (lack of controls, a means for some companies to evade their responsibilities, etc.).