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Coffee and its carbon emissions

Let's be clear: coffee is not an eco-friendly product. It's actually a term we're not entirely comfortable with. A product is rarely eco-friendly in absolute terms; it can be more so than another, but it's rare for the carbon footprint to be negative. At Celsius, we prefer the term "responsible," which implies an awareness of the impact and a desire to limit it.

When we take so-called "convenience" coffee, that is, coffee that is distributed massively throughout the world without traceability, the figures are even alarming: it would be the 6th food product that emits the most greenhouse gases. Ahead of this, we would have beef, mutton, cheese and chocolate. It should be noted that these estimates were made per kilogram of food and do not take into account usage: it is rare to consume a kilogram of coffee (i.e. 120 espressos) as quickly as a kilogram of cheese, for example.

Origin of emissions - nf

If we go into detail, conventional coffee owes its high carbon footprint to these main elements:

    1. Carbon emissions graph
      Agricultural practices : 59%, mainly due to the use of fertilizers and the production of nitrous oxide, 300 times more warming than carbon dioxide.
    2. Change in land use : 15%, the transition from very rich soils (forests) to poorer soils (monoculture farms).
    3. Transformation process : 12%, the decomposition of organic matter (pulp and skin) in wastewater, which produces methane, 25 times more warming than carbon dioxide.
    4. Distribution and consumption : 11%, this is partly packaging and partly consumption of coffee extraction for consumption: heating the water and pressurizing.
    5. Transport : 3%, The most well-known issue, we mostly want to consume locally today, but this is impossible for coffee. Transport by boat 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 that specialty coffee occupies in this diagram:

        Agricultural practices : One of the main principles of specialty coffee is to encourage virtuous agricultural practices by limiting the use of phytosanitary products. Not all specialty coffees are certified organic, far from it, but to obtain a taste 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 taste, because the soils become depleted and no longer sufficiently nourish the plant. The latter will therefore produce fruit with low sugar and aroma content, lacking in taste interest. Specialty coffee massively encourages permaculture (forest coffees for example) and the return to a more diversified mode of agriculture, and therefore does not fall into this category of greenhouse gas emissions.

            Processing process : Processing processes are increasingly being scrutinized to reduce their impact. At Celsius, we tend to favor natural and honey coffees over washed coffees for their lower impact.

              Distribution : We, as roasters, can take action on packaging and its carbon impact – find a solution to get rid of the packaging or make it recyclable. All our packaging is recyclable at Celsius, and we will strive to go even further in this approach, with deposits for our regular professional customers. With this in mind, we are committed to not offering capsules, because the ratio between the weight of the coffee and that of the packaging is not acceptable in our opinion, even if it were recycled or biodegradable. We also try to reuse the shipping boxes we receive, which are not necessarily the most aesthetically pleasing but have the merit of being used a second time. When these are new, we try to make them as close as possible to the contents, in order to limit the use of cardboard.

              Consumption : This is something we can do very little about, but we can advise you. Most coffee machines now have standby and energy-saving functions. We can still offer some advice:

              • Don't change machines too often: in the event of a breakdown, seek priority repair.
              • Don't oversize your equipment: the world of specialty coffee is particularly dynamic, and brands are particularly ingenious in offering us ever more new products and quality equipment, we are the first victims. However, if your consumption is limited to 2 coffees per day, perhaps you don't need a double boiler espresso machine that will consume the equivalent of your refrigerator? 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 turns off by itself after a while, it will still be more economical. 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 from the first cup. At worst, you'll have a strange coffee, and at best, a nice blend!


                Transportation : France will probably never be a major coffee-producing country, so it will have to travel a bit to reach us. Sailing transportation is gaining momentum, however, and we hope to use it as soon as we can. In the meantime, for local deliveries, we have purchased an electric cargo bike from Celsius, which allows us to manage the last few kilometers more responsibly.

                  It is therefore difficult to quantify the carbon emissions of a specialty coffee compared to a commodity coffee, but it is certain that the difference is immense. The small world of specialty coffee is extremely sensitive to these issues, and allows for in-depth research on the part of all links in the chain to emerge and seduce this flourishing market.

                  Forecasts - nf

                  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 by deforestation and full-sun cultivation, the inherent risk to primary forests and natural habitats would be potentially significant. As deforestation and agricultural intensification continue, so too do carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions. Estimates suggest that, without thoughtful action to mitigate GHG emissions, the coffee sector will be responsible for the emission of 1.65 to 3.3 gigatons of carbon by 2050. This would exacerbate the effect 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 on farms within their own value chains, and to undertake reforestation and land conservation efforts. Carbon offsetting is another way to address the urgency, although the issue currently lacks a framework (lack of controls, ways for some companies to avoid their responsibilities, etc.).