Non-fat, decaf, no foam, carbon neutral coffee please!

Offsetters and Salt Spring Coffee Company announce Canada's first carbon neutral brew

VANCOUVER, June 29 /CNW/ - Offsetters and Salt Spring Coffee Company, today announced Canada's first carbon neutral coffee, the 400 gram bag of French Roast Nicaragua. Salt Spring Coffee decided to offset this coffee's carbon footprint from the farm to the consumer point of purchase otherwise known as "cradle to gate", as a result of the findings of a lifecycle analysis completed by Offsetters. The study determined that there are 1,807 grams of carbon produced during the life of each bag of roasted coffee beans, the equivalent to that of running a refrigerator for 17 days in British Columbia or driving the average car five kilometres.

Lifecycle analysis is an extensive study that follows and maps a product from its infancy to the end of its life and measures its full climate impact. In determining the carbon footprint, Offsetters considered everything from farm practices in Nicaragua to shipping, roasting, brewing and even disposal to map every single step of the life of this particular bag of coffee.

"Salt Spring Coffee is leading the way in a marketplace where businesses are just beginning to understand the benefits of these complex environmental studies," said Donovan Woollard, senior vice president, strategy and operations, Offsetters. "Knowing the true climate impact of a product identifies waste and may result in changes that positively impact the environment and a company's bottom line."

Salt Spring Coffee's operations have been carbon neutral since 2007 and this product lifecycle analysis and the creation of their first carbon neutral coffee represents the company's ongoing commitment to reducing the climate impact of their business.

"Offsetters has always provided excellent guidance in our carbon management but working on this study has made us truly understand the level of their expertise," said Mickey McLeod, CEO, Salt Spring Coffee. "We were really surprised with the results of their work and decided offsetting the coffee's carbon footprint made sense for us and our customers."

A 400 gram bag of Salt Spring Coffee's French Roast Nicaragua retails from $13.99 to $15.49; the price has not increased, despite the added consumer benefit.

Five things about carbon and coffee (based on results from the lifecycle of 400 grams of Salt Spring Coffee French Roast Nicaragua):

    
    1.  There are 1,807 grams of carbon produced during the life of a 400
        gram bag of this coffee, which is equivalent to that of running a
        refrigerator for 17 days in British Columbia or driving the average
        car five kilometres;
    2.  Only two per cent of the carbon is from growing the coffee beans;
    3.  The consumer's portion of carbon emissions make up more than 60 per
        cent of the entire footprint, 39 per cent for getting it home,
        grinding and brewing and 24 per cent for disposal of the coffee and
        the bag;
    4.  Consumers brew 30 per cent more coffee than they drink which wastes
        water, coffee and energy;
    5.  Coffee drinkers can reduce their portion of the carbon footprint by
        brewing only what they will drink, composting coffee grounds and
        getting creative with the coffee bag to reuse it as a planter or by
        taking it to an environmentally responsible disposal site.
    

Note to editors: Media interviews, video of the lifecycle analysis process and images are available.

About Offsetters:

As Canada's first and leading carbon management provider, Offsetters helps individuals and companies understand, reduce and offset their climate impact. Headquartered in Vancouver, BC, Offsetters was the first ever Official Supplier of Carbon Offsets to an Olympic Games and will be providing the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) with carbon credits sourced from clean technologies developed in BC's Lower Mainland. In 2009, Offsetters was also selected by the Pacific Carbon Trust as the largest initial supplier of carbon offsets to the BC Crown Corporation. For more information go to www.offsetters.ca

About Salt Spring Coffee Company:

At Salt Spring Coffee, we believe that healthy soil and happy farmers make for a fantastic cup of coffee. That's why since our inception in 1996 we've been artisan roasters of 100% organic, fair trade, shade grown and only using 100% Arabica beans. In 2007, we became one of North America's first carbon-neutral roasters - as recognized by the David Suzuki Foundation. Today, we're going beyond fair trade business practices through the implementation of an innovative direct trade program we call Fair-to-Farmer Direct(TM). The program offers higher than fair trade pricing for coffee and a wide range of benefits to our organic farmers so they can improve their crops, and their way of life. Believe in being better(TM). For more information please visit www.saltspringcoffee.com

For further information: Media Contact: The Tartan Group, Christine Gleed, 250-592-3838, [email protected]; Kate Rogers, 604-682-8811, [email protected]