The carbon footprint of coffee roasting

In the third episode of our mini-series on environmental sustainability across the coffee industry, we’re shifting the focus to carbon reduction in coffee roasteries.

In conversations with a leading academic, an electric roaster manufacturer, and coffee roasters, large and small, we unpack where carbon is generated once green coffee leaves the farm and how coffee roasters can make their operations as sustainable as possible.

Mark Maslin, Professor of Earth Systems Science at University College London provides an overview of the life cycle of a cup of coffee and where carbon is generated across the supply chain.

Grayson Caldwell, Head of Sustainability, Bellwether Coffee, discusses the urgent need to electrify coffee roasting and the environmental benefits vs. traditional gas roasting.

Ewan Reid, Managing Director, Matthew Algie, shares how his business is tackling the challenges of carbon production in large-scale roasting operations.

Bengt Ove Hagen, Production Director, Joh. Johannson Kaffe shares how his team designed a brand new eco-focused roasting facility and their ambitions to become one of the world’s most sustainable coffee roasters.

Read more on Bellwether’s annual sustainability report here.

Credits music: “Rage” by Kate Klein in association with the Coffee Music Project

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