Omar and the Marvellous Coffee Bird respects coffee and environment

Coffee in Australia comes from a complex supply chain and a lot of work has gone into maintaining the quality of coffee beans. Due to convenience, many people get their coffee in disposable coffee cups. This not only creates waste but is a missed opportunity for people to truly appreciate all the work that goes into producing high quality coffee.

Omar and The Marvellous Coffee Bird in Gardenvale is on a mission to get people excited about coffee whilst reducing waste. Andy and the team believe that sensing the aroma of coffee is important to truly appreciating this drink. That is why they feel that drinking from a non-plastic cup, without a lid, is the best way to enjoy coffee.

What it means for the business

Andy works with suppliers to ensure all their products are made as ethically and sustainably as possible. They have implemented reuse where possible, including reusable buckets and sacks for coffee beans. For fresh produce, milk, meat and cheese, they have implemented reuse solutions such as reusable plastic crates and containers which has allowed them to significantly reduce their waste.

What it means for customers

Customers have options to either bring their own or purchase reusable containers from the shop. They also sell reusable coffee bean storage containers made from glass. Their single-use coffee cups, lids and bags are either paper based or made from certified home compostable packaging.

The cafe is located in a family friendly neighbourhood with many regular customers, who are happy to see a reduction in the reliance on single-use plastics. The staff are very passionate about sustainability. Andy explained that their staff play a key role in communicating their sustainability initiatives to customers - ensuring that they understand customers’ perspectives enables them to provide a better service.

The impact

They serve more than 200 coffees in reusable cups every day and encourage their customers to embrace sustainability. “We work in a convenience-focused industry, which makes it hard to remove single-use items completely but removing plastic-based items is an achievable way to reduce our waste and environmental impact” said Andy.

What's next?

Andy and the team are continuously working with their suppliers to reduce waste and implement reusables where feasible. They are also looking at developing plastic-free home compostable packing items and promoting reusable products to their customers.