North Star Coffee Roasters
Ethical coffee is a natural choice for sustainable living, but does it taste any good? Hell yeah! Lydia from North Star Coffee Roasters spills the beans on how to make a great cup of coffee, talks about composting and gives appreciation for customer service and quick delivery when it comes to ordering eco-friendly labels.
Q&A with North Star Coffee Roasters
For anybody who is not familiar with North Star Coffee Roasters, could you explain a bit about what you do?
North Star is a family united by a love for coffee and a desire to build a bright future for all it supports. Established as the first wholesale roastery in Leeds in 2013 and founded by Alex and Holly Kragiopoulos, North Star coffee is available online, in their own coffee shop at Leeds Dock or from one of their 270 wholesale stockists across the UK.
Our team work to deliver positive impact with every cup, mindfully sourcing specialty grade beans from growers we know and trust and from farms that promote agroforestry techniques and social responsibility. Many of our purchases support initiatives focused on climate change resilience and youth/female empowerment.
Can you tell us a little more about composting?
When the lockdown hit in March 2020, we saw our retail sales increase fivefold as customers started working from home and, whilst positive, it also drew our attention to the volume of plastic in the roastery. With the challenges around recycling infrastructure, it is evident that home composting is going to become more of a necessity in the future.
The packaging we work with, (whilst not yet certified home compostable due to being a relatively new mix of material) will degrade in around 6 months in a well-managed home compost setup (with oxygen, soil, nitrogen, co2, heat, moisture).
We know many of you will not have the space or need to produce compost in your home so we offer customers the option to send back their packaging to either our roastery or coffee shop and we will compost it for you with our food waste collections.
Or you can write to your local MP to appeal for composting collections with your local council. You can use this template, by clicking here. Or maybe get a discounted (by your local council) compost bin and get composting!
Can you give us some professional insight and tips for making coffee?
Buy fresh – You honestly will not believe the difference it makes buying coffee that is roasted to order as opposed to coffee that you find in the supermarket that might have been roasted up to 12 months beforehand. The depth of flavour and character you get is unbelievable!
Buy whole bean – Similarly, grinding as and when you need your coffee is a game changer. Oxygen is coffee’s biggest enemy, and it will stale so much quicker if you are buying pre-ground coffee.
Weigh! – It might seem strange but making coffee great every time means you must treat the process of making it just like baking, where you are working to a recipe and controlling the variables every time. Knowing how much your ‘heaped spoon’ is, will be crucial to eliminating that occasionally disappointing cup!
Time - Whilst we are at it, time your brewing as well! You don’t want to be plunging your French Press any sooner than 4 minutes, but it does not want to stew for 15 minutes either! Think of coffee like a tea bag – the contact time between the water and the coffee needs to be just right to avoid under or over-extracted coffee.
How do the GREEN LABEL company fit in to all this?
We are just really pleased to be working with a company as committed to understanding all of the factors to take into account with regards to environmental responsibility as we are.
The customer service and quick delivery time really works for us as a business, and we are super happy with the results.
To find out more about North Star Coffee Roasters or purchase their website here. Or you can follow their journey on Instagram.
To find out more about biodegradable labels, get in touch with us, we will be very happy to hear from you and support you in your efforts to be coming more eco-friendly!
