Why Coffee Island focuses on sustainable growth

Invests in start-up Coffee-Eco to recycle coffee residues

Keeping in mind that globally, 6 million tons of coffee waste go unused every year because coffee businesses and municipalities manage this waste as a common one, Patras-based Coffee Island, the leading coffee chain, decided to put the circular economy into practice by investing in start-up Coffe-Eco as part of its wider sustainable development program.

Coffee Island's sustainable growth strategy is built on 3 pillars: people, planet and product. The plan drawn up by the company includes, among other things, investments for the certification of the organic coffee processing plant and ensuring the quality of the raw material through the linking of the range of Single Estate varieties, which come from exclusive partnerships with coffee suppliers in coffee-producing countries. The agreements are combined with local projects that respond to the social and economic problems of the inhabitants of these areas.

Mind the gap

In order to close the gap between consuming countries and coffee producing countries, Coffee Island signed the first Contract Farming Agreement in 2011. A team from the company then travelled to Brazil for the first time to manage problems of instability in coffee deliveries due to the difficulties faced by growers due to climate change and economic challenges. Thus, the Greek coffee chain built relationships with local producers, acquiring exclusive partnerships in Brazil, Ethiopia, Colombia, etc. Today, it studies best practices and consumer trends to develop a sustainable development strategy by adopting measurable indicators. In this context, 3% to 5% of the company's turnover will be invested in this sector.

The case of Coffe-Eco

The start-up founded by chemical engineers Alexis Pantziaros and Marios Vlachogiannis -created after winning 3rd place in Nestlé's "Ignite Ideas" competition in 2018- has designed and developed a holistic approach to reuse 100% of coffee waste and produce various high value-added products.

Within a few years, they have managed to develop a zero waste manufacturing process based on coffee waste that produces two high value-added and environmentally friendly products. Thanks to their liquid form, Coffeco Polyphenols and Coffeco Oil have been used as ingredients in the cosmetics market through partnerships with beauty brands such as Apivita, Korres, Frezyderm, Dust & Cream, and can be used in bioplastics, biofuels, soil conditioners and animal feed.

The "green" investment

Coffee Island now has a €400,000 stake in Coffee-Eco (30%), therefore it has decided to embark with the start-up on a mega project, in which it is expected to complete the processing of 50 tonnes of coffee residues from the chain's coffee shops in the first year, corresponding to 9 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions.

For this reason, the two companies have already planned the launch of the first industrial plant in Southern Europe to process and reuse espresso coffee waste for the manufacture of new products in Patra, to staff the existing Coffe-Eco team with new scientists, to develop innovative products from the processing of coffee residues for the Energy (biochar), Furniture (alternative material) and Agriculture (biofertilizer) industries and to expand the sales network of the new products that will be produced in Greece and USA.

The investment in Coffe-Eco was made through Nimbus Capital, which includes Coffee Island's founder Evangelos Liolios and the group's CEO Konstantinos Konstantinopoulos.

Strengthening extroversion

Coffee Island gives priority to strengthening its presence abroad, while at the same time investing in the qualitative upgrade of its domestic store network, starting from Attica.

In total, it has 55 branded stores outside Greece, while it plans to open four new ones, with the target markets being the UK, especially London and Egypt, where developments are being launched this year. Currently, Coffee Island's presence abroad extends from Cyprus, where it operates 43 stores outside Greece, to Egypt, Dubai, London, Bucharest, Geneva and Toronto.

Supply Unique SA, the parent company that manages the 432 Coffee Island network, achieved a turnover of €35 million in 2022, while a slight increase to €36 million is expected for the current financial year. Systemic turnover is estimated to have been EUR 155 million in 2022.