Karajoz Shot Bar and Roastery Advancing Zero-Waste Initiative

As leading wholesale coffee suppliers in New Zealand, Karajoz Coffee is providing an example for others to follow by continuing to advance their zero waste initiative.

Karajoz carry out their production in their Auckland roastery, which doubles as their flagship ‘Shot Bar’ café. Both the roastery and café sides of the location have been striving to achieve zero waste, and have made significant headway.

Karajoz has implemented a “BYO” scheme into the Shot Bar, where local customers are welcome to bring their own container and fill up on coffee beans, espresso or plunger grind. This cuts down on packaging waste, and every little zero waste move counts.

As part of the zero waste practices at the Karajoz shot bar, the company has invested in compostable packaging. Most coffee cups are not recyclable, and it has been projected that a takeaway cup of coffee a day can create up to 14 kilos of un-recyclable waste a year. Multiply this by the amount of daily coffee drinkers, and the numbers quickly become staggering. The Karajoz coffee cups are 100% compostable which helps to drastically cut down on waste.

Karajoz also sells reusable glass coffee cups at a reasonable price, which cuts down on waste all together.

Beyond making their coffee cups compostable, Karajoz has also partnered with WeCompost. The Auckland waste collection company supplies the Shot Bar with bins to make it easy for customers to dispose of compostable waste. WeCompost then supplies compost to local vegetable farms in Pukekohe.  

Another way that Karajoz is able to further their zero waste goals is through supporting the ZooDoo initiative, based at Auckland Zoo. Roasting coffee creates by-products, and one of the biggest is chaff—the papery, outer skin of the coffee bean that peels off during roasting.

This chaff can be donated to Auckland Zoo, who use it to produce plant fertiliser. This is a great relationship, as it helps Auckland Zoo to eliminate their waste too.

To learn more about Karajoz, and the sustainable philosophies behind their coffee, visit the Karajoz website here: https://www.karajoz.co.nz/