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Our Values

We are aware of our social and ecological responsibility and maintain a set of values which are important to us. We fully stand behind those values and are committed to continuously strengthen our efforts to introduce suitable measures in order to reach our goals.

Sustainability

We all know that we, as inhabitants of the earth, are facing a huge, often overwhelming challenge. Global warming concerns all of us. While people in the «third world» are hit much harder by the consequences, we in the so-called «developed world» bear most of the blame. Greenhouse gases caused by all of us are an imminent threat for life on our planet. Politics and the world's biggest corporations play a big role, but we cannot just hand over the responsibility.

Sustainability 2

On one hand, we influence politics and corporations through our behavior in everyday life. On the other, we have to contribute our own part to saving the planet.

However, even a considerably more sustainable day-to-day life is not enough to stop global warming any longer – it's much too late for that. Throughout the last century, our society has drastically increased emissions of greenhouse gases and thus caused huge damage. We have been living in luxury at future generations' cost.

New approaches to solutions are needed: innovative ideas and technologies to protect the world – and thus ourselves, too.

Sustainability, to us, means that today, we do not live on our descendants' costs and that we begin to slowly fix the damage caused by both our ancestors and ourselves.

To do business as sustainably as possible, we have developed a range of measures. These are neither complete, nor sufficient. We are constantly working on making our company more sustainable.


  • We maintain personal and long-term relationships with our suppliers, but we only visit them as much as needed in order to keep our flight activity as low as possible.

  • Wherever possible, we use materials that are a) completely reusable, b) partly recyclable, c) compostable or d) biodegradable.

  • Wherever possible, we use materials that harm the environment as little as possible and we avoid the use of plastics resp. synthetic materials whenever possible.

  • We use resources sparingly, especially electricity, water, coffee and all food items.

  • We avoid food waste as good as possible by planning ahead, using food items that can't be sold any longer privately, and giving them away, as well as composting of coffee and food leftovers.

  • We give away leftovers and remnants at reduced prices or for free to non-profit organizations.

  • We use milk from organic farms, which we buy as directly from the farmer as possible.

  • We offer high-quality plant-based alternatives to milk without any surcharge.

  • Our food menu usually does not contain any animal products. We always (while supplies last) offer vegetarian and vegan food items.

  • Our fruit and vegetable supplier holds SwissGAP, Suisse Garantie and ISO 22'000 certifications. Their avocado supplier holds the following certificates: ISO 9001, FSSC 22000, SwissGAP, SuisseGarantie, EU Bio and Fairtrade. Depending on the season, avocados come from different countries. Our trading partner tries thereby to optimize logistics in the most sustainable way possible.

  • The beverages we sell, apart from beverages with milk, are usually vegan.

  • The beverages we sell are usually delivered, stored and sold in plastic-free bottles.

  • The beverages we sell, except for coffee, tea and some wines, are produced in Switzerland or its neighboring countries – the vast majority being from the region of Bern.

  • The wines we sell are usually from Europe – mostly from Switzerland or its neighboring countries.

  • We buy our coffee as directly as possible and compensate the CO2 emissions caused by the delivery.

  • We plan business trips reasonably and foresighted and only fly when needed. We travel by train or bus for shorter distances whenever reasonably and economically possible.

  • When booking business trips including air travel, we compensate the CO2 emissions caused by the flights. We connect our personal vacation with business trips, when possible, to make the most of each flight we're on.

  • Orders are shipped climate-neutrally, which means the CO2 emissions caused are compensated through the Swiss Post's proclima program.

  • We use all packaging of incoming deliveries to pack outgoing shipments.

  • Pastries, which are no longer fresh, are sold at reduced prices (or we eat them ourselves).

Fairness & Safety

In a world with an increasing amount of challenges and dangers, it is our responsibility to act fairly and to be aware of risks. Wealth inequality has never been greater, systematic issues with our current economical, political and societal system are becoming more and more obvious. There might not be a single or perfect way of solving all injustice. However, every person and every company shares a part of the common responsibility.
Fairness & Safety 2

By acting according to our defined measures below, we want to ensure that we do business in a fair, safe and responsible way – with partners, suppliers, customers or co-workers. In the coffee industry, huge economic differences between the producer and the roaster/consumer sides are evident. We are not able to just fix these, but we can help to improve the situation. We want to make sure the producers we work with are able to run their farms in a sustainable and fair way and live by a decent standard of living. To achieve this, we pay fair prices when purchasing coffee. If they have enough funds, the producers are able to run their farms in a sustainable way – whilst improving quality.

  • The prices we pay when purchasing coffee are never lower than the Fairtrade label’s minimum price. In most cases they are significantly higher.

  • We analyse the coffee supply chain to the best of our capabilities and verify how much of the price we pay for a coffee reaches the farm and the people who work there.

  • Our team is provided with clear safety instructions and we are continuously making our workplace a safer place. This applies to food safety, health issues, potential accidents as well as any other risks or dangers. Risks are analyzed and measures to avoid them are developed, introduced and improved on a regular basis.

  • Although as a company we rely on a profitable business, we do not simply maximize our margins, but always offer fair prices for the consumer.

  • We pursue not only profit-driven goals but rather a set of goals (KPIs) including social, sustainable and economical values.


Learn more about our green coffee sourcing model.

No Discrimination

It seems so obvious, yet it might be more challenging in reality than one would expect, as we are all human and cannot simply get rid of our prejudices, common stereotypes and unconscious discrimination. Therefore, we have to try hard not to cause any disadvantage to anyone. We condemn discrimination of any kind and do not tolerate it in our team or among our partners, suppliers or customers.
  • We do not discriminate against anyone based on their differences – may they be ethnic, natural, cultural or personal views.

  • Everyone applying for a position at Drip Roasters is treated equally and receives a response. Everyone who is not offered a position deserves to know the non-discriminatory reasons for that decision.

  • Everyone is welcome as a guest at our café, regardless of ethnicity, personal views or cultural background, as long as they do not discriminate against others or act against our values.

  • We do not tolerate racist, sexist, homophobic or other discriminating behavior or jokes at our café.

Transparency

In the data-driven and globalized world we live in, information is key. Understanding the supply chain and obtaining as much information about the products we buy as possible helps us make better choices. We do not simply want to buy and sell coffee. We want to be able to stand behind our products and the way they are produced, traded, shipped and packaged.
  • We know exactly where our coffees are grown and we have full price transparency.

  • We gather as much information as possible about each coffee we buy and keep track of it. We do not purchase a coffee, if we do not receive sufficient information about it from the selling party. The required information is listed in our green coffee requirements, which our suppliers have to confirm.

  • We pursue transparency not only for the coffees we buy, but for other products, too. We continuously work on receiving as much information as possible and needed about those various supply chains.

Quality

Striving for higher quality keeps us going. Whilst we keep in mind that perfection is an illusion that can never be reached, we try to brew the perfect espresso shot and the perfect filter coffee. We pursue the perfect roast profile for each and every coffee we roast. The illusion of perfection motivates us and makes us try and experiment more and more. All coffees we buy are classified as specialty coffees. We expect a lot from goods other than coffee, too. This is why you will find products such as chocolate, tea, beer or wine from specialized, often local and small companies in our shelves (e.g. Choba Choba, Braukunst Bern, Länggass Tee, Trallala Weine).
  • Anything we sell must reach our quality standards. We ensure that these are reached through a thorough quality control.

  • We hold suppliers responsible for insufficient quality.

  • We continuously focus our efforts on maintaining and increasing quality. This includes sophisticated quality control and continuous improvement of roast profiles. We keep track of profile changes and conduct tests continuously.

Politics

Usually, we do not take sides in politics. However, if one of our values is affected by a political topic or discussion, we may take a public position and take responsibility for what we stand for accordingly. We are committed to our values, to openness and tolerance towards other opinions.

Green Coffee Requirements

We have created a list of specific requirements regarding sustainable, transparent and fair business practices that we require all our coffee suppliers to comply with and confirm. This concerns all of our defined values mentioned on this page.

1% For The People & The Planet

In addition to the specific measures above, at least 1% of our annual turnover will go back to the producing countries of coffee. One part of this sum is paid to the producers of the coffees we buy, the other part is given to sustainable or charitable projects, e.g. in the fields of education, biodiversity and coffee production.

1% may not sound like a lot, however, this is not 1% of our profits, but 1% of every cent we make.

Questions and Suggestions?

We welcome questions and suggestions concerning our values. If you have inputs or see ways we can improve or work together to create a better place to live for ourselves and everyone else, feel free to get in touch with us.