The cost of staying mission-driven: Daily Grind Vol. 4

Greetings from the lower North Island,

I'm sitting in my home office and thinking of the break-even sheet my accountant gave me when I first took the lease on our Constable St. shop in Newtown, way back in 2004.

I should frame this A4 grid line page. The math was so simple and precise: Price, cost of goods, overheads and the break-even number of kilograms of coffee needing to be sold each week. Can you guess how much we needed for a one-man operation? 46kg of coffee roasted per week.

Our business has grown and become increasingly complex over the last 20 years. But at the heart of it, we remain the same.

We are committed to buying only fair trade and organic certified coffees. We are BioGro certified and have 20 years of partnership with Trade Aid Importers. Trade Aid is world-renowned by coffee farmer cooperatives for upholding some of the most ethical practices in the fair trade world.

We are also Aotearoa's first B Corp certified coffee company and are living wage accredited across our company - something our staff, especially our small army of baristas are grateful for. 

These commitments cost the business, and they help make Peoples who we are. And so, after experiencing two years of record-breaking FTO (Fair Trade Organic) coffee prices, and with the new living wage coming into effect next month, our prices are increasing so that we can continue our good work.

We understand it's tough out there, so while we will be putting prices up across the board, there are a few ways for our web customers to minimise the increase.

We will continue to offer a discount for "subscribe and save" coffees. And we are introducing discounts on volume for those who wish to buy more and save on freight.

If you are like me, you might be counting down the days till spring, and calling forth spring energy as well as the glorious signs of new life popping up in the most unlikely of places.

I’m always keen to hear from you. If you are curious about anything I’m writing about or things I haven’t, please reach out at matt@peoplescoffee.co.nz.

Deep winter blessings from myself and the Peoples crew,

-Matt, Founder & Managing Director

*If you are a current "subscribe and save" customer, there will be a grace period before prices increase. An email with the full details will be sent later this week.