January 12, 2022
In 2020, we set our sights on reducing our dependency on city water at our largest roasting facility. Our engineering and quality teams collaborated with expert sustainable operations consultants to measure the pros and cons of this venture. We found that the biggest opportunity to decrease water use and maintain coffee quality was on the grinding machinery.
The grinders used city water to cool the equipment, a necessary step in the manufacturing process that consumed a significant amount of water. To curb our water usage, we installed a closed-loop chiller system in Q4 2020 that allowed us to maintain a consistent equipment and process temperature and reduce water usage by recirculation of the cooling water.
Between 2020 and 2021, we reduced our water consumption at this facility by 78%, conserving millions of gallons of water in just one year. Over the next five years, we anticipate this to equate to 45 million gallons of water.