Into Coffee - Transforming Sustainability with Enrich360's Eco5
“Our team is passionate about using coffee as a force for positive change. We love serving great coffee, spinning silky milk and spinning good chats about all things sustainability.”
From utilising milk kegs and offering edible cups to eliminating single-use products and crafting hand soap from leftover milk, Into Coffee's owner, Luke Phillips, has been a pioneer in sustainable practices.
Luke’s environmentally-friendly efforts don’t stop there; he also runs Into Carry, an extension of his passion for changing how we perceive and handle material resources. Into Carry takes rubbish of all shapes, colours and sizes, and transforms it into fashionable and high-quality bags.
Into Coffee’s Eco5 Trial
On top of their existing sustainable practices, Into Coffee recently trialled Enrich360's bench-top dehydrator, the Eco5, for a four-week period. The trial aimed to strengthen the cafe’s circular economy, as well as assess the practical application and benefits of dehydration technology within a smaller business setting, setting an example for others to follow suit.
Even with the cafe's numerous eco-conscious initiatives, dealing with unavoidable food waste remains a challenge for any food and beverage establishment. Typically, Into Coffee generates approximately 40 litres of unavoidable food waste each week, which is collected by Cirque du Soil to be composted and returned to the land.
The introduction of the Eco5 allowed the cafe to manage food waste on-site, reducing its volume by up to 90% and eliminating any potential odours. With such a significant reduction in the volume of their food waste, the cafe required less frequent waste collections. The dry, sterile and odourless soil-amendment is safe to store until enough is accumulated to necessitate a pickup. This significant decrease in waste transport not only benefits the environment by cutting down on greenhouse gas emissions, but it also streamlines the cafe's operations.
The dehydrated food waste from the Eco5 transforms into nutrient-rich fertiliser, which, once collected by Cirque du Soil, is returned to their members or community gardens to ensure a circular outcome.
Into Coffee's successful trial with the Eco5 highlights the promising potential for other cafes and restaurants to adopt similar solutions for responsible food waste management. As more businesses embrace such practices, they can collectively contribute to a greener, more sustainable future.
