Choice. It's a good thing, right?

December 05, 2019

Are you finding that 250g is not enough coffee but 1kg is just a bit too much? Well then, you’ll be glad to see the arrival of our brand new 500g bags! - we’ve been thinking about this for quite some time and there are a number of reasons why we think that these new sized bags are a really great move. 

Why are we doing this? 

First up, you’ve been asking us for them! - yes, for all sorts of reasons, and for at least the last couple of years, we’ve been getting requests for something that sits in-between the 250g and 1kg bags. 

What was wrong with the 1kg bags that we are used to? 

We’ve stopped buying our old 1kg bags. In our attempts to improve our eco-credentials, we have been able to source coffee bags that are fully recyclable, but unfortunately not in 1kg sizes. Boo.

Although 1kg of coffee will now come in two bags instead of one, these new bags are smaller, made from a ’single-layer’ (instead of a metal and plastic layer that most bags are made from) and can be recycled either at the kerbside (depending on where you live) or in any one of thousands of sites across the country. 

What happens if we find recyclable 1kg bags in the future? 

Unfortunately, we have been unable to find 1kg bags that are both recyclable and which have the qualities we need to ensure your beans are kept in tip-top condition. If that changes in the future, we will almost certainly add recyclable 1kg bags to the lineup! - we’ll keep the 500g bags too as we’re expecting that people will have become quite attached to them by then.

So the new bags can be recycled? 

Yes! In fact, we recently wrote a blog post (which you can read about here) which contains more information about how to recycle our bags. Our 1kg bags were very difficult to recycle as they had both a plastic and a metal layer (as is fairly standard with coffee packaging) but now ALL our bags are fully recyclable in the same facilities that you use to recycle plastic carrier bags. We recommend saving them up for a while and then dropping them off to be recycled in a batch.

Arrangements vary according to where you live, so try checking your local council website for details of how things work in your area. 

So, are you going to charge me more for a kilo now?

No, you can still order 1kg of coffee for the same price as before but from now on it will come in two smaller, single-layer 500g bags. We don’t want this change to end up making your coffee cost more so we are absorbing the extra packaging cost ourselves. We are hopeful that costs of this sort of packaging will come down as it becomes more mainstream or that manufacturers develops a recyclable1kg option in the future so that we can further reduce our impact. 

Why can’t I get 500g delivered by Royal Mail? 

The bags are too bulky to fit in the ‘large letter’ post and so they can only be sent out by DPD. The total cost (i.e. after adding shipping costs) for 500g will still be around the same as it would be if you bought 2 x 250g bags - but you get all the advantages of fully tracked, next day delivery. 

However, spend £35 on your order and next day tracked delivery from DPD is FREE!! - so you can continue to enjoy great savings when you stock up and remember, buying your coffee a little less often is better for the environment too. 

Thanks for taking the time to read this and, as always, please don’t be shy - we’d love to hear your ideas and questions if you have them. Hit the icon on the bottom right of this page. 

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