June 15, 2022
Caffeine first with organically grown coffee
Reitan Convenience’s coffeehouse chain Caffeine is first in the Baltics to use only organic coffee beans. From June 15, all 90 coffee chain shops throughout Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia will serve only organic coffee.
Saulius Žilėnas, Managing Director of Reitan Convenience Lithuania (from right) and Simonas Gentvilas, Lithuanian Minister of Environment.
“If you love nature, nature will love you back. This is the motto we are launching for a new phase. For us, switching to organically grown coffee is a big step forward and an important milestone of our long-term sustainability strategy. Such change is challenging, but we believe it is meaningful and necessary. We are also pleased that we have managed not only to ensure a balanced supply chain of organic coffee, but also to offer it to our consumer at the same price,” says Saulius Žilėnas, Managing Director of Reitan Convenience Lithuania.
The coffee is grown organically at certified organic coffee farms, which means that not only the beans are better, but so is the air, the land, the entire environment. Production is only fertilized with organic fertilizers such as compost from the pulp left over after the beans have been taken out, husk and similar.
Lithuanian Minister of Environment, Simonas Gentvilas, congratulates businesses that are striving to be leaders in sustainability.
"Sustainability, especially in food sector, is not an easy path, therefore I congratulate businesses that embrace it (sustainability). It is inevitable, therefore I’m happy that businesses take leadership, share their best practices, and inspire change in others,” he says.
Coffee roasting professionals who have already tasted Caffeine's organic coffee have noted that the taste of the coffee remains unchanged.
A couple of years ago, Caffeine ditched most of plastic packaging, cutlery and straws and started pouring its drinks into Future smart cups, which have a renewable plant-based raw material - sugar cane - instead of petroleum. These cups were accompanied by unique plant-based lids, which, according to the company, have no analogues on the Lithuanian market so far. They are 100% naturally decomposable, using wood fiber and sugar cane pulp.
Mariette Kristenson, CEO of Reitan Convenience, which owns the Caffeine chain, emphasizes that sustainability is not a regional issue, but a global challenge.
"Our vision is clear - to find, develop and implement solutions that practically address the biggest global challenges. We are ready to initiate and lead innovations that will help make sustainability a part of our daily lives. Moving to organic coffee and using products that are made from renewable raw materials is proof that we act now and here, not waiting for the market make us do it,” Kristenson says.