We’re proud to join a global community of companies committed to using business as a force for good.
What does it mean to be B Corp certified, you ask? Well, if you didn’t know already, a certified B Corporation is a company verified by B Lab to meet high social and environmental performance standards, transparency, and accountability.
Our founder Laura says:
"We are so thrilled to have achieved B Corp for both our coffee and our restaurant businesses. It has been a 3 year journey and we are delighted to be part of a community focussing their impact, both on people and the planet. "
The dual nature of our business as a restaurant and roaster made our journey to B Corp unique. We are keen to support other enterprises in achieving B Corp certification.
We’d love to share with you some of our most important initiatives and values that helped us on our way to B Corp status.
Our Female Producer Programme
Through our Female Producer Programme, we pledge to source at least 50% of our coffee from women-owned farms. We also donate 10p per kilo from female-produced coffee to projects that advance women in coffee-growing communities.
We do this because women are responsible for up to 70% of labour involved in coffee production, but only account for 20% of landowners. There is a ‘double burden’ for these women of longer days of farm and domestic labour and lower pay. This makes it harder for these women to benefit from their work economically, and some face further challenges such as limited resources, discrimination and even violence. The Female Producer Programme is our commitment to support women farmers and elevate their stories.
Sustainable Sourcing
We source locally for our restaurants and globally for our coffee, but no matter the distance we always forge strong relationships with our partners and support them in their sustainable endeavours.
Our partners at Dingley Dell farm have some of the highest standards of animal welfare, as well as 83 square football pitches of nectar-producing flowers to provide a home to 1 million bees. We use Wildfarmed flour in all our pastries and breads. They champion sustainable practices such as minimal tillage and crop rotation instead of chemical fertilisers and pesticides.
For our coffee sourcing, not only have we been Soil Association organic certified since 2021, we also work with some of the world's leading coffee producers when it comes to sustainable farming. For example, in Honduras, we work with the COMSA cooperative, whose on-site training centre for regenerative agriculture draws in farmers from across the globe to learn from the group's innovative methodology.
Community Impact
People have always been at the heart of caravan. but that goes far beyond our team. Since 2010, we've worked with several amazing charities including:
Project Waterfall: The world water crisis affects those in coffee-producing nations the most. Through our fundraising across caravan restaurants and coffee roasters, we have raised over £30,000 to date for project waterfall’s work to provide access to clean water and sanitation in the countries and communities that grow coffee around the world.
Kitchen Social, who we've worked with for over 6 years. This initiative helps to provide a safe space and nutritious meals to children in school holidays.
We have also fully funded the Sholi women's project, with the help of our partners The Chain Collaborative. This is a programme implemented in rwanda designed to empower women in the community, by providing comprehensive training on coffee and sustainability. to date, this programme has allowed women to gain vital skills, breaking down barriers to entry and providing economic opportunities for women in need of a reliable income.
Energy Efficient Roasting
We love our roaster, and so should you. our coffee is roasted on an eco-friendly Loring Peregrine S70.
It roasts coffee with hot air that is recirculated to recapture energy, using up to 80% less gas than a traditional drum roaster. Which lowers our energy consumption at our North London roastery.
Our Amazing Team
None of this would have been possible without our wonderful team, who make caravan what it is today.
People have always been at the centre of caravan. We are proud that 80% of our roles are filled internally via promotions. This is a core priority for us, and has been possible through our newly updated career pathway structure.
We also actively promote Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) across all aspects of Caravan. We expect our teams to honour and celebrate individual differences, encompassing identity, national and cultural background.
The journey doesn’t stop with this accreditation, we know there’s always more to be done and we’re committed to doing what we can to make things better, every day...