By Anaka Nair
March 12 2020, 11:00
Follow @SW_Londoner
The owner of Clapham’s Beans and Bubbles owner prioritised sustainable coffee trade over customers in the early days of his business.
His cafe sells Italian-style single-shot coffees and wines sourced directly from northern Italian vineyards.
Beans and Bubbles only serves coffee in reusable cups.
Carlo Colajori, 42, said: “On my first day of business, I was kicking people out because I wasn’t willing to offer takeaway cups.
“It’s a gamble and loses initial business but this is about funding a vision. Convenience doesn’t get us anywhere.”
Keen to adopt an Italian coffee bar atmosphere on Wandsworth Road, Beans and Bubbles provides a relaxed setting for people to enjoy authentic Italian produce.
Customers who opt to drink in can have their coffee served in wine glasses and mugs made wholly out of coffee waste.
Beans and Bubbles also hosts Aperitivo evenings serving signature sustainably-produced prosecco after work.
According to First Mile, Beans and Bubbles boasted a near 90% recycling rate in 2019.
Hence, reusability and traceability are the business ethos behind the business.
Mr Colajori said: “We provide coffee that’s traceable down to the plantation and prosecco traced back to the vineyard.”
The cafe also consciously transports products around London via zero-emission vehicles such as Zip Cars, Green Couriers and Pedalme.
He said: “Sustainability is a way of life and isn’t a marketing operation.”
Approximately 3% of the cafe’s revenue is put back into the community whether that’s schools, businesses or local charities.
Environmental engineer Mr Colajori envisions a business that emulates his sustainability-driven mindset and seeks likeminded employees.
As a south London resident of 16 years, he added: “I know that Londoners adapt very quickly.”
