Coffee with friends, for friends
Empowering people just by drinking coffee? It sounds like a stretch but Whanganui priests Rev. Paul and Rev. Ana Fletcher have found a way to do just that.
Rev. Ana Fletcher (L) and Rev. Paul Fletcher, with children Eilidh and Ishmael, are excited about their new coffee venture.
With long friendships from their years in the cafe industry, they've teamed up with friends at Crave and Kind Cafes in Auckland, and Addington Coffee Co-op in Christchurch to launch a new coffee brand that has "a strong social heartbeat."
Common Good Coffee is the new brand, and was born from the three partners wanting to magnify the impact of their existing work, which has already seen millions given to social enterprises in Kolkata, India, as well as locally. The businesses in India provide employment that empowers local communities to live in a way where poverty no longer dominates daily life, and the people that run those businesses have become friends, too. "Jesus has a particular concern for those who do it rugged," says Paul, who has been to Kolkata and seen how desperate the situation is for those who live there.
Slums in Kolkata
Some of the women who benefit from Common Good Coffee’s re-distribution of profit
After several young people from our movement have travelled there as well, the connection between our people and the people of Kolkata is growing stronger. "The diocese is part of the story," says Paul, "We know the people in Kolkata. We've been there. There's huge relational overlap." Now, Paul sees Common Good as the perfect way for our diocese to champion the stories of our friends in Kolkata. As well as being quality tasting coffee from fair trade suppliers, every kilogram sold sees $5 given to the work being done in Kolkata.
"This is a tangibly easy way to journey with the last, the lost and the least - simply by changing the company we buy our coffee from," Paul says. He encourages us to consider not just our church morning teas, home coffee machines or workplaces, but also the workplaces of people we know - and whether we could talk to them about the new brand. The Anglican Centre has already made the switch, and we all got to taste the difference at Thanksgiving and Ordination. "For our diocese, it's simply an extension of who we are - these people in Kolkata that we are supporting are our people."
Rev. Paul Fletcher working in the pop-up social enterprise cafe he established in Whanganui.
Over time Paul wants to become the brand's roaster as well. Currently they roast their products elsewhere, but Paul and Ana want to set up a large roasting operation in Whanganui, which would offer further employment opportunities in the city, and distribute profit to youth work and other projects in the Manawatū-Whanganui region. After their pop-up cafe delivered employment and training opportunities and over $3,000 into local projects, they've got the experience and drive to see it through.
“I’ve always had a passion for coffee and a passion for business,” Paul says. “And a passion for the question of how you can flip the script —how can business be used for good.” Paul wants us all to do everything we can "for those at the bottom of the heap in the empire," and thus encourages us to think carefully about how we use our money.
He invites us to check out the Common Good Coffee website, commongoodcoffee.nz, to try the product, and to increase the benefits for the last, the lost and the least. After all, that's what friends are for.