Hej Coffee

It's been awesome to partner with Living Bankside Academy again this summer on their award-winning #OurFutures Programme. This brilliant initiative provides a cohort of young people from Bankside, and surrounding neighbourhoods across the London Borough Of Southwark, with an intensive introduction to the business world and vital life skills. ‘The Innovators’ - this summer's cohort - had AI, technology and innovation as their focus, with a series of workshops led by partner businesses, from the likes of Tate Modern and Bloomberg, culminating in an industry event, delivered and managed by the students. We had the pleasure of hosting The Innovators for a workshop at The Bottle Factory, giving the students an inside look at the incredible community of makers, creatives and urban industry stalwarts making the space their home. Highlights included: 🤖 A hands-on workshop on AI’s impact on photography and videography with two of our super creative studio occupiers Fliss Barsky of #Peek and Jimmy Roye-Dunne of #HomeTimeStudios 🍸An informative tour with Thames Distillers Ltd, the UK's oldest gin-making family ☕ A sneak peek at the new Hej Coffee roastery in progress, led by our contractors Whitepaper 🎨 An inspiring session with OHSH Projects, curators of current contemporary art exhibition #VESSEL Our long-term partnerships with local charities like Living Bankside are central to the way we work. This is our third year supporting the programme - not just with a workshop but gifting the Academy its HQ at our Bankside building #TheBinary for the 6 week programme too 🌟 #TheBottleFactory #Community #Impact #AI

The first London Indy Coffee Guide by is out, and guess what? Hej Coffee made the cut! Massive shoutout to the awesome folks at DRWakefield for sponsoring the guide and being such incredible partners over the years. We’re thrilled to be part of this collab. DRWakefield is a go-to for top-notch coffee, always bringing their A-game with sustainability, traceability, and quality. They help us be the kind of business we want to be, and our customers love it too. The Indy Coffee Guide features 163 world-class speciality coffee spots around London. If you’re on the lookout for the best brews in the capital, this guide’s got you covered! Shout out to the other sponsors who made this publication possible, Specialty Coffee Association UK Coffee Week, and to the publishing team at Salt Media Ltd

Barnes Fair 2024 was a great success - so pleased we were able to join the OSO Arts Centre at the fair this year. A portion of the proceeds from the this year's fair have gone to Annabelle's Challenge Vascular EDS Charity. We served up a host of drinks to suit all taste buds, including coffee, hot chocolate, fresh orange juice, nitro cold brew, and our much-loved nitro martinis. Thanks to everyone who attended, and huge thanks to the team at OSO ARTS CENTRE | The theatre on Barnes Pond for inviting us to join in!

We had a great time with the Connect Vending team on Friday when they dropped by for a visit to the Hej Coffee roastery. The Connect Vending team's focus on ethical supply chains and reducing environmental impact really resonated with our own team - as did their love of our whiskey-barrel-aged Bean to Cask coffee. Here's to new partners, who know the value of a great cup of coffee. We're looking forward to the next time you stop by. #Sustainability #CSR Tom Lightfoot Guoda Monkeliunaite

A partnership we're proud of? Supporting our local exceptional primary school, Charles Dickens Primary, with Bullseye Brew. Charles Dickens Primary is amazing at hitting targets - they're recognised as an Ofsted Outstanding Provider, a Unicef Rights Respecting Gold School, and do incredible research as a designated, Education Endowment Foundation research school. As a part of their well-rounded approach, Charles Dickens Primary also makes sure that every student who enters its halls can play at least one instrument - and some go on to learn many more. The money that goes to the school will be used to buy instruments for its strong music program as a part of Hej's #CoffeeForCauses line. You can help to support this outstanding school by bringing Bullseye Brew into your office - reach out to learn more!

What makes our new Decaf Coffee more sustainable? 🌿 Decaf coffee is often decaffeinated in Canada and Germany, far from wherever it is grown. Colombia and Mexico are two of the only countries that decaffeinate their coffee onsite, radically decreasing the travel miles (and carbon imprint) of their decaffeinated coffee. The Sugarcane Process uses ethyl acetate, a natural by-product of the sugar production process found in molasses. This is an incredible example of a circular production cycle, as coffee producers use the resources they already have around them. And the decaf coffee that results from this process preserves the original flavour of the beans, resulting in a tastier, more sustainable brew.

Café Queero is our seasonal coffee for Pride month - and beyond. We partner with the The Outside Project LGBTIQ+ Community Centre and Shelter Project all year round to support Café Queero, their housing drop-in for LGBTQIA+ individuals.   They provide a calm, sober, supportive space - and we provide them coffee, storage, moving help, donations, and whatever other support they need.   Our Café Queero coffee helps to fund this support year-round. Thanks to everyone who drinks Café Queero coffee, from our café regulars to our wholesale customers - and thanks to the Outside Project for making our neighbourhood better all year round. Happy Pride month! #pride #SocialGood #CSR

Coffee for Causes update - Hej FC at Crystal Palace Football Club!   The youth players of Hej FC Athletic couldn't believe they were walking on the same grass as the premier league stars they love.   We could hardly believe it either.    The word ‘sport’ comes from an old French word that means ‘to divert, amuse, please, play’. For youth players, football has huge benefits - including building communication skills, social development, sharpening analysis abilities, developing motor skills, and boosting self-confidence.   Also, it's fun. While some players at Hej FC have professional aspirations, for many it is a place to play, dream, and grow.   And what better place to dream than at Selhurst?   It's a heady thing, playing on such an iconic pitch. Imagining the games he had seen on TV, one player was worried that the stadium would be full of cheering fans. 'I hope there won't be that many people watching us,' he confided.   Hej Coffee supports the team through our Coffee for Causes line, feeding the dreams and health of youth players near our Milton Keynes Unity Place MK site.   Huge thanks to Crystal Palace, the Palace for Life Foundation, and Selhurst Park for hosting our Hej FC players. It's a day we're all sure to remember. #youth #future #premierleague

'What is the one single thing that would change your lives?' Acacia Hills owner Leon Christianakis asked the staff working on his coffee farm in Tanzania. 'And invariably the first answer we were always given was: Education and water.' In the same way that Hej Coffee works to improve the neighbourhood around our roastery and coffee shops, Leon is focused on improving the lives of those living around his farm in Oldeani, Tanzania. We discovered Leon's farm, Acacia Hills through TYPICA, the trading platform that allows us to work directly with coffee suppliers. It's always a pleasure to find partners whose values and focus on social impact align with our own. We've been lucky enough to have Leon visit our coffee roastery in-person and learn more about the water access project that he runs in Tanzania. 'When we first took over these farms, there were women, and men, and old men, and donkeys and carts, they were walking. We estimated there were people walking four kilometres to fill up 20L containers of water, from high up on our farm, because our farm used to comber in an open furrow (an open stream to the farm). ” So Leon and his business partners developed the water infrastructure in Oldeani, Tanzania. They installed a water supply system on two farms and set up a pipeline that uses gravity to transport water to a water tank in the village. This project needs support, and we're excited to work with Leon on how to further improve water access in rural Tanzania as we bring his coffee to our shelves.

Hej Coffee was at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, and the gardens were stunning - but it was more than just a display. Project Giving Back sponsors crucial causes like the Centre for Mental Health, Choose Love, Horatio's Garden, RSPCA, Terrence Higgins Trust, and Sadler's Wells to bring gardens to the show. These gardens celebrate and boost visibility for these organisations, offering a platform to share their work in innovative, interactive environmental spaces. In a world where attention is one of our most valuable resources, these gardens redirect our focus to causes that deserve it. Plus, every garden supported by Project Giving Back is relocated or repurposed after the show, making a lasting impact. Hej Coffee was delighted to bring our House Espresso and La Marzocco UK machines into the fantastic living-room-style space designed by House Nine Design Studio for Project Giving Back's own space. Congratulations on a beautiful showing to: Terrence Higgins Trust Bowel Research UK Muscular Dystrophy UK The National Autistic Society National Garden Scheme Planet Good Earth Stroke Association Sue Ryder Freedom from Torture Panathlon Challenge Pulp Friction CIC Size of Wales I Maint Cymru St James's Church Piccadilly PCC WaterAid World Child Cancer #sustainability #coffee #chelseaflowershow