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The Green Lab partners with Hummingbird Coffee
Type of project: partnership, collaboration
Collaborator: Hummingbird Coffee
Location: understorey, Mairehau Neighbourhood Garden
Status: Active
The Green Lab is excited to be partnering with fellow local business, Hummingbird Coffee.
Hummingbird has generously donated their Pinnacle, Single Origin Ethiopia, Oomph!, Decaf, and 50:50 blends of coffee for The Green Lab to share within our understorey community. We were already buying the Oomph! blend as a complimentary supply, so we are delighted to now have an extensive range of delicious coffee.
Hummingbird has played a role in the rebuild and regeneration of Christchurch, much like we have here at The Green Lab.
One of New Zealand’s original specialty coffee brands, Hummingbird dates back more than 30 years to a roastery founded in Christchurch. Originally ‘Garden City Coffee’, George and Sue Cowper bought their local coffee roaster and cafe, then in 2000 rebranded as Hummingbird Coffee. Their son Nick now leads the business in New Zealand.
In 2004 Hummingbird became a champion of fair trade in New Zealand, being one of the first in partnership with Trade Aid to directly import fair trade, organic, green coffee beans. The brand maintains direct relationships with coffee growers and pays a premium for these beans. Since 2005 Hummingbird has paid more than $10 million in premiums to tens of thousands of growers and their families in 10 countries.
After the devastating 2011 earthquakes, the Hummingbird team knew they had to do something to help. They started a pop-up café in the Re:Start container mall to revitalize the inner city block, and created a new Re:Start coffee blend, where 30cents of every 200g pack was donated to help rebuild the badly damaged Court Theatre.
On a larger scale, Hummingbird has a Green Bean Fund, an initiative that continually supports the people that support them. For every $100 of green coffee beans that Hummingbird buys, they donate $1 back into local communities, whether that is the communities of coffee growing regions in Ethiopia or Mexico, or right here in New Zealand.
In addition to the coffee supplies, Hummingbird came through early in the partnership by funding a permanent water supply to the Mairehau Neighbourhood Garden, ensuring the garden’s long-term success, “We are excited to be partnering with the good humans at The Green Lab,” says Julie Tarm, Brand Manager at Jacobs Douwe Egberts (JDE). “They have done incredible work in the community helping to facilitate the regeneration and rebuild of Christchurch. Their latest project, the Mairehau Community Garden, is no exception. We have watched the garden transform into an elaborate display of aesthetically pleasing garden features, raised beds, and calming corners to sit and relax.
”We are thrilled to have a contribution to this fantastic community space, donating $10,000 from our Green Bean Fund to help assist with labour costs, buying plants, and installing a mains water supply – an aspect of the garden that The Green Lab previously didn’t think would be possible, but is crucial in ensuring the garden can survive and thrive!”
Ngā mihi Hummingbird, we appreciate your support. We’ve got a few more projects in the works with Hummingbird coming up; watch this space for details.