Solange Ackrill
Vice President of Marketing & Corporate Strategy, Club Coffee
Dr. Sylvain Charlebois
Director of the Agri-Food Analytics Lab, Dalhousie University
Kathlyne Ross
Vice President of Product Development & Innovation, Loblaw Companies Limited
Club Coffee’s innovations and strong partnerships are helping Canadian coffee lovers make more conscious, sustainable choices.
Coffee is a beloved and welcome part of everyday life for millions of Canadians. Its inviting aroma and distinctive flavour start our mornings, end our dinners, and give us breaks in between. With more than 70 percent of Canadian adults enjoying a coffee on an average day, that calls for a lot of coffee beans — about 1,000 tonnes of them daily.
Canadian coffee lovers increasingly expect more from that coffee — they want sustainable options like fair trade coffee and compostable or recyclable packaging. Club Coffee is helping top-selling North American brands and many of Canada’s leading retailers answer the call. Leveraging its long history and expertise, Club Coffee is leading the way in sustainable packaging innovations and helping Canadians make their coffee habit more sustainable.
A long history of innovation
Club Coffee has a 100-plus-year history, having evolved from a roaster to a sustainable packaging innovator and long-term partner of choice for major names like Loblaw.
“We’re known for delivering coffee innovations,” says Solange Ackrill, Vice President of Marketing and Corporate Strategy at Club Coffee. “Many of our people have come to us from big retailers and consumer packaged goods companies. Their wealth of knowledge enables us to execute breakthroughs that really create points of differentiation that add value for our customers and their consumers.”
Building an innovation-focused culture and agile team has helped Club Coffee drive industry-leading advances. “Our culture is grounded in our people and our talents,” says Ackrill. “We can see what consumers want and know what our customers need. We put all that together to get to results faster.”
Creating sustainable solutions
Consumer demand for more premium and sustainable offerings is putting Club Coffee in the spotlight, as industry experts are seeing firsthand.
“A growing number of Canadian consumers are expecting Canadian companies to do things differently,” says Dr. Sylvain Charlebois, Director of the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University. “They want to support brands that are great environmental stewards.”
Club Coffee’s ability to translate environmental stewardship and other priorities into action makes it a great partner to major brands and retailers. Those strong links help it to drive innovation, value, and consistent supply.
Food costs are obviously influenced by agricultural commodities, which can drive prices higher. But the sector can also be impacted by higher material costs as well, and steel is a good example right now.
A new step forward in sustainable packaging
“We’re always looking for ways to bring innovation to the food industry and in doing so, develop partnerships with companies that share our passion,” says Kathlyne Ross, Vice President of Product Development and Innovation at Loblaw Companies Limited. “Our partnership with Club Coffee began several years ago, and in 2016 we launched our PC® 100% Certified Compostable Single Serve Coffee Pods, kicking off our journey together on developing sustainable packaging in the coffee category.”
Canadians love coffee and drink quite a lot of it, so when we work with partners on packaging that’s recyclable, our work together starts to make a big impact.
Supported by Loblaw’s leadership and commitment to sustainability, Club Coffee is now helping the retailer meet consumer needs and its ESG commitments through the latest world-class innovation with the launch of the new AromaPak™ coffee packaging. AromaPak™ featuring Boardio® paper-based technology is recyclable packaging for bagged and can coffee. This sustainable packaging solution significantly reduces plastic use and is made using fibre from sustainably-managed forests, certified by the Forest Stewardship Council.
“We want to offer our customers choice in the grocery aisle and that includes innovative packaging solutions that reduce the amount of waste sent to landfills,” says Ross. “Canadians love coffee and drink quite a lot of it, so when we work with partners on packaging that’s recyclable, our work together starts to make a big impact.”
Making your coffee habit more sustainable has never been easier.
