2022 was a year of significant change and reflection for all. 

Here at Rumble, we’ve been solidifying our approach to sustainability by joining 1% for the Planet. This special, global network incorporates thousands of businesses and environmental organisations who work together to support both people and the planet. Our commitment involves donating 1% of our total gross turnover to not-for-profit (NFP) groups doing great work. 

This includes offering Rumble staff the opportunity to support a charity they connect with personally. Currently, staff are asked to nominate their charity of choice to which we donate a figure of AUD$500 per staff member. The aim? We’ve always believed that businesses should lead the way in supporting like-minded charities and the people that devote their time to them. 

We’re in no doubt that moving into 2023 and beyond, the world we live in will continue experiencing a wide range of challenges. At Rumble, we’ve always been motivated by doing our best to help.

With large volumes of travel remaining challenging from a financial perspective, we’ve still maintained great connections with our producers through WhatsApp and other online means.

Continuing a deep understanding of issues on the ground is one of the most important things to keep in mind when buying and roasting coffee ethically. Of course, we’ve always maintained that price negotiations must be made with this in mind.

 In 2022, prices remained high on the commodity exchange. This has been reflected in specialty prices as well. Although we’d hope coffee producers would be receiving more income as a result, this hasn’t been the case. 

Why has the prospect of increased income been so important for producers this year? Firstly, the cost of fertiliser and other nutrients necessary for use on coffee farms has been at record high. What’s more, labourers have been hard to find and subsequently needing to be paid more. 

In fact, we saw these prices go so high that, in some countries, farmers significantly rushed their harvests. In theory, this was likely to make it more difficult to secure the quality of previous years. However, in true Rumble style, we’d been paying higher prices throughout this time anyway, making it possible to source great coffee regardless.

Here’s 5 easy actions you can take today:

• Learn more about Rumble's Mission of Transparency.

• Keen to enjoy Rumble’s great-tasing, feel-good coffee at home? Jump online and buy a bag, or visit one of the cafes we supply.

• Wish your local cafe was making our coffee so you can feel even better about supporting local business? Let them know about Rumble and what we do.

• Got an office with average coffee? Talk to your boss about changing it up - grab yourself a delicious, ethical coffee that makes the team feel warm and fuzzy.

• If you own a cafe, get in touch with us about partnering. We focus our work in Melbourne but supply all over Australia.

 We’re also proudly continuing our donations to Grounds for Health. Beginning its life in 1996, Grounds for Health is a not for profit organisation with its focus being the prevention and treatment of cervical cancer in coffee-growing communities, many of whom, due to many and varying factors, may not be receiving the support they need. 

Grounds for Health runs screening programs throughout an increasing number of coffee-growing communities. They also train local health providers on how to conduct proper screening, partnering with co-ops and in-country NGOs to provide further education and treatment. In 2022, we donated AUD$1,681.05 - that’s $2 from every bag sold 

Keen to get the most from our Impact Report? We’d love that for you too. Here’s some key language to keep in mind:

C-MARKET OR “COMMODITY” PRICE

A term used to describe the global trade of coffee as an undifferentiated, baseline quality commodity (like stock standard flour or sugar, for example). The C-price (a global price paid for coffee) is dictated by the stock exchange meaning many producers risk being underpaid as well as having the diversity of their crop go unrecognised. 

FAIR TRADE PRICE

Fair Trade pays a premium to member producers. Its aim is to stay USD20c above the C-market price and pay this premium to better the livelihoods of its producer members. It doesn’t, however, attempt to improve coffee quality and obtain good outcomes for coffee farmers. The Fair Trade minimum is still USD$1.40 - less than the cost of production and far from enough to bring families and communities out of poverty.

FARM GATE PRICE

The farm gate price of a product describes the net value of the product as it leaves the farm. Farm gate price, when paired with an understanding of FOB (see below), provides a fuller picture of Transparency both internally (for producers) and externally (for buyers).

RTO PRICE (AKA FOB PRICE)

At Rumble, we now refer to FOB (“free on board” price) as RTO (“return to origin”) price, as this more carefully articulates the amount of money being received by all who took part in getting the coffee to port. We argue that data surrounding RTO price is important to share because it offers a clear snapshot of what the farmer received from the sale (less freight, insurance, finance, and other costs sometimes added to the published “price paid” by roasters who claim a “specialty” coffee). For clarity, and as we transition to using “RTO price” terminology throughout our operations, you’ll notice we’ve included both RTO and FOB terms in our data this year. 

TRANSPARENCY

At Rumble, Transparency is both a philosophy and way of life. When we use the word Transparency in this report, we refer to the act of placing real value on the production of coffee. Rumble’s approach to Transparency has three key pillars: 

• Paying producers fairly 
• Publishing information about the prices we pay for coffee 
• Asking the big questions and having the tough conversations, both of which are necessary for getting the information we need to ensure true Transparency

Sustainability is not just environmental. It’s also economic. If the coffee industry works for all parties in the supply chain, it has a sustainable future - one where producers can look after their families and community, and baristas making the coffee are being paid fairly to do the same. To achieve real sustainability, everyone in the supply chain needs to be considered and involved. 

Producing our Impact Report is our way of being open about what we do and challenging others to do the same - that is, sharing the truth through data. Far from creating competition, we’re seeking only to challenge ourselves to be better by being transparent about all the coffee Rumble roasts and sells to our cafes and customers. This remains true not just for the special lots and single origins, but all blend components as well.

By creating this report, it gives our team a chance to look back at all that we’ve achieved in the last year. But perhaps most importantly, it helps us look forward to all future possibilities for our team and create some incredible goals for the future.

SUSTAINABILITY

As you might have come to expect from Team Rumble, we’ve been hard at work this year finding ways to improve our environmental impact. As a product manufacturer, there’s no way to remove our impact entirely at this stage, but we certainly acknowledge that there are ways of decreasing our impact, which we will continue to do more of in the future.

Waste reduction has been our first continued area of focus. To this end, we’re proud of the fact that we still use our two council bins for recycling and general waste. Our soft plastics (mainly Grain Pro coffee sack liners) are regularly picked up for recycling, and all of the coffee sacks and chaff/grounds are picked up by Kensington locals to help boost the productivity of their personal gardens. We love it!

We’ve continued using some soft plastic for the time being but remain keenly on the hunt for something better. We also have a TerraCycle collection point at the roastery which means our customers can return their Rumble coffee bags for efficient recycling.

What’s more, we’ve also been making moves to offset our energy usage. As you can imagine, coffee roasting uses quite a chunk of gas and electricity. At this stage, we’re offsetting our carbon footprint through our current energy provider by participating in a CO2 offset program. This program purchases carbon credits from green initiatives to offset the roastery’s carbon output.

Finally, it’s through our donations to 1% for the Planet that we’re increasing our focus on supporting various environmental projects of significance across Australia. These include a variety of charities that are revegetating land in Australia, including Bush Heritage, West Welcome Wagon, and Bird Life Australia.coffee sack liners) are regularly picked up for recycling, and all of the coffee sacks and chaff/grounds are picked up by Kensington locals to help boost the productivity of their personal gardens. We love it!