BETTER Packaging | Sammy Bags
For the past few months we have been in conversation with local Ōtautahi business owner and all-around legend David of Pilgrim and Sammy Bags, to create a custom refillable coffee bag for us. With an upcoming change to our retail packaging (more on that in the new year!) Sugar had a vision for the legacy of our kraft retail coffee bags to live on in the form of a reusable bag, which are handmade by Sammy Bags right here in Christchurch.
David set to work to find the exact shade of red required to replicate the look of our Embassy blend bag, dropping off various samples for us to test and sit beside our current bag, making tweaks to the size and design as we went. We reckon the final result looks amazing and honours the long-standing design of our retail coffee bags.
However the aesthetics are just a bonus for us, as the main "why" for choosing to have these bags made is for sustainability reasons. It's at the heart of every decision the Sammy Bags team makes, and they've created a long lasting, easy to use, affordable solution to minimising single use coffee packaging using sustainably sourced washable paper. They also support social, human, and economic sustainability - read more on this over on their website, they've summed up their mission wonderfully! The story of their beginnings is heartwarming and we're super proud to be working with this likeminded local grassroots business.
We're stoked to now have our own offering of a refillable, zero waste coffee bag - it works just like bringing your Keep Cup for your daily coffee refill, except it's to take your beans home in. Its a no-brainer for the team here, as we all regularly grab our choice of beans to take home for the weekend. It's far too easy to reach for a single use bag, chuck our coffee in, and throw the bag away when it's empty - it's unnecessarily wasteful and we know we can do better! Same goes for our retail coffee; of course we'll keep our coffee bean retail shelves fully stocked for grab-and-go coffee purchases, but we always have our full range of coffees available in our larger bins, ready for scooping straight into a refillable vessel.
As much as we'd love to see these Sammy Bags being used by as many people as possible, what really matters here is continuing the conversation around our consumption of single use products. The Sammy Bag is a brilliant invention, once you've taken your beans home we recommend decanting them into another container, rolling up your Sammy Bag and popping it back in your bag or car ready for the next time you need a refill! However we understand not everyone is in a position to commit to that purchase, but we bet you have a jar, Tupperware box, or bucket hiding in your pantry, or even an old "single use" bag that can be reused a few times before it has to go in the bin.
We reckon it's worth a thought next time you brew your last beans and realise you need to run into Coffee Embassy (or wherever your local is!) for a top up before the weekend. Once the habit is created, there's no stopping you! As a bonus, we'll always take a dollar off the cost of every bean refill into a Sammy Bag, and we have a special introductory price for any early adopters of the bag between now and Christmas. Available now at Cellar Door and right here on our website.
