You must meet the criteria for at least one of the badges listed below in order to join the Conscious Consumers programme

 

Fairtrade

Criteria for suppliers: Suppliers must sell at least one fair trade certified product i.e carries the FLO label.

Nice to have:

• Where possible, preferred suppliers will have more than one fair trade product.

Composting

Criteria for suppliers: Composting suppliers must provide a service or product that assists cafes to compost their compostable organic wastes.

 Note:

• Suppliers do not need to sell services or products that will assist cafes to compost all of their organic waste. i.e some suppliers provide composting for coffee grinds or fruit and vegetables only.
• A cafe is able to use any combination and number of different composting products and services to compost their organic waste i.e. organic waste collection, plus Bokashi bins etc.

Organic

Criteria for food and beverage suppliers: Suppliers must sell at least one food or beverage product that is certified organic under a New Zealand or internationally recognised certifying body. If the product is not certified by a New Zealand body (i.e. AsureQuality, Demeter, BIOGRO New Zealand, or OrganicFarmNZ) then details of the certifer must be provided on sign-up.

Criteria for textile suppliers: Suppliers must sell at least one product that is certified organic under an internationally recognised certifying body (suppliers must provide details of the certifier on sign-up).

Nice to have:

• Where possible products should be NZ made and (where applicable) from 100% NZ ingredients
• Suppliers should also provide products in bulk and/or sell them directly to cafes
• Compostable or recyclable packaging for products is preferred.

Seasonal

Criteria for suppliers: A supplier must provide at least one fruit or vegetable that is grown ‘in-season’ in New Zealand (i.e. is stated on the commonsense organics seasonal guide as being available in a given month).

 Note:

• A café may use any number and combination of seasonal suppliers.

Recycling

Criteria for suppliers:

Recycling suppliers must provide a product or service that assists cafes to recycle their:

• Recyclable glass, and/or
• Plastic 1 and 2 (preferably 3-7 as well), and/or
• Paper and/or
• Cans. 

Note:

• Suppliers do not need to sell services or products that will assist cafes to recycle all of their recyclables, i.e. some suppliers provide recycling for glass or plastic only, etc
• A cafe may use a combination of recycling products and suppliers

BYO

Criteria for suppliers: BYO container suppliers must sell and/or manufacture products that:

• Last for at least a year in an everyday use situation
• Have a lid that seals, preventing accidental spillages or scalding
• Safely hold hot food or beverages, if intended for this purpose.
  

 Nice to have:

• Where possible containers should be manufactured from sustainably sourced or recycled materials. 

Eco-friendly cleaning products

Criteria for suppliers: Eco-friendly suppliers must sell at least one cleaning product that is eco-friendly (i.e. does not contain any chemical bleaches, toxins or formaldehydes) and are suitable for use in cafes.

• Independent certification of products i.e. Envirochoice tick is preferred.

 Note:

• Suppliers do not need to sell the full range of cleaning products required by cafes. It is at each cafe's discretion which products they use and from what suppliers.

 Nice to have:

• Suppliers should also provide products in bulk and/or sell them directly to cafes
• Compostable or recyclable packaging for products is preferred.

Free Range

Criteria for suppliers: Suppliers must sell free range eggs or meat that has one of the following labels:

• One of the four organic certifications (AsureQuality, Demeter, BIOGRO New Zealand, OrganicFarmNZ)
• Evidence of an independent auditor that supplies Free Range eggs– i.e. EcoEgg, FRENZ or Woodland
• The NZ RSPCA Blue tick accreditation scheme (for eggs and meat).

Important note: ‘Cage free’ eggs are not suitable for Conscious Consumer Cafes. Cage free chickens are still confined (often in very large numbers) and therefore are not ‘free range.’ It is important to note the difference as some auditing schemes certify both cage free and free range eggs from the same supplier.

Eco-packaging

Criteria for suppliers: Eco-packaging suppliers must sell one of the following compostable or recyclable packaging products

• Coffee cups and lids and/or,
• Takeaway food containers and/or
• Takeaway cold drink containers.

Eco-packaging suppliers must be able to provide:

• Evidence that their ‘compostable’ product/s are compostable, i.e either fibre-based or PLA products, or recyclable, in the Conscious Consumers regions they supply to, and
• Information on how to correctly dispose of their products

Note:

• A cafe may use any combination of products and supplier