Peet’s offers online coffee subscription – with a sustainable twist

An omnichannel coffee retailer is enabling customers to offset their carbon footprint with their next cup of Joe.

Peet’s Coffee is launching what it calls a Carbon Neutral Series coffee subscription. The Berkeley, Calif.-based coffee chain is partnering with global sustainability nonprofit Enveritas to offer a curated subscription service that sponsors the planting of three carbon dioxide-absorbing mangrove trees in Myanmar's ecoregion of Southeast Asia for every two pounds of coffee delivered—or 36 trees for a year's subscription. 

Other retailers have introduced coffee subscriptions, but offer them in-store and without an environmental component. Examples include Panera’s trendsetting “myPanera+Coffee” unlimited monthly coffee subscription plan, as well as Circle K’s “Sip & Save” program that offers one free coffee, tea, slushy, or fountain soda beverage per day.

According to Peet’s, consumers will offset their annual carbon dioxide emissions once 30 trees have grown over the course of 20 years. The company will rotate 12 coffee varieties through the series, including some only available to subscribers. 

"We're proud to debut our Carbon Neutral Series as a step towards Peet's incorporating more sustainable practices in regard to carbon neutrality across our business, furthering our commitment to source the highest quality coffee for our customers in a way that respects the environment." said Tiffin Groff, VP/GM of e-commerce at Peet's Coffee. "We're excited to take this step to better our planet by sponsoring carbon dioxide-absorbing mangrove trees, while providing consumers with the sustainable coffee that they've come to expect from Peet's."