Surgeons Quarter adopts new coffee partnerships to drive sustainability efforts

A popular venue which helps to support the advancement of surgery around the world has adopted a range of impressive new sustainability measures.

The moves see Surgeons Quarter serving up a new coffee bean supplier while also delivering a partnership to recycle coffee grinds, as part of a sustainability review across its portfolio.

The organisation, which operates a range of venues to support the work of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSEd), has named workers’ cooperative Equal Exchange as its preferred coffee supplier across all its venues, including luxury hotel Ten Hill Place.

Now the ‘Grown by Women’ coffee range will be used in all espresso and bean-to-cup machines throughout its venues. Grown by Women’s coffee is directly sourced from Equal Exchange’s female cooperative members, and helps support women, their families, and wider communities.

Meanwhile, Surgeons Quarter has also partnered with a farm operated by homelessness charity, Cyrenians, to recycle coffee grinds from its Café 1505 venue on Nicolson Street. The charity’s working farm uses organic waste, including coffee grounds, in its compost.

Stewart Munro, Operations Manager at Surgeons Quarter, said: “We are renowned for our sustainable practices especially in Ten Hill Place Hotel, but we continually seek new partnerships to help us build these practices across the campus.

We’re delighted to be supporting Equal Exchange by taking them on as our coffee supplier and partnering with Cyrenians to upcycle our coffee grinds in a sustainable way. Cyrenians Farm is a fantastic enterprise, we’re already looking at ways to expand the partnership to support the work they do to produce sustainable, organic produce.”

He added: “We were also particularly drawn to Equal Exchange’s ethos to invest in crucial initiatives such as mobile health clinics. Given our affiliation to the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, we were especially keen to support these enterprises.”

Surgeons Quarter promotes, sells, and manages all commercial activities held within the Royal College of Surgeons Edinburgh campus. It includes facilities for conferences, meetings, private events, parties, weddings and its own four-star hotel Ten Hill Place as well as Café 1505 and SQ Travel. The new partnerships have been implemented following a review of sustainability practices across its venues, in a bid to meet ambitious sustainability goals.

Sophie Bell, Fundraising Manager at Cyrenians said: “Working with Surgeons Quarter is an exciting opportunity for us we’re impressed by their commitment to work with like minded enterprises.

Our farm aims to foster a sense of community and supports our work to tackle the causes of homelessness. We’re excited to be partnering with Surgeons Quarter”.

Cyrenians Farm in Kirknewton, West Lothian, is home to a community for young-people aged 16-25 years, and the surrounding working farm is a social enterprise providing opportunities for residents, volunteers, and visitors to grow vegetables, and develop life skills, while being in a trusting and nurturing community

Stewart added: “We have several initiatives in place to offset CO2 and drive sustainable practices in all our venues. Which is why it’s important that the products enjoyed by our customers, guests, and employees are ethically sourced and sustainable, as we want to make a positive difference.

Undertaking the sustainability review allowed us to make an informed decision about how we could provide the best combination of quality and sustainability in our choice of suppliers.”

Additionally, Surgeons Quarter plans to expand its ethical retail range of products in Café 1505 through Equal Exchange to offer organic fairtrade chocolate, raw honey, and Palestinian extra virgin olive oil.

The review also appointed Scotland based Caffia, a third-generation family-run business, as the new preferred supplier of filter coffee and tea across the Surgeons Quarter venues. Caffia will supply a range of organic, Fairtrade, and Rainforest Alliance coffees and teas.

Profits from the Surgeons Quarter portfolio go towards the advancement of surgery and the improvement of patient outcomes worldwide.