Dripos Shop Sustainably Spotlight: Soul Café

As buzzwords like “eco-friendly” and “clean” become overused to the point of meaninglessness, it’s tough to determine which roasters are simply talking the talk and which are incorporating sustainable practices into their businesses.

There are opportunities for roasters and cafés to incorporate sustainability at virtually every step of the production process — for the team behind Soul Café in Brooklyn, that includes sourcing beans from farms that treat laborers fairly and ethically, operating with as little waste as possible from roasting to packaging, and more.

As part of our Shop Sustainability Spotlights, we asked Maria Browne, founder and head roaster of Soul Café, to share how her team prioritizes sustainability, and how others can follow in their footsteps.

What are some of the sustainable roasting practices you incorporate at Soul Cafe?

At Soul Café, sustainability is less of a checklist and more of a systems approach. It’s fundamental to how we source, roast, package, and serve coffee.

On the sourcing side, we prioritize high-quality, traceable single origins and work with importers who emphasize transparency and responsible farming practices. In fact, a lot of what we do starts at origin, by supporting producers who are already doing things the right way rather than trying to “fix” it downstream.

From a roasting perspective, we use a Loring Smart Roaster, which is designed for high efficiency. It uses significantly less gas compared to traditional drum roasters and has a built-in smoke afterburner that reduces emissions during the roasting process.

We also put a lot of focus on consistency and precision in our roast profiles. Dialed-in roasting reduces waste; this means fewer discarded batches, tighter quality control, and better yield across production. We roast in small, intentional batches to avoid overproduction and stale inventory.

At the roastery level, we operate with very little waste—almost zero garbage. Everything that can be reused, is. For example, for our wholesale accounts, we ship coffee in reused boxes from our own incoming shipments. It’s not branded or flashy, but it significantly cuts down on unnecessary packaging waste.

Packaging is another area we’ve been intentional about—our coffee bags are recyclable, allowing us to reduce waste while still maintaining product integrity.

And at the café level, we carry that same mindset forward. We use cotton tea bags instead of synthetic ones to avoid microplastics, and we’re mindful across the board with materials and workflow to minimize unnecessary resource use.

What would you say is your top priority when it comes to sustainability as a roaster?

Consistency and intentionality.

Sustainability isn’t just about using “better” materials—it’s about running a tight operation. If your roasting is inconsistent, your sourcing is reactive, or your production is wasteful, nothing else really matters.

For us, the priority is building a system where quality and efficiency naturally reduce waste—where every step, from green buying to final cup, is deliberate.

What is the biggest challenge to being a sustainable roaster?

Balancing sustainability with cost and scale, especially as a small business.

A lot of the more sustainable options, whether it’s packaging, logistics, or sourcing, come with higher costs or operational limitations. For example, we’re very interested in introducing more reusable systems at the café level. This includes things like customers buying beans in tubes and refilling them in-store at a reduced cost. It works well in a local retail setting, but it becomes much harder to execute once shipping is involved.

The same applies on the wholesale side. We’re currently exploring systems with local cafés where we deliver roasted coffee in reusable bins or tubs and exchange them for empties to be refilled, rather than relying on single-use bags. It’s a strong solution locally, but it doesn’t scale easily across longer distances or traditional distribution models.

That tension—between what’s ideal and what’s actually scalable—is one of the biggest ongoing challenges.

What’s one thing you’d like to do better or more of, in terms of sustainable roasting practices?

Packaging is still the area we’re pushing the most.

While our bags are recyclable, we’re continuously exploring ways to improve—whether that’s better materials, reducing excess components, or refining formats that balance sustainability with performance.

What advice would you give a roaster who is looking to become more sustainable?

Start with your operations before your optics.

Dial in your roasting. Tighten your inventory. Reduce waste in production. Build strong relationships with importers who prioritize transparency. Those changes will have a bigger impact than surface-level swaps.

Also, don’t try to do everything at once. Sustainability in coffee is layered—focus on one area, improve it, then build from there.

And finally, be honest about where you are. Customers respect progress and intention more than perfection.