CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Circle K’s commitment to sustainability moved a step forward with its announcement that it is becoming the largest convenience retailer in the United States to offer 100% sustainably sourced coffee.
To celebrate this initiative, Circle K will offer up to 40% off reusable mugs April 22 for Earth Day.
The sustainably sourced coffee program is built around three pillars: farm productivity, environmental practices and social development. These coffee beans will come from participating farms around the world while providing tools, training and services to coffee farmers and their communities.
- Alimentation Couche-Tard, the owner of Circle K, is No. 2 on CSP’s Top 40 Update to the 2020 Top 202 ranking of U.S. c-store chains by store count.
Additionally, farms where these coffees are sourced actively promote the following:
- No child labor.
- No form of slavery or forced labor.
- Trainings on applicable local and international labor and employment laws.
- Trainings on, but not limited to, critical health, occupational safety topics and worker rights and conditions.
- Gender equity.
- Soil conservation.
- Forest conservation and biodiversity.
- Water protection, waste management, efficient energy use.
- Environmentally responsible agriculture.
“We continue to look for ways to deliver high-quality coffee while reducing our impact on the environment,” says Kevin Lewis, global chief marketing officer of Couche-Tard. “In the U.S., over the past year, we’ve reduced case sizes and extended product shelf life, which will minimize the amount of coffee wasted. These steps, combined with the installation of bean-to-cup coffee machines across the U.S., have delivered a 30% reduction in total pounds of coffee wasted annually.”
Circle K offers fresh coffee through its bean-to-cup machines. The new sustainably sourced coffee blends will be available through these machines in both hot and iced forms. While the coffee beans will now be 100% sustainably sourced, the quality will continue to be the same, with no changes to the taste, aroma or roast profile, the company said.
Laval, Quebec-based Couche-Tard's network includes 9,261 c-stores in North America, with more than 7,100 in the United States under the Circle K and Holiday Stationstores banners and approximately 2,100 in Canada under the Circle K, Mac's and Couche-Tard banners. In Europe, under the Circle K and other banners, Couche-Tard operates a retail network in Scandinavia, Ireland, Poland, the Baltics and Russia including 2,722 stores and unmanned automated fuel stations. And under licensing agreements, more than 2,220 stores operate under the Circle K banner in 15 other countries and territories (Cambodia, Egypt, Guam, Guatemala, Honduras, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Jamaica, Macau, Mexico, Mongolia, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Vietnam), which brings Couche-Tard’s worldwide total network of approximately 14,200 mostly Circle K-branded c-stores.
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