Hummingbird Coffee

Values

Our Story

For almost 30 years, Hummingbird Coffee has been a roastery built on the shoulders of committed people — from crop to cup.

What began as Christchurch’s Garden City Coffee was rebranded to Hummingbird Coffee in 2000 by George and Sue Cowper. The business is now led by their son Nick. 

“We actively care for our communities and wholeheartedly make conscious business decisions that make a positive impact on people and their communities.”

Fair Labour Commitments

In 2004, Hummingbird became an early champion of fair trade in New Zealand – one of the first roasters to partner with Trade Aid to directly import fair trade, organic, green bean coffee.

They continue to support communities in Africa and South America through fair trade premiums, where they pay .20c USD for every pound of green coffee bought. This money goes towards quality and productivity improvements on individual farmers, as well as social initiatives like schools and hospitals for the local communities.

Since 2005, Hummingbird has paid more than $4.3 million in fair trade premiums to tens of thousands of coffee growers in 10 countries.

Giving Back

Aside from giving back to farmers, Hummingbird funds local community initiatives throughout New Zealand through the Hummingbird Green Bean Fund, where for every $100 of green coffee beans Hummingbird buys, $1 is donated to these initiatives.

Hummingbird partners with the Student Volunteer Army, allowing them to respond to crises with the appropriate equipment, materials in times of need, support community events, the development of infrastructure and technology, and on-going training and support to all communities.

Environmental Commitments

Hummingbird Coffee is also certified by AsureQuality, is a well-known third-party organic certification body in New Zealand. 

Their organic certification mark ensures that the coffee cultivated by farmers does not use non-organic approved chemical fertilizers, pesticides or other artificial chemicals. 

The AsureQuality mark gives consumers the confidence that the coffee they are buying has been produced according to organic principles. This certification ensures that these chemicals do not enter the production cycle at any stage.

Hummingbird is also working on their packaging waste. They are part of the Soft Plastics Recycling Scheme, where their focus is to help find end of life solutions for packaging and create a sustainable economy where waste materials are re-processed into new valuable products and commodities.

When you recycle your Hummingbird Coffee packaging, it gets transformed into new materials through businesses such as Future Post and saveBOARD.