The 2018 New Zealand Specialty Coffee Association champion taster is motivated by two things – a love for high quality coffee and a desire to “do business the right way”.
Nestled in Abbey Caves, Whangārei since 2022, he’s designed Turning Point Coffee around the core values of quality, traceability and sustainability.
His company has rightly built a buzz around its ethical sourcing from smallholder, organic family farms, reusable packaging and smart energy use. The rich aroma of sustainability wafts across every aspect of its operations.
It all flows from Stu’s background in sensory analysis, not to mention an almost superhuman ability in flavour profiling. His credentials were added to again earlier this year, when he was certified as New Zealand’s first and only Coffee Quality Institute Certified Instructor - one of less than 80 in the world.
Stu’s commute now stretches from his front door to the state of the art roastery in his garage. The operation’s main roaster is gas-powered, since the country doesn’t yet boast electric options on that scale. But Stu has invested in rooftop solar to handle all the other energy needs. This is combined with a battery pack for cloudy days and caffeine-fuelled late shifts.
An interest free solar loan from ASB bank helped take some of the initial sting out of his cash-flow and the loan repayments are now lower than the previous power bill.
Stu has also replaced traditional energy-intensive coffee machines with models featuring independent group boilers. These only heat water as needed, vastly improving energy efficiency. The solar set up already runs a smaller roaster, and stands ready to switch the big boy over when the suitable option appears.
The company uses bike delivery or electric vehicles where possible, and otherwise carefully considers its packaging and delivery options. The company deploys reusable drums to deliver its coffee to cafes. This has slashed both waste and costs, saving an estimated 40,000 single-use bags (or $40,000) over a few years. The team regularly tracks not only environmental impact but the financial savings these measures bring.
Stu says: “It’s quite fun tracking how much money you’re saving” as you implement new sustainability initiatives. “Sometimes it feels expensive, but if you actually break it down, it’s cheaper in the long run. Off the top of my head, our petrol bill has gone down by around 60%”. Most sustainable things, actually, in the long run save you money.”
He reckons electrifying his business has been a process of continuous learning, reassessment and gradual replacement of equipment. He’d advise other businesses thinking about electrification to just get going.
“You’re not going to solve everything in one day,” he explains. “Just start. Understand your business, and then get going with small steps. There’s always more to do, but you just learn as you go."
Stu also hugely values connecting with like-minded people. Attending industry events, learning from others and giving back to the community. Partnering with local cafes and being completely transparent, Turning Point Coffee is showing the coffee industry what’s possible and is getting ahead by a nose.