Coffee and preserving the planet (and loyalty)

Come on guys - get a dishwasher!

Now I (like nearly everyone else) like to frequent the Coffee Shops that are now such a part of High Street life.

I'm getting irritated that most places don't offer a 'proper' cup - I can accept McDonalds are not in the game of saving the planet but some of the other chains are portraying themselves as 'ethical'- so where are real pots?

From the main chains coffee-wise  my choice would be Nero, I like the cappuccino they serve and they have a reasonable offer on the loyalty system, they do  use for customers sitting in fairly universally a 'proper' cup and this is a strong preference I have -so well done to them.

Nero  used to sell The Times (and give a loyalty stamp on this too) - When I worked in Chiswick I was close to being a 'regular' in their shops on the High Street.


Starbucks I'm less sure of they certainly were targeted as being Tax avoid-ers (I see Nero aren't great on this either) but then this is not too much of a surprise, I'm not a regular customer so am not too sure on their loyalty offer - I think they're the dominant chain and I've certainly had a pottery cup when I've sat in.

Another offending  Pret near NPG

Costa is not the best coffee for me and they tend to have a confused queuing system (for what reason I don't know) - they were early to electronic loyalty cards (not sure if they still have these) - they have some food but none which I've fallen in love with and it seems pricey for what it is.


[They do though as part of bigger business pay their taxes)

So now we come to crux of the matter - I've begun to like Pret a Manger, they're very well run and staff are nice -I like the charitable stuff they do and really like the Cheese Ploughman's Baguette, there's no loyalty card (but at least their not capturing data about me) - great I could ghave a coffee at somewhere I was broadly in line with and the coffee is in my top 2 - Problem is most of the shops do not provide a pot cup for the customers who sit -The Ealing one does but most others (certainly inner London) don't and the disposable cups it seems  are going to landfill - they're not bio-degradable- so until things improve I will (when I remember) ask for coffee to be in a proper cup and if it's not possible I'll go elsewhere.

Some of the branches I've been in are bigger enough I'm sure to accommodate a dishwasher.

[I have tweeted about this and the company responded that they have this as a goal - my view is that they need to start making it happen -it's worth bearing in mind what an important part 'Loyalty' is of the Coffee chains business plan is - 5+ visits a week over 10 years or so is quite a revenue stream.]

See it is possible

The Ealing Branch

So perhaps what I need to do is be a more active 'consumer' and check out the best independents?