Our Sustainability Story

When you buy a cup of coffee from us we want you to know it’s contributed to a better outcome for the environment, our team, our suppliers and our community.

Dickon White and Jason Perks co-founded Perks & White in 2013 from a love of coffee, and a desire to build a business and brand that lives it’s ethos. At the heart of everything we do is sustainability. We strive for great relationships with our customers, suppliers, our team, our community and always look to minimise our impact on the environment. Jason brings 25 years of expertise advising businesses on sustainability to his work at Perks & White, and has been enjoying putting into practice what he preaches to others. 

“For me a sustainable business must look after people and the planet, while making a profit. That means thinking about our impacts and relationships in everything we do. For example we seek local suppliers that we can work with for the long term, and pay them fairly and promptly. And we’ve always tried to reduce our footprint where we can. We were early adopters of 100% compostable cups made from sugar cane waste and we recycle all our coffee grinds - cycling it up to the Rosendale Allotments or giving it to UpCirlce © where it is recycled into beauty products that we sell.

We’re small and can always do better, so our work will never be done, but I’m really proud that after a year of planning we got Zero Zero into your cup of coffee“ Dickon loves all things coffee, and visits all sites daily to get his fix - most days more than once. He has an incredible story to tell about why he got into coffee, and he’s working on sharing it with you all in the near future.

Our Team

We’re big advocates for investing time into the personal development of the people who work with us. We’ve recently revamped our in-house training, which means our team has the opportunity to refine their skills, and progress through the stages from Trainee Barista right up to a Cafe Manager. The training currently running ranges from full technical coffee making, through to customer service, and management, and marketing courses.

By providing both external, and in-house training we’re able to offer an engaged workplace that’s built on the concept of learning more and earning more which leads to a strong team that feel empowered and look out for each other, and give our customers the best experience.

Our community and suppliers

Having founders that have lived in the area for over 20 years means that we’re part of the community, with a focus on sourcing from, and maintaining long-standing relationships with local suppliers, such as Flippin’ Nells found at the Sunday City Country Farmers Market in Herne Hill, and Bread Bread - just down the road in Half Moon Lane. We’re also currently a collection hub for Herne Hill Forums Computers for Schools initiative that recycle laptops.

Our existing team are people who live, and/or have grown up in the community and we often choose to recruit people who are local to the area - this draws a nice parallel as we’re able to share common ground with our customers who are only a short walk away themselves.

However, we can’t forget that it’s in this very community that Perks & White started through our incredible long-term relationship with Kurt (Founder), and the whole team at Volcano Coffee Works! Eight years and counting...

Zero Zero builds on this ethos, by working with our local supplier Volcano to benefit smallholder suppliers and their communities in Colombia.