A stalwart in Malaysia’s F&B scene serving basic native meals, OldTown White Espresso may not be a enterprise you’d take into account a pioneer at the moment.
However you’d be fallacious.
A few weeks in the past, I witnessed the celebration of Malaysia’s first large-scale cage-free aviary at a convention known as the Wings of Progress for Higher Welfare, organised by Humane Society Worldwide.
One of many audio system was Daybreak Liew, the overall supervisor at OldTown White Espresso. Amidst her sharing in regards to the chain’s dedication to utilizing cage-free hen and eggs, she talked about one thing that caught my consideration—a brand new and unique outlet known as the Earthcare Café.
Launched mere days in the past (on March 30) inside OldTown’s new Heritage Centre in Ipoh, this farm-to-table cafe is devoted to, as its title suggests, caring for the earth.
Chatting with Daybreak to be taught extra about this cafe, we learnt that the thought for this idea is one thing that’s been years within the making.
It began in 2022, when American-Dutch beverage-centric firm JDE Peet’s rolled out its World Animal Welfare Coverage, affecting all of its firms.
And in the event you’re questioning what that has to do with OldTown… JDE Peet’s is the corporate that purchased the Ipoh-born chain for RM1.47 billion in 2018.
Resulting from this coverage, OldTown started wanting into methods to make sure merchandise used of their shops serve not simply customers but additionally the atmosphere and the welfare of animals.
“There may be truly a stability the place you’ll be able to serve superb meals which is scrumptious, but additionally good to your prospects, and good for the atmosphere as properly,” Daybreak stated. “One doesn’t have to present option to the opposite.”
OldTown, new methods
For the previous two years, OldTown has been working with Beacon Rooster, a Malaysian model whose chickens are fed specifically formulated seaweed-based feed that took 10 years to R&D.
These chickens are cage-free and thus expertise higher welfare in comparison with most poultry out there.
Daybreak revealed that OldTown’s hen inventory is especially made utilizing hen equipped by Beacon Rooster. However they haven’t been in a position to solely supply from Beacon Rooster for all hen dishes.
“To ensure that Beacon to get the extent the place they’ll totally provide us, they want a little bit of time,” she defined. That is as hen is the principle protein served by the chain, so the amount wanted is large.
However even earlier than JDE Peet’s, OldTown had already made efforts to be inexperienced. Again when the enterprise was listed in 2011, that they had one division that was known as, serendipitously, Earth Care.
Pushed to make environmentally pleasant progress, this division would have a look at issues like waste, water, and electrical energy administration, resulting in the change to photo voltaic panels for his or her Ipoh manufacturing unit.
However now, it’s time for the enterprise to take their initiatives one step additional by translating it to their eating facet of issues.
Leaves style in your mouth
The newly opened OldTown Heritage Centre on Jalan Pang Lima is definitely positioned on a UNESCO heritage web site. Which means that the structure of the constructing wanted to be of a sure commonplace not to remove from the world.
Contained in the centre, there’s a cultural and historic museum detailing the historical past of OldTown. There are additionally retail shops that promote the espresso model’s merchandise, in addition to a vertical hydroponic farm.
However in fact, a starred characteristic of this place is the Earthcare Café.
Right here, the entire menu is centred round being environmentally pleasant and selling higher welfare. All dishes right here use cage-free hen and cage-free eggs.
Highlighting among the outlet’s distinctive choices, Daybreak stated that as an alternative of the long-lasting kaya and butter toast, they’ve a kurma and butter toast, which is decrease in energy and gives a naturally sweetened flavour.
Daybreak additionally stated that seven dishes on the menu have acquired one thing known as the Coolfood standing. Coolfood is an initiative by the World Sources Institute (WRI), an impartial US-based organisation, to assist meals suppliers promote dishes with smaller local weather footprints.
Dishes that with the Coolfood standing emit a minimum of 38% much less carbon. However past carbon emissions, the recipes must also have excessive dietary worth, and the meals ought to nonetheless be scrumptious, Daybreak stated.
One thing else that’s distinctive to the outlet is that it serves 4 waves of espresso. Daybreak defined the waves of espresso as such:
First wave: Immediate premix, which was popularised throughout the world wars, and is how OldTown White Espresso began.
Second wave: Pulled, kopitiam-style espresso, often utilizing espresso roasted with sugar and margarine.
Third wave: Espresso-based espresso. For Earthcare Café’s third-wave espresso, they use an Arabica, Robusta, and Liberica mix—one thing that’s hardly seen in regular espresso outlets, which generally solely use the previous two sorts of beans.
Fourth wave: Filter espresso, sometimes hand-poured and utilizing specialty blends of espresso beans.
Breaking the silence
However you may be questioning, “Why haven’t I heard something about OldTown’s inexperienced efforts?”
Effectively, that’s as a result of the staff has been deliberately holding again on publicising their strikes externally.
“We have to be very sure that each one our shops are practising what they have to be practising,” Daybreak defined. “After which we’ll begin saying it out loud. We don’t need it to be greenwashing.”
Reasonably, their focus has been turned inward, educating their very own workers about local weather change and why it issues.
“Our personal individuals, our associates, our staffs, should perceive why. The schooling internally has been large,” Daybreak stated. “As soon as they’ve this [knowledge] at their fingertips, it turns into simpler for them to speak them outwards.”
Speaking this to franchisees is important too. Daybreak stated that the aim for them finally boils all the way down to profitability, so the HQ should make sure that the price of their modifications is rarely overly taxing on the franchisees.
In any case, OldTown has been making these constructive modifications in small increments over time. However as time goes by, the small steps will all add as much as one large leap.
And the Earthcare Café is one fruits of all these efforts, giving us a style of what OldTown White Espresso has in retailer for the long run.
Study extra about OldTown White Espresso right here.
Learn different articles we’ve written about F&B companies right here.
Featured Picture Credit score: OldTown White Espresso / A3 Tasks
