Our commitments
Here, we’re authentic !
We are committed to quality products, simple and tasty products.
We reduce the salt and sugar content as well as the use of palm oil in our recipes as much as we can (our spread is palm oil free). The practices of our suppliers are audited to ensure that we meet this commitment.
Our coffee is roasted and packaged on a French site that has developed a CSR policy, has been a member of the Global Compact since 1995, is ISO 9001 certified, Fair Trade Max Havelaar and Ecocert. Since 2022, our coffee has been organic and we are currently working on a solidarity project with a cooperative in Nicaragua. Our range of teas is also 100% French and organic!
We have committed to using only eggs and egg products from alternative cage farms by 2025 at the latest. By March 2023, 83% of our eggs are cage-free and the eggs we use in our English toast are already French free range eggs. We continue to work to accelerate our progress in this area and will update our figures annually.
We are also committed to having 100% of our poultry meat free range by 2025 with a European Chicken Commitment.
Here, we’re French !
We are committed to working with local suppliers whenever possible to promote employment and living conditions in France.
Today, three quarters of our ingredients and products are French, such as our milk, our pastries, our syrups, our chocolate and our breads for example! Our ambition is to increase this share every year and in the longer term to commit to direct purchases from regional producers to offer local and seasonal products.
We always choose partners and suppliers who share our moral and ethical values.
We are committed to evaluating the economic and social impact of our business on the region.
Here we are environmentally responsible !
We are committed to reducing our waste and promoting recyclability.
In France, 10 million tonnes of food are wasted each year. This social problem is environmental, economic and social. That’s why we got involved with Too Good To Go, an app that connects customers with merchants who want to sell unsold products at a reduced price rather than throwing them away. Since the launch in early 2017, more than 100,000 baskets have been saved!
In addition, all of our paper packaging comes from sustainably managed forests (PEFC or FSC certification) and is recyclable. Since 2021, we have completely eliminated plastic from our cups and packaging for salads and desserts in jars for take-away sales.
Since 2022, we have been a pioneer in stopping the use of disposable packaging in our coffee shops for onsite consumption by replacing it with tableware. Our coffee shops have also each been equipped with sorting bins.
We also give a second life to our coffee grounds by making them available for free. Coffee grounds are full of virtues, which is why we think it’s a shame to throw them away.
The kitchen equipment chosen in our coffee shops has an energy score of over B.
Here, we’re in solidarity !
We have been supporting the Laurette Fugain association in its fight against leukaemia since 2013.
We are committed to the association to support medical research on leukaemia, to mobilise around the gift of life and to help the patients and their families. To this end, we have organised fundraising events, participated in life actions and set up awareness campaigns to help children with leukaemia.
Organising fundraising events
For the 20th anniversary of Columbus Café & Co, all our Columbus cafés sold raspberry and blueberry muffins, the colours of the association. 0.30 € per “Laurette Fugain” muffin was donated to the association, in total 4140 € were donated to the association.
In December 2019, a cash donation campaign for the association was launched in several Columbus Café & Co. This operation raised €3,965 through 8,136 donations. This amount contributed to the financing of the medical research project on the identification of resistance and relapse factors in B lymphoblastic aïgues leukaemia.
Every year, on Giving Tuesday, we promote SMS donations to raise funds for the association.
Awareness campaign
We regularly relay in our Columbus and on our social networks the association’s awareness campaigns with 1,2,3 Soleil which aimed to support hospitalised children during the summer and #Coeur Postal a hashtag created to raise awareness of Laurette Fugain’s fight.
Every year, on Giving Tuesday, a day dedicated to generosity and solidarity, Columbus baristas throughout France support the Laurette Fugain association through an awareness campaign and donations by SMS.
Participation in donations of life
We participated in the 15th anniversary of the association at the Grand Palais by offering coffees and muffins to the happy participants of the boboules tournament.
In November 2019, we were partners of the first edition of the Rendez-Vous Laurette Fugain at the Maison de la Mutualité (Paris) during which our teams served free coffee, gourmet drinks and muffins. This unique event brought together patients, former patients, relatives, doctors, carers and researchers to discuss the progress and hopes of medical research into leukaemia and to provide all the keys to a better understanding of this disease.
Here, we live, we share, we feast !
And we commit ourselves to devoting time and energy to campaigning for a sustainable world (with a touch of chauvinism…).
