It’s hard to fathom that, when Fleur Studd and Jason Scheltus founded Market Lane Coffee in 2009, finding fresh, in-season, traceable, high-quality coffee in Melbourne was almost impossible.
So, with the vision to deliver Melbourne’s best coffee experience and, at the same time, create a positive change in the industry, they built their first shop and roastery in the Prahran Market.
A decade and a half later, Market Lane has seven shops across Melbourne and has just achieved B Corp Certification. To celebrate, we had a chat with Fleur Studd, Director and Co-Founder, to hear more about how they are delivering good coffee that’s good for everyone.
Market Lane Coffee owners: Jason, Jenni & Fleur
We love coffee, and we love good businesses. Can you tell us a bit more about what you do?
We are a specialty coffee roaster, retailer and wholesaler with seven shops in Naarm/Melbourne, Australia.
We have been roasting since 2009, always with an emphasis on exceptional quality coffee, environmentally sustainable practices, ethical and transparent relationships, and community participation and support.
Market Lane actively works to create a future in which good coffee is good for everyone – from the individuals and communities that produce the coffee to the team members who roast and brew it to the customers who drink and enjoy it.
Why did you want to certify as a B Corp?
A major reason we decided to embark on this certification was the process itself. Since we opened Market Lane, we have endeavoured to make all our decisions in accordance with our four core values: exceptional quality, transparency, sustainability and community.
We felt and believed that we were doing the right things, but the holistic and rigorous B Corp Certification process gave us a verifiable framework through which to measure our positive impact and make sure we’re doing everything as ethically as possible.
Engaging in the certification process also helped us set all our policies down on paper, identify areas of focus where we can have the greatest impact and set new goals to operate our business in the most sustainable, responsible and transparent ways.
We love that the B Corp Certification cuts through the noise – in our industry and all industries – to communicate to our customers and community that we’re doing the things we say we’re doing and that we stand for what we tell them we do.
This certification holds us accountable to our own high goals and standards and demonstrates that we are actively living our values and continuously striving to do better and be better.
Image: Market Lane Coffee
What makes Market Lane unique as a business? Tell us some of the areas where you have the biggest impact or some of the little changes you’ve made to make a difference.
We are a hospitality business that works to ensure that everyone on our team feels safe, respected, valued, seen and heard. We strive to maintain an inclusive, healthy, non-discriminatory workplace – we have gender parity in our hiring practices, pay equity across genders, regular anti-racism and cultural engagement and education programs, and a mental health care support scheme.
Our relationships with the people who grow and supply our coffee overseas are just as important to us as our relationships at home.
From the beginning, we’ve avoided the old commodity model of coffee buying. Instead, we work to establish transparent, long-term relationships with our coffee suppliers based on mutual trust and respect.
We pay our suppliers high premiums that sit significantly above the commodity market and Fair Trade price floors. And we centralise and celebrate the stories of their work, talent and innovation in our communications.
Sustainability has been one of our core values since we opened. We are 100 per cent carbon neutral across our supply chain, and we’re currently working on being certified Climate Active. Our head office and roastery are powered by solar panels, and we have a comprehensive waste management system through which we recycle or compost our coffee bags, milk bottles, paper, soft plastic, and organic and coffee waste.
Image: Market Lane Coffee
B Corps want to help transform our economy to one that is inclusive, sustainable, and regenerative. What business practice do you want to see become the norm?
In the coffee industry, we’d love to see every company become certified carbon-neutral and engage in verified ethical buying practices that ensure that coffee is purchased for a price that exceeds the cost of production and financially sustains those who grow it.
We’d also ultimately like to see the eradication of single-use, takeaway coffee cups with reusable alternatives becoming the norm.
Was there a B Corp that inspired you to certify, or one that you look to for inspiration?
The wonderful people at Bellroy are good friends of ours – they were one of the first companies in our community to become a B Corp.
Bellroy has always been purpose-driven, and they strive to use business for good. The founders are deep thinkers who genuinely care and want to make the world a better place.
While we operate in different industries, Bellroy’s singular focus (on inspiring better ways to carry) and their ethos (to help their people and the world flourish) align very closely with those of Market Lane Coffee.
Image: Market Lane Coffee
Do you have any tips for aspiring B Corps about the certification process?
We found the most effective way to approach the process was to dedicate time to it one day every week – some questions were easy to answer, and others required us to gather data from our internal records.
We recommend reaching out to B Corps in your network to ask for guidance and support.
But the most important advice we can give is: don’t be intimidated or daunted – just start!
We’re so incredibly glad that we did, and we’re so excited to now be a Certified B Corporation and part of this incredible movement.
A big thank you to Market Lane Coffee for sharing more about their work. To find out more and explore their range of delicious coffees, visit: marketlane.com.au
