2021… Another year to remember!
Published 4 January 2022
After the shock and unpredictability of 2020, 2021 saw our team ease into a new state of normalcy. This shift involved many, many emails, WhatsApp texts and Zoom calls as we adjusted to buying all our coffees without travel and servicing our customers from afar.
Despite the incredible challenges of the year – including coffee prices soaring to record highs, unprecedented delays and congestion in international shipping, and our hometown of Melbourne taking the ribbon for more time spent in lockdown than any other city in the world! – our team has stayed motivated and resourceful and accomplished some amazing achievements along the way. We’re so grateful for the trust and loyalty of our customers and suppliers that has bolstered us through the last 12 months. Time and time again, we’ve marvelled at the resilience and fortitude of the coffee industry, and we feel very lucky to be part of such a special community.
Engaging with our coffee family – internationally and local – is the heartbeat of MCM, and, from the start of the pandemic, our goal was to stay agile and do everything we could to support our suppliers and customers. With this in mind, we were quick to book trips to see interstate customers between lockdowns and even managed to hold a few events throughout the year!
We were delighted to grow our team this year, welcoming Rafael Sans in a new role as content creator and storyteller. Rafa’s work has already been invaluable in maintaining our strong relationships at origin and in creating authentic connection between the producers we source from and our roasting customers, here at home. The warm welcome extended to Rafa from our suppliers and customers alike is representative of the care and respect our community shares, and we’re very thankful – we can’t wait to introduce you in person!
The enforced slowing down of lockdown allowed us some space and time to reflect on our business, and to improve our practices outside of sourcing and selling coffee. We are so happy to share that we are now a certified Carbon Neutral operation and have recently submitted our application for BCorp Certification. In 2021 we also continued to contribute to both World Coffee Research and the Specialty Coffee Transaction Guide, two projects that we passionately support in pursuit of a fairer and more transparent and sustainable coffee supply chain.
There’s no avoiding that it’s been a tough year, but along the way we’ve been overwhelmed by the support and consideration shown by our dear customers, treasured supply partners and wonderful, dedicated team! It is these relationships that bring us the most joy and give true meaning to what we do. Thank you to each and every one of you.
Now let’s see what 2022 has in store for us…!
With love,
Fleur, Aislinn, Beau, Toshi and Rafa x