Tag Archives: Ecoffee

Now available for purchase on selected stores in Italy and
on our Facebook store!

We were amazed by the final result – and even though these ECOFFEE tShirts were meant to be a concept, we received so many requests from our customers and supporters so that we were “compelled” to create a limited edition, capsule collection to be sold in selected stores and on our Facebook store.

T-shirts are available in khaki and brown colors for both male and female sizes. We also printed a very small quantity on yellow t-shirts, just for kids!

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As we previously mentioned, for each t-shirt sale we will proceed 1 euro to  GreenAdsBlue.org Foundation, thus supporting  water sanitation projects in 10 Masai villages.

And we are glad we decided to do that!
Hurry up or you will miss the opportunity to buy one (or more) of these unique ECOFFEE tShirts!

The green economy’s top companies key players at ECOMONDO

The ´Eco-industrial Revolution´ has a 10 billion euro turnover and is the driving force for economic reprise. At Rimini Fiera the sector´s most advanced products on show

The green economy is one of the sturdiest footholds for economic reprise. And ECOMONDO is the ideal showcase for this sector´s most dynamic enterprises and public administrations.
The ´Eco-industrial Revolution´ is therefore in the spotlight from 9th to 12th November, at Rimini Fiera, the traditional international showcase for the fast-moving movement. In fact, it must be remembered that, in Italy alone, estimates on the overall turnover of the green economy are around 10 billion euros. There are positive forecasts of the impact on the employment market, to the point that at present it is estimated that there are 380,000 ´green workers´.

ECOMONDO 2011 will also host the chain of biodegradable and compostable bioplastics with CIC certification, which currently represent one of the best opportunities for re-launching the Italian chemical industry, based on the environmental sustainability of processes and products. Novamont (one of ECOFFEE’ supporters) and its partners will present the new opportunities offered by the bioplastics chain and, thanks to the contribution of Slow Food, it will be possible to taste excellent local specialities based on a strategy that privileges biodiversity and responsible innovation.

It must also be remembered that alongside ECOMONDO there will be the 5th KEY ENERGY international expo on energy and sustainable Mobility and the fourth COOPERAMBIENTE exhibition of the cooperative supply of energy and environment services by LegaCoop.

The events have the patronage of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers – Department for European Policies and the Ministry for the Environment and Land & ea Protection.

Our four-day agenda has already been planned with many meetings with ECOFFEE prospects but please feel free to contact Norman Cescut via email norman|at|ecoffee.it to eventually schedule a last-minute meeting during this important event.

ECOFFEE and DESITA on air!

For those of you who do not follow me on Twitter @norman_cescut and have not yet been notified about this great news, I am very glad to inform you that last September 4th I was interviewed by Vincenzo Argante of Ferry Boat, a successful radio program broadcasted on Italy’s Radio24.

Ferry Boat deals with issues such as responsibility and sustainability applied to many fields, from education to automotive to fashion and..Retail. During the interview I was asked to introduce ECOFFEE and to explain why the ECOFFEE approach is such an innovative one in the Retail business.

The whole interview is available here, unfortunately Italian only!

DESITA and ECOFFEE at 2011 Meeting Rimini

DESITA and its ECOFFEE partner Serint Group Italia are pleased to announce the partnership reached with the Fondazione Meeting, the organizing committee of Meeting Rimini (Rimini, Italy 21-27 August 2011), event which is recognized as one of the most important festivals in Europe collecting great political personalities, managers, representatives of different religions and cultures, intellectuals and artists, athletes and protagonists of the world scene. It offers stories of men and women through conferences, exhibitions, shows, and sporting events.

The partnership signed among DESITA, Serint Group and Fondazione Meeting concerns the development and creation of a long-term and ambitious project, called “Il Parco del Meeting (The Meeting Park)” which will be disclosed to a large number of invited companies at the Rimini Meeting next Friday, August 26 during a day-long meeting together with the Fondazione Board of Directors. In the next following months, the project will be implemented involving companies, local authorities, institutions and schools belonging to the province of Rimini (Italy)

The project aims to gradually introduce sustainability in the MeetingRimini event, thus creating a tighter bond between the city of Rimini and the event and allowing the Parco del Meeting to become a place for dissemination of the best sustainable practices related to culture, products, technology , projects and services. The Parco del Meeting will become the park of the city of Rimini, a place of reference and aggregation active throughout the year, with restaurants designed according to our ECOFFEE guidelines, event areas and much more.

Other collateral projects are under development, including the design of sustainable exhibition areas of a pavillon of the RiminiMeeting offering to those exhibitors attentive to environmental issues the opportunity to participate actively in the Park project, as early as next year.

With this great news, we are going to take a little rest from a period of intense and successful work, wishing you a wonderful holiday time. We will be back on September or, if you are spending your holidays in Italy, we will be more than happy to meet you at the RiminiMeeting on Friday August 26th

For more information norman [at] ecoffee.it

PS. Have you already voted for the Green Sheikh, Ambassador ECOFFEE, who has been nominated as Best Green International Celebrity at next Best Green Awards? Do not hesitate to vote for him! Vote for Green Sheikh!

Fairtrade Italia and ECOFFEE: a sustainable partnership for a better future

I am very happy to announce that last Tuesday, July 19th DESITA and Fairtrade Italia have signed a bilateral agreement providing mutual support for the dissemination of the principles of environmental sustainability, fair trade and social responsibility on the entire Italian market  through a focus on in-store actions.

DESITA, thanks to its ECOFFEE project, will promote Fairtrade products and will support  Fairtrade licensees through its wide range of retail-oriented services and solutions: from architectural design, branding, process analysis, franchise creation. The Fairtrade certified products will also find a privileged placement among the products available at the ECOFFEE franchise cafés.

On the other hand, Fairtrade Italia has committed to share with its stakeholders- Retail business licensees, Association members and consumers – all the services offered by DESITA and   ECOFFEE.

“I am very happy to have reached this agreement,” states Paolo Pastore, Managing Director of Fairtrade Italia “This agreement is very different from the usual one and I am  sure that it will bring a much wider scope and visibility to Fairtrade certified products, the only Fair Trade certification that has deserved consumers’ trust all around the world. “

Being supported by such an important organization as Fairtrade Italia has once again confirmed that what I have created, the ECOFFEE service platform, is a requirement for a better future.This gives me the strength to keep on working in what is still an immature industry, that of sustainability in the Italian Retail and Horeca panorama. I am convinced that this partnership will actually contribute to the creation and dissemination of a more responsible consumption on the Italian market.

The Green Sheikh is ECOFFEE’s worldwide Goodwill Ambassador

Following the meeting with the Green Sheikh (see “Amazing Meeting with the Green Sheikh”) we are very happy to inform all our readers that HH Abdulaziz bin Al Nuaimi, also known as the Green Sheikh, offered to become ECOFFEE’s Goodwill Ambassador worldwide and, as stated in an official letter,  to support ECOFFEE “wherever our activities will bring me, accordingly to your values and mission”.

The Green Sheikh is certain that ECOFFEE “will help our youth and entrepreneurs worldwide to approach what both of us decided to call sustainable entrepreneurship” and honoured us by considering ECOFFEE and Norman Cescut  “… as a gateway to be my representative in sustainability business”.

Our industry is experiencing a time of general change originated by the recent economic crisis and by new trends: sustainability and technological applications first. ECOFFEE integrates these new trends within a platform of services, products and projects that generate new jobs and a better future, starting with the idea that a more participatory, more accountable and sustainable shopping experience is the key for being able to spread the sustainability and responsibility culture.

This is why the Green Sheikh is supporting all our activities and services, whether they are for entrepreneurs willing to develop new concept stores or to create a franchising of ECOFFEE cafés. There are also many other projects to come, but we will disclose them later on.

In the meanwhile, the Green Sheikh has just come back from Brasil  where he supported the environmental cause, but before leaving he make a speech during a convention of Young Entrepreneurs, presenting the ECOFFEE project. A great speech that created enthusiasm and generated a strong interest, testified by the many requests that followed.

For those of you who would like to contact the Green Sheikh, please write to:
greensheikh@ecoffee.it

A new shop concept by DESITA and …ECOFFEE

I am glad to announce that DESITA is planning a shop concept for the new image of the Saadeddin pastry shops chain located in many states and cities of the Arabian peninsula, whose first restyling project has been planned for one of its Riyadh branches.

After having spent a couple of months briefing with the client in Italy and in Saudi Arabia and after having visited the shop location in Riyadh, we are now defining its layout following the client wishes and our already confirmed inputs about the sale process. The chain’s new brand image will be a young, fresh, trendy and European one.

The pastry shop project will be developed over an area of about 350 square meters and will include an innovative sale formula, for the Saudi habits, which we are sure will generate great interest and attention not limited to the Arab area only.

Thanks also to our fortnightly experience in the foodservice business, to our knowledge of the Arab culture and customer behavior and to the unlimited trust from our Client, we will merge the local traditions and habits into a new shop concept, designing innovative interiors and also a new way to intend the coffee shop area along the “single” (reserved to men only) and the “family” rooms areas.

It is in fact required in Saudi Arabia that food shops with catering facilities have specifically reserved entrances, men-only sitting rooms and other ones for women and families.

Furthermore, in agreement with the client, the concept is going to be developed following, where possible, the ECOFFEE guidelines as per the use of materials, equipment, products and sustainable solutions.

This important client has been collaborating with us for many years and his trust has always been rewarded allowing his company to be a trendsetter one in his area of business. His willingness to embrace sustainability in this new sales formula will grant him a sure competitive advantage. It is a honor for us to collaborate with such of farsighted and open minded client.

The combination of the new business formula and of the ECOFFEE guidelines applied to this first pastry shop will be next used in all the other chain branches, so that to make it a point of reference for the sustainability trend in a geographical area more and more sensitive to this issue.

ECOFFEE by DESITA in the 2011 Sodalitas Libro d’Oro della Responsabilità Sociale d’Impresa – ninth edition

The Sodalitas Social Award every year prizes the most significant social responsibility initiatives implemented in Italy either by large, medium and small companies operating in any branch of activity, or by business associations, by industrial districts and by government agencies. This award differs from other initiatives for its high social value – also recognized by the President of the Republic – and the growing acceptance and engagement. To participate to the Sodalitas Social Award means to be part of a selected group of companies which have distinguished themselves for their careful attention to the citizens needs, to market trends, to innovation as a tool to allow the grow of the society and to sustainability.

ECOFFEE by DESITA has been published in the Sodalitas Libro d’Oro della Responsabilità Sociale d’Impresa (Golden Book of Corporate Social Responsibility), collecting all the companies which applied to the Sodalitas Social Award and that have been recognized by the Sodalitas organization as  worth a mention for their actions towards a more sustainable world.

ECOFFEE by DESITA has been published in the “Sodalitas Libro d’Oro della Responsabilità Sociale d’Impresa”, collecting all the companies which applied to the Sodalitas Social Awards and that have been recognized by the Sodalitas organization as  worth a mention for their actions towards a more sustainable world.

To have participated to the Sodalitas Social Awards and to have been published in their Libro d’Oro sulla Responsabilità Sociale d’Impresa is a great honour for all of us who are involved in the ECOFFEE by DESITA project. This is further stimulating our daily actions towards an always greater and constant attention to those practices that can change the way we all do business, towards a better business. Our commitment to sustainability is the result of a deep belief and of continuous improvement. It is not easy, but we’re going all out.

Amazing meeting with the “Green Sheikh”

It was a nice February morning in Dubai when my attention was captured by an article published on BuildGreen magazine. It was about Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Ali Al-Nuaimi , member of the ruling Royal Family of Ajman, UAE. I was stroked by the words of Sheikh Abdul Aziz, also known worldwide as the Green Sheikh, who choose to use his influence and connections to create a better world through faith, charity and sustainability.

I said to myself: “This is a man I absolutely have to know”. And thanks to his openness, this happened at the end of May.

He agreed to meet me in a three-day long meeting in Ajman, suggesting me where to stay and setting up a flexible schedule to adjust his previously scheduled meetings. My idea was to share with this big influencer all the information, projects and ideas which form ECOFFEE to have his highly reputable opinion about. What happened was that I did not only have the opportunity to have the Green Sheikh commenting what I have been building during the last year, but he also wanted me to join all his meetings and conference calls, introducing me to his world. And it is a big, very interesting one.

Sheikh Abdul Aziz today is Vice President and CEO of the Al Ihsan Charity Centre which supplies food and essentials to the needy. He has a life mission which is guided by Islam: “to achieve all manners of excellent deeds for the satisfaction of Allah (Muslim and Non-Muslim God).” In that mission is protecting the environment and thanks to his education (MA in environmental management, PhD in clean production) and his zealousness, he has activated and coordinated the formation of environmentally and socially responsible non-governmental organizations; created partnerships between public, private and local communities; has advised and raised awareness among decision makers, has participated in steering committees for strategic sustainability in major sectors, and have promoted these issues in the media in the regions of the United Arab Emirates, the GCC (Arabian Gulf Region), and in some other Arab countries, like Jordan. Last but not least, he believes that supporting and educating young generations is a must to create a better, sustainable future.

 As you might guess, I was a little bit intimidated when I first met him, but he was incredibly welcomed and “Down to Earth”, letting me feel at my ease straightaway. “Come with me, I show you the Al Ihsan Charity Centre”. He guided me to Centre, introducing me to his office manager Mr. Khalid, a smart and cleaver young future businessman, and Dr. Haki before leaving for an important meeting. Dr. Haki carefully explained me what the Center is about and what are the activities that takes place in that premise.

The Al Ihsan Charity Center, provides financial, health care and many others support to 9,000 families, 25% of local Emiratis and where each afternoon food is distributed to those who are in need. I was speechless and said to myself: “This is a great man who speaks with his actions, not only with wise words”. Back from the meeting, the Green Sheikh drove me to his house to have dinner with his kids – can you imagine how honored I was to be welcomed to his house too? After a delicious meal, we sat down in the living room and it was my turn to start talking to introduce him ECOFFEE. The knowledge and expertise of the Green Sheikh about the issues of sustainability and responsibility, much wider than mine and much at a worldwide level, brought a new perspective inside the ECOFFEE project. There are quite a lot of similarities between the ECOFFEE project and what Sheikh Abdul Aziz is fighting for. He has directly and indirectly influenced a ban on petroleum-based plastic bags, a new recycling program in Ajman, and an initiative to install sensors that will help reduce energy and water consumption. Although supportive of Masdar City as a hub for R&D in the UAE, the Green Sheikh prefers more modest initiatives, believing that “if 20% of the people had little Masdars and the government gave incentives that would make a difference.” As in ECOFFEE, small everyday gestures can make a big difference.

Surprise was not over that day, because our conversation had to be interrupted for a scheduled conference call with Terry Waghorn, CEO of Katerva, a charity organization registered out of the United Kingdom which delivers the Katerva Awards—the pinnacle of global sustainability recognition – and which acknowledge Sheikh Abdul Aziz among its Goodwill Ambassadors for his ability to take his ’holistic living’ message to the world, activating his moral networks worldwide and galvanizing people of all ages, religions and backgrounds. I was invited to assist at that conference, during which the Sheikh showed once again his being a great, “down-to-earth”, big influencer.

The day after, Sheikh Abdul Aziz had to attend the GITSI conference. GITSI is the Global Initiative Towards a Sustainable Iraq. He did not change his schedule because of my presence, much better: he kindly asked to change the conference schedule to allow me to introduce ECOFFEE to all the participants. That was a great opportunity given me by Sheikh Abdul Aziz and I was able to shrink my usually 40 minute long presentation into a dense 15 minutes span. All his supporting and sharing really made me understand what he meant by ” I am following the core values of an Islamic philosophy based on appreciation and respect. My holistic living message describes one as being connected to the daily circle of life; balancing the spiritual, the intellectual, the physical, the emotional, the aesthetic, the environmental and my own inner peace to help spread peace throughout the world and in the process achieve wisdom.”, values that we often forget about and that should instead permeate our lives.

The conference was over and we left the International guests towards another interesting meeting with the upcoming Dubai HUB managing partners. The time came to pray – and the Sheikh Abdul Aziz wanted to share with me that experience too, allowing me to follow him at the Mosque, another great new experience I have to thank him for. He told me: I will teach you the Wudhu, how to act in the Mosque and how to follow us in the prayer movements but you will be totally free to pray yours and our God. Another sign of his open mind. Meetings with big influencers and great inspiring conversations took place the last day too, and again the Sheikh introduced me to his world and network reinforcing my belief that it is possible to create a better business, a better life and a better world through collaboration, sharing and deep respect.