Coffee. You love it, don’t you? Heck. You’re probably sipping on a cup of goodness right now, aren’t you? Homemade latte, is it? Nice. A DIY oat milk cappuccino, you say? Lovely stuff, mate.
What if we told you though that your coffee is missing an ingredient? What if we told you that it’s completely lacking in a much wider, society benefitting, purpose?
You’d probably say something like “please leave me to drink my own-brand supermarket instant in peace” or “sorry, who are you and what the hell are you doing in my kitchen?”
Roundabout way this of introducing a very cool collaboration between SurfAid and AllPress Espresso, a collaboration that will benefit the health and wellbeing of people in the world’s isolated places.
SurfAid was founded 20 years ago by Dr Dave Jenkins, a New Zealander working in Singapore, after he went on a life changing surf trip to the Mentawai Islands in Indonesia. One afternoon during the trip, a tourist venture inland brought home to Jenkins how medically cut off the communities in these places were – women and children were dying from malaria, malnutrition, and inadequate living standards.
Jenkins, the first doctor to visit the village, wanted to help and set up a clinic. He knew some of the things villagers were suffering from were treatable and, what’s more, preventable. As part of his work in the village, he taught locals better hygiene and breastfeeding practices.
As Jenkins puts it on the SurfAid website: “The scene haunted me for the rest of the trip, and followed me back to Singapore where I began questioning my life. Did it have meaning? Were my skills wasted chasing some corporate carrot? What f I could make a real difference to these people? The thought of more children dying drove me mad with frustration and helplessness yet, at the same time and in some strange way, the potential solutions inspired me. I couldn’t just walk away from those kids; I vowed to return to the Mentawai with people and supplies.”
Jenkins left his job, returned to New Zealand, and roped in two of his mates to help – Dr Steve Hathaway and lawyer Phil Dreifuss. After getting the required number of sign ups and $25 donations to register as a legal non-profit in New Zealand, SurfAid became a reality on the 26th of January 2000.
The collaborative effort with AllPress Espresso is a celebration of two decades of hard work in isolated Indonesian regions like Sumatra. The special edition Galaxy coffee is a single origin Sumatran courtesy of Hendra Taruli of the Wahana Estate.
Going on the record to discuss the partnership, Allpress founder Michael Allpress says “surfing is close to the heart of our little coffee company and we are proud to support SurfAid and their fantastic work in the remote regions of Indonesia.
”Having surfed throughout Indonesia, this is a great way for us to give back to the people living in these remote regions that we get to visit as tourists.
“This coffee will provide an easy way for our customers to contribute to the great work SurfAid are doing while enjoying one of the best coffees Sumatra has to offer.”
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Buy your SurfAid x AllPress Espresso here.