Coffee for Wildlife FAQs

Coffee for Wildlife is sourced from three special projects around the world that prioritise quality and forest health. By growing coffee plants beneath the shade of established native trees, not only do our partners produce higher quality beans, but they also maintain and can even help to protect forest habitat for wildlife. This method is known as ‘shade-grown’ coffee.

The Coffee for Wildlife coffee is supplied and roasted by our campaign partner Genovese Coffee – an Australian, third generation family-owned business located here in Melbourne.

Coffee for Wildlife – Papua New Guinea is sourced from the Tree Kangaroo Conservation Program. Farmers produce a premium product and earn revenues more than 35% higher than local market rates. Coffee has become an economically viable and sustainable industry for the communities involved. Income from coffee sales also increases villager access to health and education services.

Coffee for Wildlife – Sumatra is sourced from the Orang Utan Coffee Project. The growers are paid a premium for their commitment to upholding organic standards and cultivating the coffee according to the strict Orang Utan Coffee Project guidelines to protect tropical rainforest. 50 Euro cents per kg green bean exported is also directed to support the work of the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Program (SOCP).

Coffee for Wildlife – Ethiopia is sourced through a project called Community Conservation of Wild Coffee and Natural Forest in the Bench Sheko Zone. The project empowers local communities to manage forest resources profitably and develop sustainable uses for non-timber forest products, like coffee, to increase household income. The main beneficiaries of the coffee growing are 79 local communities. The project works directly with over 6,000 families.

Yes, this is what makes Coffee for Wildlife so special. While each of the projects we source our coffee from is different, they have a few things in common. One of those is that the coffee is grown beneath the shade of native trees, keeping the forest canopy intact. This helps maintain habitat for wildlife, allows for carbon storage and promotes soil health. This is different from ‘sun-grown’ coffee, a practice whereby coffee is planted in place of forest, often as a monoculture crop.

Yes. All Coffee for Wildlife products are 100% Arabica beans.

There are four Coffee for Wildlife products, each with a different taste so there is something for every coffee drinker. Choose your favourite!

• Coffee for Wildlife – Papua New Guinea tastes like pear, mandarin and almond with a honey sweetness.
• Coffee for Wildlife – Sumatra tastes like sweet spice, cocoa nibs and has a pleasant herbal flavour.
• Coffee for Wildlife – Ethiopia has a chocolatey aroma with a fresh and herbal taste.
• Coffee for Wildlife – The Survival Blend tastes like bergamot and blueberry with a light body and mild acidity.

Coffee for Wildlife – The Survival Blend is a unique mix of our three single origin coffees. It is a balanced blend of the flavours, giving all coffee drinkers something to enjoy.

Each origin in its raw (green) form has unique moisture and density characteristics and consequently they are individually roasted using different roast profiles that are created to obtain their optimal flavour and extraction capabilities.

Both ground and whole bean coffee are available to purchase at zoo retail shops, from the zoo website, or from Genovese’s website via the Coffee for Wildlife subscription service.

The ground coffee is a ‘universal grind’ that is suited to plunger or filter style preparations. 

• Onsite: Cups of Coffee for Wildlife are available at any of Zoos Victoria’s cafés. Bags of ground coffee are available in Zoos Victoria’s retail shops.
• Online: Bags of Coffee for Wildlife are available at www.zoo.org.au/shop, or people can subscribe to have coffee bags delivered to their door at www.genovese.com.au/product/coffee-for-wildlife

Yes. ZV Members get 15% off all products in our retail outlets at our zoos and online using a unique code. Log in to your My Zoo Dashboard at zoo.org.au/member-login to redeem your unique member discount code for online purchases. To redeem your discount in-store, present your membership card to staff.

About 10 to 15 grams.

250g net.

Coffee for Wildlife bags can be returned to Zoos Victoria’s properties. There are special coffee bag compost bins in the retail shops. Once we receive them, they will be processed in Melbourne Zoo’s ‘hot rot’ industrial composting system and turned into high quality compost for our gardens.

The bags can also be placed in home compost. If you don’t have a home compost, you can put the bag in your general waste bin (NOT recycling) as it will degrade like organic matter.

You can use ground coffee in your garden to divert waste from landfill and provide a sustainable source of nutrients to your plants. Here are some simple tips to get you started:

• Add grounds directly onto/into your soil. As a mulch, ground coffee can boost soil's temperature and moisture content, and help keep weeds and pests at bay. Directly adding coffee into soil will increase the concentration of nutrients and attract earthworms.
• Add it to your compost. Coffee will produce a natural fertiliser that can improve the soil’s water retention capacity and promote plant growth, particularly in green vegetables. The ideal proportion of ground coffee in your compost pile is around 20%.
• Do you have a worm farm? Worms love ground coffee and provide a beneficial service to us by breaking it down and turning it into a natural soil conditioner.

All our coffee grounds are processed in our aerobic composting system, aka the ‘Hot Rot’, onsite at Melbourne Zoo. This system condenses the coffee grounds together with other waste products to create nutrient rich garden compost. Some of this is used on our gardens and some of it is sold as ‘Zoo Gro’ – a concentrated compost and organic fertiliser available to the public for purchase.

We also close the loop on coffee grounds produced by many Melbourne cafes. The grounds are transported to Melbourne Zoo by our partners at Reground and processed in our aerobic compost system. So far, Reground has transported over 408,000kg of coffee and over 2,300 bags of chaff have to Melbourne Zoo to be composted.

Yes! All Coffee for Wildlife products are certified as carbon neutral by the Carbon Reduction Institute as part of Genovese Coffee’s certified operations.

You can sign up for a Coffee for Wildlife subscription for regular home delivery through Genovese Coffee.

Yes. You can choose which Coffee for Wildlife product(s) you would like to subscribe to, the frequency at which you’d like to receive them and what form you’d like the coffee in (ground or whole bean) depending on your preference. The default subscription is for 12 months, and you can opt out at no cost whenever you like.

Yes, you can opt out of the subscription at no cost whenever you like.

Genovese Coffee charge $10 AUD per delivery.

Yes, you get a discount of 15% by entering your Zoos Victoria Membership code at the check out.