Supplier profile: FRANK water

Our pals over at FRANK water are a pretty good bunch. With UN World Water Day coming up on March 22, we asked them to let us know a little bit more about themselves, and BTP and FRANK are asking you for a little bit of help.

“It’s good to talk.

Over the years, we’ve drunk litres of coffee, eaten pounds of flapjack and whiled away countless hours at Boston Tea Party on Bristol’s Park St (conveniently, it’s only a hop, skip and jump away from FRANK Water HQ). We’ve read their newsletters, admired posters and munched on sandwiches (toasted ham and cheese since you’re asking…)

But it wasn’t until we sat down with the BTP marketing team to discuss our new, brilliantly exciting partnership that we realized quite how much this series of modest but consistently excellent cafes does to champion local, ethical and sustainable food and drink.

Organic milk, locally roasted and ground coffee, green energy, surplus food donations, free-range meat and eggs, accredited training for staff and more. The list goes on…

And, as of 22nd March 2018 (which happens to be World Water Day), those credentials become even more impressive.

The observant among you may have already noticed a small but important edit to the BTP fridges… none of them contain a single plastic bottle of water. As of this month, Boston Tea Party has ditched single-use plastic and stock FRANK Water in glass bottles only, helping provide safe water and sanitation for communities in India and Nepal. Water for Water.

Nice one BTP.

You’d have to have been living in a cave somewhere to miss the recent groundswell against plastic waste. We’ve seen great islands of plastic bobbing in the oceans and images of sea birds and other marine life with plastic-filled beaks and bellies. Even our own drinking water could be at risk from chemicals that leach into the waterways thanks to discarded plastic.

Single-use plastic bottles, usually made from polyethylene terephthalate (PET), make up the largest proportion of plastic bottle waste in the UK but only 57% is collected for recycling*. It was this that compounded FRANK Water’s decision to stop selling water in single-use plastic bottles – the first bottled water ‘company’ to do so.

For FRANK Water, this decision has and will continue to hit our bottom line. For BTP, ditching bottled water in plastic (a bestseller for most cafes and bars given the hefty price tag (and tiny cost price), it’s likely to be the same story.

But for both organisations, putting planet before profit is more important.
Weed out single use plastic. Support a local charity. Provide safe water for people that live without it.

This World Water Day, FRANK Water launches its 6 for 6 campaign – to raise £6000 for SDG6*

In support, Boston Tea Party is asking customers to make a donation, however small, to FRANK Water. There’ll be collection tins in every cafe or you can text FWTR18 £5 (or your preferred amount) to 70070.

Every text donation will be entered into a prize draw to win a FRANK Water Refill bottle & basket of BTP goodies.

What are you waiting for? Help FRANK Water raise 6 for 6 this World Water Day.”

Created by the United Nations, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a set of targets that aim to radically change the world for the better by 2030. SDG 6 commits the world to ensuring that everyone has access to safe water by 2030. This includes protecting the natural environment and reducing pollution as well as providing clean drinking water and toilets.