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Our catering ethos at Edinburgh Napier University is to maintain a balance with objectives and social and environmental responsibilities. We are proud to sell a number of Fairtrade products and work with local suppliers to ensure we provide a range of sustainable food and drink offerings on campus.

Coffee Conscience

We offer Fairtrade hot drinks across all our campuses, thanks to our partnership with Coffee Conscience. All Coffee Conscience products are Fairtrade, bought locally and shipped on a weekly basis using carbon-neutral transport, so they are fresh and eco-friendly.

Our Sighthill cafe was the first cafe to launch the new Tea Conscience range, introducing seven flavours packed in fuso bags made of biodegradable mesh. All tea is Fair Trade and blended and packed in Edinburgh using local suppliers.

In April 2021, we turned our former Starbucks cafés on campus into new Edinburgh Espresso labs, in partnership with Coffee Conscience. We wanted to turn our focus to local Fairtrade products that reflected our commitment to sustainability and supported the Scottish green recovery following the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic.

To date, Coffee Conscience has raised funding for more than 4,000 fruit trees, with a total of 221 directly from Edinburgh Napier University. Orchards are planted throughout Scotland and Northern England, with orchards located locally in the Lothian & Fife regions. Each apple tree planted could yield up to 100kg of apples annually for local community food and for wildlife.

The working partnership of Coffee Conscience and Edinburgh Napier University has been successful over the past 6 years in delivering social, environmental, and community responsibility. It truly is a partnership where ‘every cup makes a difference’ whilst benefiting Fairtrade in developing countries and local community projects.​

The Lions' Gate Gardens

The Lions' Gate at Merchiston campus is an urban permaculture project where staff and students can come together and volunteer. We offer allotments where the Edinburgh Napier community can grow herbs, fruit and vegetables for their own use. Find out more about the project on our Biodiversity page​.

Social Bite

In October 2018, Social Bite became a sandwich supplier for our campuses. Founded in 2012, Social Bite provides free food and drink to around 150 homeless people a day across Scotland.​

Fairtrade Fortnight

We celebrate Fairtrade Fortnight by inviting Fairtrade partner organisations to campus to explain to staff and students about the ethical, local Fairtrade products they supply the University with. We are committed to increasing the awareness of Fair Trade through information displays, campaigns and events.

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