At Quest Coffee Roasters, sustainability is not a marketing line. It is part of how we choose our coffee, operate our roastery, support our wholesale partners, and make decisions every day.
Quest Coffee Roasters is a sustainable coffee roaster Gold Coast businesses, cafes and coffee drinkers can choose for certified organic coffee, Fairtrade options and practical sustainability. We are an Australian-owned specialty coffee roaster based in Burleigh Heads on the Gold Coast, Queensland. Our approach is practical and ongoing: certified organic coffee, Fairtrade options, solar power at our roastery, commercial composting for coffee waste, compostable cups, local supplier relationships, and continual improvements to reduce waste across our roasting and cafe operations.
We know sustainability is not one single action. It is a combination of better sourcing, responsible purchasing, lower-waste systems, long-term thinking and honest improvement over time.
- Certified Organic by ACO
- Certification #13832
- Fairtrade Options Available
- 13.32kW Solar System
- Commercial Composting for Coffee Waste
- Compostable Cups and Compost Bins On Site
- Australian-Owned Small Business
- Roasted in Burleigh Heads, Gold Coast, QLD
Certified organic coffee
Quest Coffee Roasters is a certified organic coffee roaster.
Organic certification matters because it gives customers confidence that our organic coffees are handled, roasted and packed under an independently audited system. It also supports farming practices that avoid synthetic pesticides and fertilisers, protect soil health, and reduce unnecessary chemical inputs at origin.
We roast a range of certified organic coffees, including core organic blends and selected single origins. These coffees are available for retail customers, online orders, office customers, cafe partners and wholesale coffee accounts across Australia.
Our organic certification:
Organic certification:
Quest Coffee Roasters is certified organic by ACO Certification Ltd.
Certification body: ACO Certification Ltd
Certification number: 13832
Certification scope: Certified organic green coffee, roasted coffee, coffee blends, drinking chocolate, tea, matcha and selected beverage products.
Our certification includes selected Quest Coffee Roasters products across coffee, tea, matcha and drinking chocolate. For the full certified product schedule, please refer to our current ACO certification documentation.
Fairtrade coffee options
We offer Fairtrade coffee options for customers and wholesale partners who want coffee that supports fairer trading conditions for coffee producers.
Fairtrade certification helps create better minimum standards around pricing, producer support and community development. For many customers, choosing Fairtrade coffee is a practical way to support a more ethical coffee supply chain.
Not every coffee we roast is Fairtrade certified, but we clearly identify the coffees that are. If Fairtrade coffee is important to you, we can recommend suitable options for home, office, cafe or wholesale use.
Solar power at our roastery
Our Burleigh Heads roastery uses solar power to help support our day-to-day operations.
Coffee roasting itself is gas-powered, as is common in commercial specialty coffee roasting. However, our roastery also uses electricity for grinding, packing, lighting, administration, equipment, refrigeration and other operational needs. Our solar system helps reduce the amount of grid electricity used across these parts of the business.
We see this as one practical step in reducing the overall environmental impact of our roastery while continuing to roast coffee consistently and efficiently.
Solar snapshot: 13.32kW Sungrow solar system
Coffee waste, composting and compostable cups
Coffee creates organic waste, especially through roasting, grinding, brewing and daily cafe operations. Rather than sending all of this material to general waste, we use commercial composting on site for coffee waste.
This helps divert coffee grounds and other compostable material away from landfill and puts organic waste into a more useful waste stream.
We also use compostable cups and provide compost bins for customers visiting our sites. Customers using bioplastic cold cups can dispose of them in our compost bins, helping ensure these materials are sent to the correct commercial composting stream rather than standard rubbish.
Compostable packaging is only useful when it is disposed of properly, so we aim to make this easier for customers where we can.
Compostable packaging and lower-waste choices
We use home compostable cups and other packaging where practical, and we continue to review better packaging options as materials improve.
Packaging is one of the most difficult areas in coffee sustainability. Coffee bags, cups and takeaway materials need to protect product quality, meet food safety requirements and perform properly for customers, while also reducing unnecessary waste.
At our sites, customers can use compost bins for suitable compostable packaging, including bioplastic cold cups. This helps ensure these materials are directed to a commercial composting stream rather than general waste.
Across our cafes and roastery, we also aim to reduce waste through practical everyday systems, including commercial composting for coffee waste, responsible stock management, recycling, and better production planning. We offer BYO Bag discounts so customers to reuse containers to reduce the need for coffee bags.
Social sustainability and responsible purchasing
For us, sustainability is not only about waste, packaging and energy use. It is also about how we spend, who we support, and the kind of business community we help build.
Where practical, we prefer to work with small, local and Australian businesses, and with suppliers who demonstrate care for environmental and social issues. We believe purchasing decisions matter, and that choosing responsible suppliers can help support better outcomes across the wider economy.
This does not mean every supplier is local or small, and there are times when quality, availability, food safety, logistics or technical requirements need to come first. However, where we have a choice, we aim to support businesses whose values align with our own.
This includes considering factors such as:
- environmental responsibility
- fair and respectful business practices
- product quality and longevity
- local and Australian supply where practical
- support for independent and community-minded businesses
- long-term relationships over short-term convenience
We believe that where a business directs its spending can have a meaningful impact. By supporting suppliers who care about people, community and the environment, we aim to use our purchasing decisions in a more responsible way.
Local suppliers and Australian supply
Sustainability also means considering the broader impact of the supply chain.
Where possible, we work with local and Australian suppliers across milk, produce, packaging, services, equipment, repairs, maintenance and other business needs. This helps support local businesses, reduce unnecessary freight where practical, and build stronger long-term supplier relationships.
We also believe local relationships often create better accountability. When suppliers, producers and service providers are closer to the business, it is easier to communicate clearly, solve problems, reduce waste, and build trust over time.
Our supplier decisions are based on quality, reliability, service, value and shared values, not price alone.
Our coffee sourcing approach
Coffee is an agricultural product, and its impact starts at origin.
We look for coffees that are high quality, responsibly sourced and suitable for the customers we serve. Where certification is available, such as organic, Fairtrade, and Rainforest Alliance, we use it to provide stronger assurance. Where coffees are not certified, we still consider quality, supplier relationships, origin information and the suitability of the coffee for our blends and single origins.
Our goal is to offer coffee that tastes good, performs well, and supports a more responsible coffee supply chain.
Wholesale coffee with sustainability in mind
We supply coffee to cafes, restaurants, offices and hospitality businesses across Australia.
For wholesale partners, sustainability can be built into everyday operations through better coffee choices, waste reduction, staff training and practical cafe systems. We support our wholesale customers with coffee selection, equipment advice, barista training, espresso recipes, workflow support and ongoing guidance.
For cafes that want a more sustainable coffee program, we can help with:
- certified organic coffee options
- Fairtrade coffee options
- bulk ordering to reduce freight frequency
- coffee swap tubs to reduce use of coffee bags
- better grinder and espresso setup to reduce coffee wastage
- staff training to improve consistency and reduce remakes
- practical packaging and retail coffee options
- coffee selection suited to the cafe’s menu, customer base and values
Sustainability in a cafe is not only about which coffee is used. It is also about reducing waste, improving consistency, training staff properly, choosing reliable equipment, and creating systems that work day after day.
Independent, Australian-owned and community-minded
Quest Coffee Roasters is an independent Australian-owned business.
We believe independent businesses play an important role in creating stronger local communities. They employ local people, support other local suppliers, create relationships with customers, and keep more decision-making closer to the community.
As a small business, we know we cannot solve every environmental or social issue alone. But we can make thoughtful decisions about the coffee we source, the suppliers we support, the waste systems we use, and the way we operate.
We believe small, consistent decisions matter.
What we are working on next
Sustainability is an ongoing process, not a finished project. We are proud of the steps we have taken, but we also know there is more to do.
Our current focus areas include:
- improving how we measure and report our sustainability progress
- making our organic and Fairtrade certifications easier for customers to verify
- reviewing packaging options as better materials become available
- reducing waste across roasting, wholesale and retail operations
- improving freight and delivery efficiency
- continuing to support local and Australian suppliers where practical
- exploring further third-party sustainability certification and reporting
- improving customer education around compostable packaging and correct disposal
We believe sustainability should be honest, specific and measurable. As we improve, we will continue to update this page with clearer information, better data and practical progress.
Why choose Quest Coffee Roasters?
Choose Quest if you are looking for an Australian-owned coffee roaster that combines specialty coffee with practical sustainability.
We are especially suited to customers looking for:
- certified organic coffee
- Fairtrade coffee options
- specialty coffee roasted on the Gold Coast
- wholesale coffee supply across Australia
- an independent roaster with genuine sustainability values
- compostable cups and commercial composting systems on site
- coffee that works well in real cafes, not just on paper
Whether you are buying coffee for home, your office, your cafe or your business, we can help you choose coffee that matches your taste, values and budget.
Visit or order from Quest
Quest Coffee Roasters is based in Burleigh Heads, Queensland, and supplies coffee to customers across Australia.
You can shop our coffees online, visit our roastery, or contact us to discuss wholesale coffee supply.