MINI Voices: MINI AND BALCK COFFEE
THE PASSION TO CHANGE SOMETHING.
At MINI, we are inspired by people and companies who share our passion for sustainability and responsibility. And we carefully select initiatives and collaborations that are based on these two key concepts – locally and globally.
Against this background, it is easy to understand why we at MINI and Balck Coffee have found each other since 2019. Balck Coffee was born out of a burning desire and urge to change the coffee industry. It is a company that pursues its goals with passion – one of many things in common with MINI
FROM PROFESSIONAL CYCLING TO NATURAL COFFEE.
Balck Coffee was founded by Sebastian Balck. Balck Coffee imports specialty coffee or natural coffee that stands out from global, unsustainable industrial coffee production. By keeping the journey from plant to cup free of middlemen, with transparency and extremely decent conditions for producers, the company offers natural coffee with quality and sustainability throughout the entire process. For Sebastian, however, it was anything but foreseeable that his previous life as a professional racing cyclist would eventually lead him to set up his own coffee roastery.
When an injury prevented Sebastian from racing, the thought grew in him to found his own coffee roasting company. He started looking into specialty coffee and discovered the incredible problems that exist within the coffee industry.
«90% of all coffee today is produced completely unsustainably. Half of the coffee farmers cannot even cover their own production costs. I started to wonder why this was so – and the dream and vision to challenge the coffee industry was born, ”says Sebastian
PERSONALITY AND PASSION ARE GOOD BASES FOR COOPERATION.
Thanks to our collaboration with Balck, all MINI dealers in the Nordic countries offer delicious, sustainable and ethically produced natural coffee from Mário Ferrari, a carefully selected producer from Brazil.
The collaboration developed naturally from the very first moment.
«We are interested in working with people and companies who also want to make a difference. MINI has always felt like a challenger. Quality and sustainability are also something we have in common. A MINI is more than just a car – a fact that we really liked. MINI says that the car reflects our personality and that the buying experience itself should therefore be a more personal experience that appeals to all of our senses. We asked MINI if they wanted to change something, and they wanted to. So we found a really good arrangement, ”says Sebastian.
We can trace their path from making a small, toy-like car to a true premium brand. Then there is lifestyle and personality. This personal touch and feeling, which is very important to us, can also be found in the MINI brand, ”he adds.
THE MINI AS A COMPANY CAR.
But it wasn’t just the shared values of the two brands that prompted Sebastian and his employees to choose MINI as their company car. «I like speed and driving pleasure. The MINI is so much fun, it’s like a little go-kart with a cockpit. I’ve always liked small, compact cars. They are not that small anymore. I like cars that are not unnecessarily large, but are urban, simple and fun to drive, ”says Sebastian.
“The MINI Countryman, for example, is a spacious and good family car that can really comfortably drive long distances. It is superior to all classic station wagons, ”he continues.
The plug-in hybrid is also becoming increasingly popular, and Sebastian believes that more and more people will discover the pleasure of trying out a more electric drive. “Now that my girlfriend and I are mostly out and about in Kalmar city center, driving as much electric as possible has really become a sport. When you realize how much money you’re saving, it’s even more fun, ”he says with a laugh.