blog – Ecosystem

This second branch of the celebrated Tiong Bahru cafe, 40 Hands (named to celebrate the 40 Hands it takes to produce a coffee from bean to cup) is a welcome addition to the Joo Chiat neighbourhood with excellent coffee and Aussie-style brunch on offer. We think the decor is also hilarious.

Still the Most over-priced over-rated hipster cafe in town — Classic 40 Hands tongue n’ cheek.

Blackadder decoration — Blackadder inspiration. Well played, 40 Hands.

Environmental Impact 🌏

Single-use Plastic

Full marks. 40 Hands uses only glass and metal in store with the only plastic in sight being those asking for takeaway coffee (difficult to avoid with no real alternatives outside of the BYO movement). They even offer environmentally-friendly paper towels in their toilets.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5

Vegetarian & Vegan Food

Plenty of Veggie food to get your teeth into and dishes can be made vegan if you ask the friendly staff. The warm salads are a particularly good, hearty meal!

Vegan food on menu — Good offerings of Vegetarian and Vegan food.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️☆ 4/5

Organic Food

The food on offer at 40 Hands is not organic.

⭐️☆☆☆☆ 1/5

Local Produce

Their speciality Coffee is roasted right here in Singapore and most of the food is sourced locally using the same suppliers as Common Man Coffee Roasters (they are owned by the same Spa Esprit Group).

Sign sourcing sustainable coffee. — 40 Hands have a great attitude to sourcing sustainable coffee.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️☆ 4/5

Social Impact 😇

40 Hands are not on the same scale of social impact here in Singapore as say, the Social Space – but they are big proponents of sustainability and direct trade with their Coffee Bean suppliers. The decor in this Cafe is also celebratory of the local community (albeit with a bit of tongue n’ cheek) and their blog posts celebrate the communities within which they play a part. More can be done in this area however.

⭐️⭐️☆☆☆ 2/5

Conclusion

40 Hands play a part in their local community by sourcing locally and celebrating the regional culture around their two stores – but could do more when it comes to supporting social and environmental causes on a bigger scale. They also don’t offer organic produce.

This cafe is quirky, friendly, relaxed and the food is excellent. Their attitude to single-use plastic is good and they have plenty on offer for those who want to do their part to help by not eating animals with delicious food.

⭐️⭐️⭐️☆☆ 3/5

If you’re reading this, the chances are that you are resident in Singapore, have visited it, visit frequently or just generally love the place. You also know the challenges of pursuing an environmentally-friendly way of living here.

Where can you find organic groceries? Which establishments have the best single-use plastic policies? Where’s the best place to find fashion conscious items for men and woman? What is Singapore’s recycling policy? What can I put in the blue bin? How can I put my money towards something meaningful in this city? Where can we travel to and have the least (or most positive) impact?

This blog and the development of the Community around it aim to solve that problem.

We aim to collect information about the Singapore green-minded community and store them here in reviews and interviews. Information for green-minded people, written by green-minded people.

Information for green-minded people, written by green-minded people.

We will begin very simply – by reviewing a number of Singapore’s finest cafes, restaurants and bars by two simple categories – Environmental Impact and Social Impact.

This is an evolving community and we are very open to change! If you find that you’d like more information – we’d love to hear your suggestions in the comments below or by messaging us directly.

For now, we at Ecosystem hope you find our information useful.

Here’s to inspiring a better Singapore together…

Tag: blog

40 Hands Cafe