singapore – Ecosystem

40 Hands Cafe

40 Hands is a quirky, Aussie-style cafe positioned in the Joo Chiat neighbourhood offering great coffee and even better decor.

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

The Social Space

This gem describes itself as a “socially conscious multi-concept store…promoting a greater awareness for sustainability, an appreciation for providence, and more accessible conscious living”. It does exactly what it says on the tin and more.

The Social Space is a Tea Bar, Cafe, Zero Waste Store and Nail Bar rolled into one. The Social Enterprise is perched within the picturesque shophouse district between Outram and Tanjong Pagar and to us, is a shining star in the Singapore green-minded community, with excellent food, coffee, products and even better values.

Environmental Impact 🌏

Single-use Plastic

None in sight. There are metal straws and wooden spoons available for in-house use and even the napkins section has a large sign encouraging customers to join them in the fight against unnecessary waste.

Waste Reduction sign — Join The Social Space in reducing waste.

The store contains its own “Refillery” which allows you to bring your own containers and have them refilled with local offerings which are displayed on their Facebook page.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5

Vegetarian & Vegan Food

Their menu is entirely vegetarian and although it’s not exclusively labelled, the helpful staff told us that they could remove the eggs from most of their dishes to make them Vegan-friendly.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️☆ 4/5

Organic Food

All food served at the Social Space is 100% Organic. Superb.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5

Local Produce

Priding themselves on their ability to sell local produce, it is a haven for uncovering treats, specialities and produce from around Singapore and further afield. On discussion with the staff, they proudly announced to us that all their Bread comes from 100m up the road in an Organic Bakery.

Their 1ºC Tea and Cold Brew coffee is bottled and brewed by an elderly couple in their spare time – we recommend the Blue Pea Tea, it’s sensational. They will even take back the bottles in store for recycling when you’re done, but we kept them at home for use as homemade mouthwash containers.

In their “Refillery”, they sell Idocare – a local Singaporean eco-conscious cleaning products brand and although not exclusively from Singapore, we also enjoy their Natural Sodas from the Tapping Tapir who collaborate with the Malaysian Nature Society to protect endangered species across the water – the Lemonade & Lengkuas flavour has an irresistible tang.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5

Social Impact 😇

There are an endless supply of examples, some of which we’ve already mentioned to you, about how the Social Space is paving the way in socially conscious consumer behaviour.

Aside from the many products the place sells which help charities nearby, the store is a Social Enterprise by definition. One of the stand-out demonstrations of this for us is their policy of “providing a platform for individuals who face a higher barrier to employment opportunities due to circumstances beyond their control, and equipping them with varied skills sets that will allow them self-sufficiency in the long term”.

The Social Space employs those with mental and behavioural disabilities (particularly woman) to help them get into the work place. This no doubt comes with its own heap of challenges – particularly in the beauty industry where the barrier for entry can be especially high, and the Social Space should be applauded for its efforts here. This place deserves your support.

Inside the Social Space — The Social Space leads the way in socially conscious practices.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5

Conclusion

The more we understand about this store, the more we fell in love with it. An example of how to beautifully combine all the values which we should aspire to in one harmonious store. You would do well to spend a good few hours here, drinking their coffee, understanding their business model, and perusing their products.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5