By Fred Meng, owner of Café Delmarette
For its Plastic Free July campaign, the City of Santa Cruz is highlighting locally owned businesses that support and embody sustainability. As co-owners of Café Delmarette, we are proud to be highlighted for our environmentally conscious business practices and commitment to sustainability. As this campaign comes to a close, I was encouraged to share with our community some of the history and background behind our waste reduction practices and hopefully inspire others to join us in these efforts year-round.
My name is Fred, and together with my business partners Jen and Elaine, I opened Café Delmarette in 2009. Located on Pacific Ave next to the Del Mar Theater, we serve seasonal house-made pastries, salads, and sandwiches using ingredients sourced from local farms and coffee roasted in-house or by local roasters. We love that we’ve found a way to provide good service and good food at a good value without sacrificing sustainability.
Sustainability has always been important to us personally, so it was natural to incorporate it into our business. We’re proud to have been the first coffee shop in Santa Cruz to encourage customers to go “topless” by skipping the lid on to-go coffee cups. For those who still need a lid, we introduced paper lids over a decade ago, and it’s been great to see this practice adopted by many other coffee shops in town.
For takeout service, we enjoy experimenting with plastic-free products and finding creative ways to reduce waste in our café. This also helps us easily comply with city ordinances to reduce single-use plastics, prevent litter, and divert waste from the landfill. We’ve worked hard to find vendors who help us reduce waste and support a more sustainable supply chain. Over the past ten years, it’s been rewarding to see our suppliers become more sustainable, too.
When customers dine in, we prioritize using durable materials like porcelain plates and coffee mugs. It’s a practice that requires balancing staffing and dishwashing needs, but our customers appreciate the effort. Many of our regulars bring their own coffee cups and containers for to-go orders, and we always encourage more people to do the same with signs around the café.
Education is key to our sustainability efforts. We post educational materials in the breakroom and kitchen to ensure our staff knows what is and isn’t recyclable. Our employees share our values and are enthusiastic about participating in our initiatives.
For years, friends would take our food scraps to compost, but now we participate in the City of Santa Cruz’s new food scraps program. We also reuse food packaging, like yogurt containers, for storage in the kitchen and office. Shopping at the local farmers market allows us to prioritize locally grown ingredients, so you’ll only see a BLT on our menu when local tomatoes are in season.
Our all-electric kitchen with induction cooking helps us reduce fossil fuel consumption and keeps the indoor air healthy for our staff. This commitment not only supports the environment but also sets an example for other local businesses.
I am incredibly proud of what we’ve achieved at Café Delmarette. As we conclude Plastic Free July, I hope our story inspires others to make sustainable choices year-round. We’ve learned that sustainability is not a destination but a journey that is ever-changing, never perfect, and always worth the effort. By making small, consistent efforts to reduce waste and choose environmentally conscious options, we can all contribute to a healthier planet.Visit the City of Santa Cruz’s website to learn more about Plastic Free July and how you can get involved.
