The Green Vic, by The Better World Group, is aiming to open the world’s most ethical pub in Shoreditch, London, later this month.
Founded by Randy Rampersad, his aim is to create a pub where everything one buys and uses has a positive environmental and social impact.
The pub (pictured as it is currently) will start as a three-month pop-up with the goal of gaining investment to open a permanent site early next year. It will take a prominent position on Great Eastern Street and have affordable prices, despite only using ethical suppliers — mainly non-profits and social enterprises — from the beer it serves to the cleaning materials they use and the food on offer.
The ethical changes aren’t coming just from the drink the venue sells, but also with the people it employs. One in four staff will be from a vulnerable or disadvantaged background, such as homeless or with disabilities.
The Green Vic has partnered with Unity Kitchen, a social enterprise that trains people with disabilities to get the key skills and qualifications needed to have a career in the food and beverage world. Once they have passed their training, The Green Vic will give them valuable work experience that they can put on their CV.
The same applies to a partnership with Change Please, a social enterprise that trains the homeless to become competition-level baristas and then either get them employment or give them their own coffee cart to become fully independent.
Rampersad sais: “I wanted to create a business that made the world a better
place, where people can contribute to charity without changing their normal daily routine, has the capability to expand across the UK, and combined my passion for partying, so a social enterprise pub was the natural fit.
“One of the drinks brands I work with, Toast Ale has a famous quote that sums up my vision perfectly: ‘If you want to change the world, you have to throw a better party than the ones destroying it.’ That’s exactly what I am trying to do — make a difference and have fun at the same time!”
