Do you ever think that coffee can change the world? They certainly believe so at Change Please, a non-profit organization that allocates 100% of its profits to fighting homelessness. Change Please is an award-winning social enterprise devoted to reducing the stigma surrounding homelessness. Their proceeds power barista training and hospitality-focused career development so people experiencing homelessness can harness their full potential and become the best versions of themselves.
We sat down with Change Please Chief Commercial Officer, Ryan McMillan, to get to know a bit more about our partners and how they operate. Check out the interview below.
Q: Tell us about how Change Please got its start and how it’s evolved over time.
A: Change Please was founded in 2015 to address the growing issue of homelessness in the UK and its catastrophic and draining effects on individuals and society.
We started off with a single coffee cart in Covent Garden, London, where we placed a barista we trained from a local shelter, and from there we have grown to work in seven countries. We launched into the US at the end of 2021 and now have two cafes (in Denver, CO and Charlotte, NC) as well as a training academy in Manhattan. [We have] amazing partners buying our coffee all across the US.
Q: We love Change Please’s unique branding and café interiors. What inspired Change Please’s unique design?
A: We have always attempted to add some brightness, energy, and color to our cafes. Whilst the issue of homelessness is a serious one, we feel our trainees bring so much joy and positivity with them into our program, and we want the cafes to reflect this positive outlook and energy.
We are currently going through an update to our branding with some exciting new changes due through 2025, so watch this space!
Q: What do you do to ensure the quality of your coffee at Change Please?
A: We work really closely with the production team to ensure nothing but great quality coffee leaves the roastery. We look at everything along the supply chain, from raised coffee beds to improve drying processes at the origin to nitro-flushing the coffee to maintain freshness.
We firmly believe that you can both do good and provide a great quality product that brings customers back time and time again, providing us with profits we can use to help tackle the issue of homelessness.
As a registered charity, a lot of consumers assume that we provide a lower-quality product. We take great delight in watching people’s faces when they try our coffee for the first time and relish tasting sessions where we are put up against other coffees in the market, performing really strongly every time. I’ve been in the coffee industry for 15 years and love to bring the results of my passion and coffee geekiness to our customers.
Q: How does Change Please work to fight the stigma around homelessness?
A: To be honest, a lot of the breakdowns of stigma around homelessness are done by our trainees just being the amazing individuals they are. Our role at Change Please is to assist and remove as many barriers as possible that the trainees may face on the road towards sustainable employment and housing, but our program is very much a hand up, not a handout.
After attending our barista training courses we do an “Immersive Work Experience” within our wholesale customer sites where they get the opportunity to put their newly learned skills into practice, as well as to showcase to our wholesale partners just how energetic, enthusiastic, and hard-working they are. The IWE weeks are amongst my favorite and are some of the most rewarding ones. I love watching the trainees gain confidence and impress those running hospitality sites with their hard work, positive mindset, and coffee skills out of homelessness through employment.
Q: What kind of programs does Change Please offer for those battling homelessness?
A: Our model varies slightly from country to country and city to city. In the US, we take referrals from local shelter organizations and work with the trainees on work readiness. Everything from helping with updating a resume to what is expected from a dress code, food hygiene, and behavior point of view. We set out the employers’ expectations and work with the trainees to ensure they have the best chance of meeting these expectations.
While we train the trainees, we’re constantly looking at what their past employment history is. We look at what their future employment aspirations are and work with them to map out what a career in hospitality looks like while guiding them on that path.
Q: Can you speak to some of the awards Change Please has won?
A: Globally, Change Please has won a number of awards from the Chivas Award for the Best Social Enterprise in 2018 to the very prestigious Queens Award. We have won a number of Supplier of the Year awards with our catering partners and most recently Change Please was B-Corp certified for our global organization.
Q: What is Change Please most proud of accomplishing?
A: From a personal point of view, it has been getting established in the US market, one of the biggest coffee markets in the world. To go from a standing cart with zero income back in 2022 to a profitable organization running over 12 cohorts of training per year has been so rewarding. And none of this would have been possible without the amazing support we have had from our customers.
To see the faces of the people who have gone through our program in their new places of work, utilizing the skills they learned with us, and watching them flourish gets me emotional every time.
Q: What kinds of opportunities does Change Please provide in and beyond your cafés?
A: Our support doesn’t stop once you’ve had the barista training. Our work with the trainees starts before they even reach us and once they’re employed we continue to maintain contact with them and their employers to ensure a smooth transition. Everything from top-up coffee training to working with caseworkers around transportation challenges, life challenges, etc. Anything we can do to support those entering into the workplace again to contribute towards society, we will.
Q: What are some of your best-selling products? What’s the best-selling drink on your menu?
A: A lot of our clients love our lattes. We very carefully craft our espresso roast to be a real “comfort food” coffee, with notes of dark chocolate and caramel. The balanced espresso works beautifully with the sweetness from the milk which for me is a real hug in a cup. Those who want a little more sweetness opt for a flavored latte, adding a shot of vanilla or caramel.
Q: What are your personal favorite menu items?
A: I’m a bit of a purist, so I love a straightforward black drip coffee where I can taste the flavor profile of the coffee I’m drinking. Picking out brightness, acidity, fruit or chocolate notes, etc. in my favorite origins is one of life’s great pleasures.
A flat white is my go-to most days, though. It’s just an amazing balance between a beautiful espresso with the sweetness of the milk….delicious!
Q: There are currently two Change Please locations in the U.S. Does Change Please have any plans to expand?
A: Yes, absolutely we do. Unfortunately, with the rise in homelessness, there is a need for support all across the US, and we are currently exploring opportunities in LA and Dallas. We’re reaching out to customers, local shelter organizations, as well as local government to get those markets established. Long term, we would love to have a presence in every major market to be part of the solution to tackling the homelessness issue.
