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STREAT’s ahead with first electric vehicle donated by RACV
Melbourne hospitality social enterprise STREAT's first electric vehicle, donated by RACV, is delivering coffee and making a difference to young people and the planet.
Melbourne’s coffee culture is one of the world's most sophisticated and STREAT is part of our vibrant café scene. But as a hospitality social enterprise helping disadvantaged young people and the planet, STREAT likes to go the extra mile and has committed to reducing its energy consumption and carbon footprint.
Following on from an RACV Energy Assessment of its Collingwood office, café and bakery and the installation of 118 solar panels in 2019, STREAT now has its first electric vehicle, which was donated by RACV in August 2024.
STREAT Co-founder and CEO Rebecca Scott says partners like RACV have helped the organisation achieve most of its decade-long sustainability goals ahead of schedule and it has set more ambitious targets for 2040.
“I firmly believe you can’t do social good and environmental harm; you have to do both good for people and the planet, and I’m really proud of the way that we've been getting greener and greener,” Scott says.
“This electric van is being used to deliver our freshly roasted coffee beans to our corporate cafes in Melbourne, and I’m told it’s great for zipping around the city, but most importantly, it’s helping us reduce our carbon emissions.”
STREAT has grown enormously since its humble beginnings with a street food cart in Melbourne’s Federation Square in 2010. Now there are five coffee kiosks across the CBD, a cafe, catering company, bakery, and coffee business. Along with offering employment workshops and programs for those aged 16 to 24 years, STREAT’s aims to inspire young people with its environmental initiatives.
Scott says STREAT developed its first Planet Plan in 2017, which included an RACV Energy Assessment of the organisation’s operations in 2019. This assessment showed that 85 per cent of onsite energy consumption was from fossil fuel powered electricity, while the remainder was mostly from gas.
As a result, the RACV installed 118 solar panels in June 2019, which STREAT estimates have produced enough renewable energy to prevent 122 tonnes of CO2 emissions so far. STREAT also uses an electricity supplier that supports renewable electricity projects.
“By using renewable energy from solar and green energy, we have prevented approximately 266 tonnes of CO2 (eq) gasses from being produced each year,” Scott says. “That's equivalent to emissions from powering 52 houses with electricity for a year using fossil fuels.”
STREAT's new EV is another way the social enterprise and café is reducing its carbon emissions.
As for the new electric van, STREAT estimates it will save a further 1.7 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions from being emitted every year.
“Once you add all these things up, it starts to become really significant,” Scott says. “We thought we were setting ourselves some audacious goals in 2018, but with partners like RACV we've achieved those goals already, so we've lifted the bar higher and developed our 2040 Planet Plan.”
Scott says the initiatives not only address environmental concerns but also inspire young people and other social enterprises, demonstrating the importance of balancing social good with environmental responsibility.
“Every time a new class starts, we ask them about their hopes and dreams for the future, and time and time again it’s about having a safe climate,” Scott says.
“They really want to be involved in our green work, but that’s also life skills that they are getting, whether that’s thinking about your footprint as a household or as an individual.
“One of the things I’m super proud of is that STREAT plays a role in demonstrating those life-changing initiatives not only to young people but also the broad social enterprise sector. When we lift the bar for ourselves, we lift it the bar for others across the state.”
How you can help STREAT
If you would like to support the RACV Community Foundation, you can make a donation using the banking details as below.
All donations over $2.00 are fully tax deductible. If you would like a receipt for your donation, please email foundation@community.racv.com.au.
Bank: NAB
BSB: 083-001
Account Number: 40-970-8004
Account Name: RACV Community Foundation Receipts
