Almost next door to the Black Lion pub on Chapel Street, where Future Artists ran a successful pop-up theatre and cinema venue for a while, a new venture has arrived that's simple and rather revolutionary...Honest Coffee, a cafe that's more than a mere cafe.
Funded by 155 Kickstarter backers, Honest Coffee began as a protest against corporations like Starbucks who stuff their profits offshore and don't pay proper tax.
"Every piece of profit from here goes back into the local community within a five mile radius of the coffee shop, which means the more the local community lends support here the more they can get out as grants, so we redistribute the money" explains founder Mark Ashmore.
Everything served on the menu is also hyper local, so the butcher on Mocha Parade supplies the bacon, the greengrocer who has a stall outside the Arndale supplies the fruit and veg straight from Smithfield Market, the bread comes fresh from a bakery in Chorlton and even the coffee is roasted locally by Passion Fruit Coffee...
"There's very few food miles and we're all local independents helping each other" Mark explains "We want to push the boundaries of what you can do in small business."
Honest coffee is also affordable, with a pint of tea costing £1.50 and coffee served in tin mugs so it doesn't go cold while customers are lingering. There's even a section for working at the side of the cafe, with what Mark calls free `weapons grade' internet...
"It could be faster than Media City because it's not wired in the ground" he laughs "We have an aerial on our building and it draws down a wireless signal which means it's seamless and has no lag. It's 30mps and you can upload or download a 1GB file while you're ordering a coffee. It means that freelancers in Salford who maybe haven't got a fast net can use it for free and have weapons grade internet. They can compete on the world market from this workspace."
Meanwhile, the coffee shop has a varied menu and minimalist decor with Salford artwork on the walls, ranging from images of John Cooper Clarke and Tony Wilson to art by local creative, Clayton Whitter.
"We've kept the space neutral so it can be imprinted if anyone wants to run their own event here" says Mark "We want it to be a community space."
Honest Coffee is soon to launch a series of events, including a workshop in how to use Kickstarter and Twitter to do similar schemes. Like all Future Artist projects, which have included films, a pub and an internet series, it's about doing things different...
"I'm not trying to become the next hipster cafe" says Mark "Here there's no pretences, it's just somewhere that's affordable and cheap..."
Honest Coffee
77 – 79 Chapel Street M3 5BZ
For more details see www.futureartists.co.uk
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