With the health crisis and climate change, what can a local business do to try to satisfy customer demand while not increasing its carbon footprint?
Purchase an electric bike named Iris for local deliveries! That is exactly what Prime Roast on Main Street in Keene, NH has done to support its local community purchasers, workers, and Planet Earth.
Prime Roast has kept on roasting even while its retail doors are closed. It’s offering free shipping of its beans nationally. But, this comes at a cost and lots of packing that presently isn’t getting recycled locally. They welcome the orders and thank their customers for reaching out during the pandemic to support their business. They are still supporting their workers with paychecks and ensuring they are healthy.
This got Emily and Judy thinking. Could they devise a solution that would reduce packaging, supply their local customers with beans, plus provide safe contact with their customers and workers?
The answer was YES. And BySpoke – Beans by Bike was born. Looking online for an electric bike and reaching out to their bike community for advice they settled on RAD e-bikes for price-point, customer reviews and service. They chose the City Bike Step-Thru for easy on and off. The Hub can’t wait to post rides on updated Blogs and show off all the nifty add-ons Prime Roast chose to deck out their ride!
But, it isn’t just the fun of riding an electric bike. It is knowing that Prime Roast won’t be using a traditional car for deliveries. Their employees will be getting some exercise while the e-bike assist will make hills a snap and riding for miles easy. Gotta accelerate? No problem, the bike can rev up to 20+mph when needed or get that friendly electric push for over 40+ miles.
They have it charging up at the shop between rides. Keene is also a great town to ride a bike in. Paths exist to make getting around easy and bike lanes ensure safety.
Emily and Judy are saving postage, boxes and packing and keeping these materials out of the dump. They are also engaging their customers and employees in electric bike education and helping spread the word that even if you don’t want to pedal up hills on our own or ride for miles with packages or groceries (like coffee beans) – an electric bike assist can make getting out on a bike easy and fun and help the planet by reducing car trips.
In New Hampshire vehicle travel is the largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. Just think how many local trips could be made by e-bike if people knew how fun and easy it is. Thank you Prime Roast for bringing your e-bike into the Keene community. I hope that those who order your beans take the time to see the ride at a safe distance and ponder – could an e-bike work for me? And, come back to the MSHub blog because I can’t wait to post video of your ride!