Bertold Brecht was a German writer, poet and stage director. He was born on 10 February 1898 in Augsburg and died in Berlin on 14 August 1956. In 1933, he fled Germany and eventually ended up in the United States. Influenced by the Cold War, he was expelled from the United States in 1949 and settled in east Berlin. Here he was eventually allowed to found his own theatre company and even got his own theatre. This Berliner Ensemble still exists today. And many of Brecht's plays are performed here. But not only here. Companies all over the world regularly perform Brecht's plays and this shows that Brecht's work is still relevant today. Many of his plays deal with oppression, especially of poorly paid workers. That was a big theme at the beginning of the 20th century and is, of course, a big social issue now. So go see those pieces and read his work!
We try to apply Brecht's work and ideology to the café in our own way. As much as possible, we buy products from companies we trust. We avoid big brands as much as possible. So no wine from wholesalers, no beer from multinational brewers and cheese from a good small-scale organic cheesemaker.
But we go further. Even in the products we use for cleaning and other jobs, we try to work with nice companies as much as possible.
For instance, we use cleaning products from happy soaps. The toilet rolls are non-bleached, made in the Netherlands and as sustainable as possible. Even the paper we use for the menus is laden with stamps from sustainability labels.
For transport, we use an old-fashioned Dutch cargo bike, which we had made electric at Workcycles.
And so there are lots of little things where we try to choose the more sustainable option. We mop with cold water, The hoover is of a brand where all parts are replaceable. So if something breaks on the thing you just replace a part.
Oh and then we forget about the interior. All the chairs, tables and sofas come from the thrift store. As does most of the crockery. So you always get your chocolate milk in a different mug. And recently we stopped buying new cutlery. At thrift shops, there is always a huge bin of used knives, forks and spoons. This is where we search with angelic patience until we find some nice ones.
In short, we try to apply sustainability in its broadest sense.
Below is a list of our suppliers
German beers: Urstoff.nl, bierenco
Other beers: Butchers Tears, Brouwerij Kees, Jopen
Cider: Uwe Betuwe cider
Wine: Mark van de wijn, Vleck wijnen
Cheese: Landgoed Mariënwaerdt
Coffee: Simon Levelt
Tea: Teabar
Straws: Strawz
Cleaning: Happy Soaps and Seepje
Spirits. Van wees beverage wholesaler
