Coffee Wars Grounds the Case for Veganism in Comedy and Climate 

Coffee Wars offers the answer to a question I’ve wondered for a while: how can comedy be used to relay the urgent vegan message to an audience who is uninterested in hearing the straight facts? There must be a way to share the positive impact of veganism and the global threat that animal agriculture poses in a fun, lighthearted way.

Enter: Coffee Wars. A brilliant film that succeeds on multiple levels: effectively driving home a message of social change while keeping the audience laughing and entertained.

Funny and not preachy to appeal to non-vegans

This movie is deliberately designed to reach viewers who might not be open to a serious documentary about the environmental, health or ethical implications of the dairy industry.

As the producers shared in an exclusive interview with Vkind, “We have seen many of the vegan documentaries and they tend to be seen solely by vegans. Basically, documentaries do a good job preaching to the converted and a bad job of reaching the uninitiated. So, the idea was to make a mainstream movie with the messages ingrained in its DNA because of the lead character.”

“When she speaks, it’s something she believes in, but she is a flawed character in funny situations so it does not come off as preachy. The film was carefully constructed to make the message appeal to those who are not already vegan first and foremost.”

The protagonist, Jo, is a fiery female entrepreneur who created a plant-based coffee shop inspired by a childhood love for animals and passion for the environment. Yet immense financial pressures and the threat of foreclosure on her coffee shop drives her to attempt to earn a spot at and compete at the World Barista Championships. (Yes, it’s a real competition!)

As a social impact comedy, the movie took advantage of its unique position to present the case for veganism to viewers indirectly in a non-threatening way. Instead of preaching to the audience, the film follows vegan barista and protagonist Jo as she attempts to convince a skeptical public to choose plant-based milks over dairy.

For example, few people would respond well to a green-haired barista wildly ranting at them about the impact of the dairy industry, as protagonist Jo does to a customer who demands cow’s milk in her coffee.

But safely listening in from the sidelines, movie watchers can truly hear the points she makes. (If they’re not too distracted by all the quick-cuts to other characters’ reactions and thoughts of, “Wow, she’s really flown off her handle.”) After all, they’re not the ones she’s blowing up at.

Other viewers who may have scoffed at plant-based products like oat milk are invited to poke fun at their own skepticism. As one of the judges scorns Jo for using “thin, water nut juice” with a look of disgust, the audience might wonder, “Come on, is it really that bad?”

The narrator is also effective in making points indirectly. As he points out during footage of icebergs melting: “This is our planet earth – so very warm. This is a cheeseburger – so very juicy. Some people could care less if we burn down the Amazon as long as they get their big juicy cheeseburgers.”

The film openly acknowledges that sometimes, vegans can become a little too passionate and sacrifice effective communication. We see this in a flash-back scene to a previous barista competition in which Jo was dragged out kicking and screaming, “This is a COFFEE competition, not a MILK competition!” The narrator even pokes fun at being “granola” – rapidly introducing Jo’s coffee shop as the mouthful: “a single-source-organic-plant-based-100%- compostable coffee shop.”

Driving home the climate argument 

The film is also effective in that it avoids the temptation of providing the audience with an overwhelming amount of details or facts. Instead, the film drives home one simple, primary point: ditch dairy for plant-based milks to fight the climate crisis.

This was a strategic move for two reasons. Firstly, people tend to get overwhelmed and shut down when too much information is presented at once. Secondly, grounding the case for veganism in preserving our planet is likely the least controversial and least well known of all arguments.

In part, this is because many media outlets have ignored the impact of animal agriculture and focused exclusively on fossil fuels. As a result, many people are motivated to opt for greener transportation and reduce plastic but are unaware of the environmental impact of their diets.

As an entertaining and informative comedy, this film is well positioned to reach this crowd in particular.

Brushing on animal welfare and health

Granted, we do hear one clear pitch for animal rights in the very first few minutes of the film. When Jo flies off her handle at a customer, she shouts, “It’s cruelty to animals! Dairy farmers artificially inseminate cows so they stay in a perpetual state of impregnation! When their babies are born, they’re sold for milk and then they’re milked until their bones are so brittle they can’t even stand.”

She concludes with one of the movie’s more detailed explanations of how exactly cows contribute to global warming, saying, “And don’t even get me started on the feed and grain they consume ripping a hole in the ozone layer!”

The movie doesn’t bother with any of the specifics about how exactly plant-based milks are better for health. It leaves it to the viewer to find out more on their own about the many chronic diseases and ailments that dairy consumption promotes. While this supports the goal of one effective take-away message, mentioning at least a few of the major diseases that dairy can cause may have further swayed some viewers.

However, by only brushing upon animal rights and health in favor of the more broadly accepted climate movement, the film prioritized creating a palatable message for people who aren’t yet vegan.

Chaotic, quick-cut comedy that will make you laugh out loud and think

Of course, Coffee Wars prioritizes the entertainment factor as well. It is equal parts social impact and equal parts comedy. Absurdism, chaotic quick-cuts, plot twists, over-the-top quirky characters, coffee-themed sexual innuendo, and upbeat music with dramatic scenes keep the audience laughing. And in a classic comedy style familiar to comedy fans, the narrator introduces characters with freeze-frames while saying their names.

Going deeper, the film also brings up themes of longing for parental approval, the importance of integrity and being true to your values, close-knit friendships and betrayal, being the underdog, and balancing money and dreams.

The serious art of barista competitions

Movie goers also enjoy the seriousness with which Jo, other baristas and judges take their work throughout the competitions: analyzing concentric circles of latte art to a wildly cheering crowd, describing the flavors of the coffee with sexual innuendo, dancing around each other in fierce determination to win the prize and performing what is essentially spoken word poetry.

For instance, at the Regional Championships, Jo passionately narrates what inspired her specialty drink. She presents it with the declaration, “Eight centuries of REVOLUTION!”

After describing “the creamy qualities of coffee grown in harsh unwavering volcanic soil,” she appeals to the judges by saying, “Today, the revolution continues. Milk is having adverse effects on our fragile planet! Is it not criminal to add cow’s milk to perfection?”

“And so, the revolution must continue. The revolution for soy milk, almond milk, oat milk and all other plant-based milks!”

Or, as the narrator gently prompts – consider a plant-based milk for your next cup of joe.

Why a coffee competition to herald the vegan message?

When the producers discovered that the World Barista Championship required the use of cow’s milk, they knew they had a great obstacle around which to center the film.

According to the producers, they chose this format because it met the two goals of the film: 1) “to come up with a great competition-style movie (a la Pitch Perfect or Dodgeball) with identifiable characters to root for at its heart” and 2) “to make a mainstream food-related film where the idea of using ‘the vegan alternative’ created a dilemma for the main character and thus her journey.”

Coffee Wars hits a home run 

And so, Coffee Wars hit a home run as a social impact comedy: it entertains, informs and persuades, all while presenting a palatable message to people who are not vegan. It avoids getting bogged down by the multitude of compelling arguments for veganism and instead drives home one simple message: Swap dairy milk for plant-based milks to save our planet.

A talented – and newly vegan – cast 

Protagonist and vegan singer and actor Kate Nash made a name for herself over a decade ago as Best British Female Artist at the 2008 Brit Awards. You may also recognize her from the Netflix series GLOW, where she played Rhonda “Britannica” Richardson. Known for her feminist and LGBTQ activism, Nash is driven to affect positive change in the world.

Fans of Game of Thrones will be happy to see Toby Sebastin, who portrayed Trystane Martell, featured prominently as the antagonist “Ruby Wintergreen.” You may also recognize Derry Girls actor Saoirse-Monica Jackson, who stars as “Roopa.” Jordan Stephens, who plays Jo’s love interest, is also recognizable as the lead singer of English hip hop duo Rizzle Kicks.

Both the cast and crew are enthusiastic about the mission of the film. In Vkind’s interview with the producers, we learned that besides Kate Nash being vegan, many of the cast and crew became vegan or mostly vegan after the film. In addition, catering on set was vegan or heavily vegetarian. The actors and behind-the-scenes team were all supportive, as they agreed with the message of the film.

Kate Nash commented, “Coffee Wars brings pressing issues to a global audience in a laugh-out-loud comedic way. It invites viewers to challenge their beliefs about what it means to be an ethical consumer and the overall environmental impacts of their purchases.”

Executive Producer Jay Karandikar of VegGood Films adds, “Our society simply cannot continue to consume planet-crippling dairy products, especially as plant-based alternatives, such as the ones featured in our film, are readily available, healthy for our bodies and the planet and, mostly importantly, delicious.”

And, according to the press release, all costumes, make-up and hair products were 100% vegan and all milk used on set was plant-based. Plus, the filmmakers even adopted and ‘set free’ to animal rescue farms the animals who appeared in the movie.

Support a worthy cause by watching

As an added bonus, viewers support environmental and animal welfare charities by renting or buying the movie. The distributor, VegGood Films, will be donating 100% of all proceeds from the film to these causes.

Info & Where to Watch

Coffee Wars was produced in the United Kingdom and has been available since March 21, 2023 on iTunes, Amazon Prime, and Google Play. It was directed, produced and written by Randall Miller alongside Jody Savin for production and David Rollins for writing.

Be sure to stay until the end credits to see funny bloopers from the film!

For more information on the film, visit coffeewarsfilm.com or follow @coffeewarsfilm on Instagram, Tik Tok, or Facebook.

Did we pique your interest? Watch the trailer!

Craving more Coffee (Wars)?

If you have already seen the film and have your fingers crossed for another – you’re in luck! Producers shared with Vkind that they have discussed a few other films with vegan heroes. For example, they’ve considered new challenges for actors to take on in a Coffee Wars 2 or a fun action film like James Bond with a vegan lead.

Interested in more movies and documentaries about the positive impact of veganism? Find more in the Resources section of Vkind.com.

Author Bio:

Colleen Kane is a vegan activist, copywriter, blogger and speaker who writes about how veganism promotes social justice, health justice and climate justice on her blog, Veganspired.