Why We Don’t Publicly Disclose Rescue Partner Commission Rates

At Rescue Roast®, our mission is simple:

Amazing coffee. Amazing cause.

We created Rescue Roast® to build something positive — a coffee brand that supports animal rescue organisations in a practical, sustainable, and responsible way.

As the brand has grown, we have received questions about how our rescue partner model works, including questions about the commission rescue organisations earn from qualifying sales.

We understand why people ask. Animal lovers care deeply, and people want to know that the brands they support are genuine.

That is fair.

However, it is important to understand that Rescue Roast® does not operate as a public donation collection platform.

When a customer purchases from Rescue Roast®, the customer is buying products at the advertised retail price. The customer is not making a donation through our website or checkout.

Our rescue partners earn a contractually agreed sales commission on qualifying purchases attributed to their organisation. This is a commercial commission arrangement between Rescue Roast® and the relevant rescue partner.

Rescue Roast® is a registered business with a structured rescue partner model. The rescue organisations we work with are not casual names added to a marketing page. They are official rescue partners with agreements in place.

At the time of writing, Rescue Roast® works with more than 40 rescue organisations across South Africa.

Each rescue partner has its own relationship with Rescue Roast®, and those arrangements are governed by private agreements between Rescue Roast® and the rescue organisation concerned.

For that reason, we do not publicly disclose individual commission rates, commercial terms, partner structures, margins, or contractual arrangements linked to each rescue partner.

Those details are confidential between Rescue Roast® and our rescue partners.

Why This Information Is Confidential

In any responsible business partnership, certain information remains private.

This includes pricing structures, margins, commercial terms, partner agreements, supply arrangements, commission rates, wholesale pricing, operational costs, and other internal business information.

Rescue Roast® is no different.

Our rescue partners know how the model works. They know the commission structure applicable to their partnership, understand the benefit available to them, and have chosen to work with us because they see value in the relationship.

That is the part that matters most.

The fact that more than 40 rescue organisations have chosen to partner with Rescue Roast® should give customers confidence that the programme is real, structured, and beneficial.

Customers Are Not Making Donations Through Rescue Roast®

It is important to be clear about the nature of every transaction.

Customers purchase coffee and other products from Rescue Roast®. They do not select a donation amount, make a charitable contribution through our checkout, or transfer money to Rescue Roast® for onward payment as a donation.

Where a qualifying sale is attributed to a rescue organisation, that rescue partner earns a commission in accordance with its agreement with Rescue Roast®.

The commission is paid by Rescue Roast® as part of our commercial rescue partner programme. It is not a percentage of a separate customer donation.

We therefore do not advertise that customers are donating money, nor do we describe any portion of a customer’s payment as a consumer donation.

We Do Not Use Rescue Support as a Token Gesture

Rescue Roast® is not built around token payments made simply so that we can claim to support animal rescue.

That is not our model.

Our rescue partner programme is not a marketing trick or a tiny add-on hidden behind a feel-good slogan. Rescue organisations that partner with us have the opportunity to earn meaningful commission income from qualifying sales linked to their organisation.

While the exact commission rates and commercial terms remain confidential between Rescue Roast® and each rescue partner, the model is designed to provide a real, worthwhile, and sustainable benefit.

We believe that if we are going to build a brand around supporting animal rescue, the benefit to participating rescue organisations must be genuine and sustainable.

That is why our rescue partners participate through proper agreements and why we treat those agreements with the same respect and confidentiality as any responsible business partnership.

We Support Rescues Through a Sustainable Model

We believe that supporting animal rescue should be sustainable.

Short-term support can make a difference, but a strong and growing brand can create ongoing awareness, sales opportunities, commission income and long-term value for participating rescue organisations.

That is what we are trying to build.

Every purchase from Rescue Roast® helps grow a platform that works with rescue organisations, promotes their work, gives animal lovers a way to support a purpose-driven business, and creates a positive connection between great coffee and a greater cause.

We are proud of that.

Transparency Does Not Mean Sharing Private Contracts

We believe in being honest about what Rescue Roast® is.

We are a cause-driven coffee business.
We work with official rescue partners.
We have agreements in place.
Rescue partners earn commission on qualifying attributed sales.
Customers purchase products and do not make donations through our checkout.
We are building something that benefits rescue organisations in a sustainable way.

Transparency does not mean that every private commercial agreement must be published online.

Our rescue partners’ contractual arrangements are not public property, and neither are the internal commercial details of our business.

We protect that information out of respect for our rescue partners and out of respect for Rescue Roast® as a business.

Rescue Roast® will not voluntarily publish confidential partner agreements, commission rates, margins, or private commercial terms. Any properly submitted statutory request will, however, be considered in accordance with applicable South African law and the appropriate formal process.

What Customers Can Know With Confidence

When you buy from Rescue Roast®, you are supporting a cause-driven brand that is built around animal rescue.

You are purchasing quality coffee and other products from a business that works with rescue organisations across South Africa.

You are helping us grow a platform that creates awareness for animals, volunteers, shelters, foster organisations, and rescue teams doing difficult work every day.

You are supporting a commercial partner model through which participating rescue organisations can earn commission from qualifying sales attributed to them.

Most importantly, you are supporting a model that our rescue partners understand and have voluntarily chosen to be part of.

Questions, Disagreements and Formal Complaints

We have published this explanation so that customers and members of the public can clearly understand how the Rescue Roast® partner model operates.

Rescue Roast® does not collect consumer donations, and our rescue partners earn commission on qualifying sales in accordance with private commercial agreements.

We respect that not everyone will agree with our business model or our decision to keep private commercial terms confidential. However, Rescue Roast® is not obliged to repeatedly debate its business model, contractual arrangements, margins, commission structures, or internal commercial decisions on social media or in public comment sections.

Questions that are already answered in this article, our PAIA Manual, or other published information may be referred back to those resources rather than answered repeatedly.

We welcome genuine questions and will continue to provide clear public information about how our rescue partner programme operates. Where questions concern confidential commercial terms, we may refer interested persons to our published policies and the appropriate formal processes rather than debating private contractual information on social media.

Anyone who genuinely believes that Rescue Roast® has contravened an applicable law, consumer protection requirement, advertising standard, or access-to-information obligation is entitled to use the appropriate formal complaint process available through the relevant regulatory or oversight body.

Depending on the nature of the complaint, this may include the Advertising Regulatory Board, the Consumer Goods and Services Ombud, or the Information Regulator of South Africa.

Rescue Roast® will respond appropriately to any legitimate enquiry received through an authorised formal process.

Any properly submitted request made in terms of applicable legislation, including the Promotion of Access to Information Act where relevant, will be assessed individually and dealt with in accordance with South African law. The submission of a request does not automatically mean that confidential commercial information must be disclosed.

We will not, however, disclose confidential partner agreements voluntarily or conduct legal, contractual, or commercial debates through Facebook comments, private messages, or informal online exchanges.

Our Position Is Simple

We will always protect the private agreements we have with our rescue partners.

We will not debate confidential commission rates, margins, contractual arrangements, or our internal business model in public comment sections.

We will not publish private commercial terms to satisfy speculation, repeated questioning, or online curiosity.

We will also not describe customer purchases as donations when that is not how our model operates.

We have provided clear public information explaining the nature of our rescue partner programme. Where a question has already been answered, we may refer the person to the relevant published information rather than repeating the same explanation.

Anyone who believes that Rescue Roast® has acted unlawfully remains free to use the appropriate formal complaint process. Rescue Roast® will respond through the proper channels where required, rather than conducting legal or commercial debates on social media.

We welcome genuine questions and constructive engagement and will continue to explain our rescue partner model clearly and responsibly.

Our focus will remain where it belongs:

On great coffee.
On supporting rescue organisations.
On helping animals.
On building a brand that can do long-term good.

To every customer, supporter, rescue partner, volunteer, foster parent and animal lover who supports Rescue Roast® — thank you.

You are part of something meaningful.

Rescue Roast®
Amazing coffee. Amazing cause.