Bailies Hand Roasted Coffee expands in Republic of Ireland
Bailies Hand Roasted Coffee, Northern Ireland's award winning gourmet coffee business, is expanding sales in the Republic of Ireland. The company, winner of 12 gold stars in the recent UK Great Taste Awards, has added Dublin Wine Rooms, Royal Irish Yacht Club, also based in Dublin, along with expanding franchises of The Art of Coffee and Coffee Angel to its growing customer portfolio.
As a result of recent successes, business in the Republic has grown to 25 per cent of sales over the past year. Overall, the company has experienced substantial growth in sales in the past decade. It has also seen its coffee preferred for cafes at high profile locations in Northern Ireland and has won business in Great Britain.
What sets Bailies apart, according to business development manager Ross Kane, is a dedication to produce coffee that's always "finer, better and fresher".
"We are passionate about sourcing single origin and single estate coffee beans that ensure full traceability back to the farm and farmer, wherever possible," he says. "This also includes a commitment to source and roast Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance and Organic coffees. We achieve this by means of the close working relationships we've forged with ethical suppliers who have strong focus on sustainability.
"As one of the leading coffee roasters in the UK, we only select our green coffee beans based on high quality and taste from various countries of origin and growing regions before beginning the coffee roasting process.
"We believe that when someone drinks coffee they should taste everything that is unique and exciting about the farm on which the beans were cultivated, and how they were grown and processed, rather than tasting any dark 'roasty' or 'oily' flavours that can result from bad roasting practices.
'"This why we take our time to search out the very best farms in the world and why we don't try to change the character of our beans when we roast them here in Belfast."
To ensure freshness, Bailies hand roasts coffee for customers on a daily basis.
Bailies Coffee Company was founded in 1993 by managing director Russell Bailie, an entrepreneur who recognised there was an opportunity from a growing demand for quality, freshly roasted and traceable coffee among customer becoming more knowledgeable and discerning about the coffee. As a result of this devotion to quality, the company, which now employs 11 people, has become a key player in the development of Ireland's coffee culture.
Bailies has won recognition for its commitment to supplying only the freshest, hand-roast coffee and has provided espresso beans to two-time Irish Barista Champions Coffee Angel in Dublin.
Coffee farms are vetted by the company in all the main growing nations including Brazil, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Guatemala and Mexico.
The coffee that reaches the cups of customers is often dependent upon the skills of the barista who makes it. To ensure that the commitment to better and fresher coffee is carried forward into the coffee house, Bailies provides specialist training. It has, therefore, created a unique barista training programme delivered in-house by a former UK Champion Barista.
Serving good coffee certainly requires good machinery, and Bailies has a portfolio of excellent coffee making machinery including the market-leading La Marzocco traditional espresso kit.