Northern Ireland’s Pure Roast Coffee invests on back of fast growth in Britain and China
Pure Roast Coffee, a multi award-winning, premium coffee roaster in Northern Ireland, is doubling its capacity to meet increased demand for its coffee beans, ground coffee and easy serving espresso pods. The company, in addition, is launching compostable packaging and coffee bags in October in a significant expansion of the business.
The coffee roaster, which is based in Lisburn, county Antrim, has seen its sales in Britain grow by 30 percent last year and by 25 percent in China, its principal export market.
A £500,000 investment in equipment and facilities has included the introduction of a second coffee roaster, a state-of-the-art packaging machine, and a second high-speed pod machine to produce the company’s longstanding easy serve espresso pods, which are now widely used in foodservice throughout the UK, Ireland, Sweden and China.
The investment, assisted by business development agency Invest Northern Ireland, also includes new warehousing which expands the coffee roasting plant to 30,000 sq. ft. In addition to this, the company has achieved BRC AA quality accreditation, which is the highest possible quality standard a business can achieve.
The company was formed by local businessman Martin Symington, who introduced convection coffee roasting to Northern Ireland in 2006. Pure Roast Coffee now employs 16 people, with plans to add a further six employees to the team in early 2020.
Commenting on the expansion plans, Mr Symington says: “We’ve been enjoying significant growth in all our markets, especially Britain and China. We are winning new business due to our due-diligence, sharp focus on premium quality, our comprehensive product portfolio, as well as attention to detail and customer service.
“The additional production capacity enables us to meet rapidly increasing demand from existing and new customers in foodservice, including restaurants and hotels, and to diversify in the retail market. We now have the capacity to offer a wider range of retail packs and have already stepped up our marketing throughout the UK to strengthen our position in this important marketplace,” adds Mr Symington.
Among significant export marketing developments for Pure Roast Coffee was a joint venture with a major Chinese business conglomerate, headquartered in Shenzen.
The Chinese global 500 company is developing a network of coffee shops in supermarkets, a subsidiary retail business with stores throughout China. As well as supplying coffee and advising on the coffee shops, Pure Roast Coffee branded beans and ground coffee are also on the supermarket shelves.
“We opened the first coffee store serving our high-end, premium coffee beans last year in Shanghai and it is proving to be a great success with coffee lovers and shoppers there. A further three stores are scheduled to open next year. China, as a result of the enthusiasm and support from our colleagues there for our coffee, is becoming a hugely important market for us and is set for even further growth,” adds Mr Symington.
Pure Roast Coffee, which is also intensifying its marketing to foodservice in Northern Ireland, has won 14 UK Great Taste Awards for its single-estate coffees and has an operation in Britain, Pure Gusto (www.puregusto.co.uk) based in Bolton, which focuses on growing its online business in the country's dynamic foodservice sector especially with restaurants and hotels, as well as the coffee-at-home market.
