Bailies Coffee Roasters launch unique microlot coffees at lunch!
After recent sourcing visits to Colombia and Ethiopia the roastery is well placed to offer great tasting coffee to their own ethical trading standards.
While Bailies is targeting opportunities it has pinpointed in the dynamic ‘food on the move’ category, the company, which has been roasting premium coffee for over 20 years in Belfast, is also aiming to grow retail sales particularly in Great Britain.
Andrew Hollywood, head of marketing at Bailies Coffee Roasters, says: “We are always on the lookout for new and innovative ways in which to grow our retail business. Being design-led and thoughtful with our branding, along with having an extensive product-list to suit the needs of many from those who are just starting out on their coffee journey, to those who want to taste some of the best coffees around.”
Explaining the decision to show the direct trade coffees at the Lunch! ‘food-on-the-move’ show, Mr Hollywood adds: “For us, Lunch! provided a unique opportunity to engage with customers in the food-to-go sector whilst also highlighting and further promoting our high-quality coffee and products to this sector and those within the specialty coffee scene.
“A key strategy for us is to develop business with coffee shops and cafes in Britain, especially against the background of an EU Exit. We already have some fabulous customers in Britain, Europe and even the US, who all have a growing demand for ethically sourced, great tasting, coffee.
“We served some fantastic microlot coffees inspired by our recent sourcing trip to Colombia including a fresh crop, washed microlot coffee from our long-standing single origin partners Comepcafe co-op.
“We’ve been working with Comepcafe for several years, helping the co-op to achieve their goal to produce some of the finest coffees in the world. And we are thrilled to be receiving not only single origin, but also now microlot coffees from them that are evidence of the quality of the farms that this Co-op it supports.
“Our microlot coffee from the farm, Buena Vista, Comepcafe - has tasting notes of raspberry jam, red grape and vanilla.
“Alongside Buena Vista, we tasted four of our microlot coffees at Lunch! Including; Kenya Gakui AA, Costa Rica Cerro Dragon, and Guatemala El Limonar Cipreses. Our previous Guatemalan coffee was named after the farm itself: El Limonar was entered into the Guatemalan Cup of Excellence by the farmer Rogelio, who is also one of our Direct Trade farmers.
“These microlots are unique to Bailies Coffee Roasters.” Microlots are a real growth area for our business, allowing us to command a premium and ultimately pay the farmer more money. We source our coffee directly and establish relationships with the farms.
“Our Director of Green Bean Coffee would visit farms in some of the most remote places to help establish relationships and recommend changes to farming practices. Bailies Coffee Roasters also produce blended packs for sale and these coffees have also been rigorously cupped to ensure quality.”