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NEWS
UCC Coffee UK & Ireland invests £2.5m at UK’s leading roastery UCC Coffee UK & Ireland has invested £2.5m investment in its Dartford coffee roastery. The major changes, which went live on 1 April 2015, increases its roasting capacity by 50% to 12,000 tonnes of coffee a year, cementing its position as the UK’s largest roaster of coffee by volume and its commitment to driving quality in the market, claim the company. Central to the investment has been the modernisation of silos, upgrades to its software and green bean transportation systems and the installation of a new stateof-the-art Probat Neptune 1500 Drum roaster. The German manufactured roaster, which is capable of roasting up to 1,500kg of green beans an hour, features market-leading energy-saving, health and safety and roasting temperature systems to produce exceptional quality coffee with every batch, point out UCC. Elaine Higginson, managing director, UCC Coffee UK & Ireland commented: “The coffee market continues to develop at an astonishingly quick pace. With this, our
customers in both retail and out of home are experiencing higher demand for excellent coffee than ever before. This investment in Dartford has significantly increased our roasting capacity and futureproofed our business, so we can fulfil higher volumes for our customers for years to come. “We’re passionate about coffee excellence across our business, and so this investment is just one part of our on-going commitment to our customers. We’re continually investing in our people to help us deliver our total coffee solution of on-trend, superior products, training and services. This has recently led to the creation of a dedicated coffee trainer team and the expansion of our specialist barista and coffee development teams at Dartford, which now includes two Q-graders.” Rahul Ghosh, director of roastery operations, UCC Coffee UK & Ireland added: “The decision to invest with Probat is the result of extensive research into what equipment would deliver for our business. Probat technology is pioneering - the manufacturer is exceptionally successful in
the market having operated in it for 100 years and is responsible for roasting six in ten cups of coffee consumed worldwide. It stood out from other roaster manufacturers thanks to the unrivalled roasting quality, which produces an excellent, consistent roast and the highest aroma development in each batch. It truly cements our commitment to our customers to supply the highest quality coffee.” UCC Coffee UK & Ireland’s site in Dartford is supported by its specialist site in Corby, which roasts fresh artisan coffee using a state-of-the-art Diedrich drum roaster. The UK & Ireland business is part of UCC Coffee Group, which has 28 roasteries worldwide and roasts the popular Lyons’ Coffee and ThreeSixty° coffee brands.
Tate continues to expand coffee portfolio Continuing on its mission to serve the finest coffee, and following the appointment of Phil Gevaux as head of coffee, Tate reports that it has embarked on a series of exciting new developments in its coffee department. For one thing, Phil Gevaux has introduced the industry-leading concept exclusively to the coffee roastery on site at Tate Britain this year - Slot Roasting – which provides independent cafés and baristas with the opportunity to learn the skills needed to select and roast their own coffee beans. Tate will run weekly Slot Roasting courses providing affordable access to roasting equipment and teaching customers the skills needed to roast for themselves, and Phil Gevaux will help train and look after customers during the incubation process that includes lessons in cupping and roasting, and will give them the skills to explore and identify their roasting profiles. Tate says that its longterm goal is build a community coffee roasters that can provide support for each other. Tate has also announced a rebrand of its coffee packaging this April which will highlight both art and flavour. The new
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CAFÉ CULTURE
packaging includes colour-coded labels categorised according to flavour notes and style, and features carefully selected artwork from the Tate’s galleries. To aid customer choice, the yellow label bags contain beans with a deeper fruit flavour. The pink label bags have beans with lighter floral flavour notes. Blue label contain espresso and white label is for decaf. For extra detail, each label includes information on the country the beans have been sourced from to ensure traceability andz provenance, the altitude they have been grown and even the date the beans were roasted, point out Tate. Phil Gevaux, of Origin Coffee, who was appointed head of coffee earlier in the year has led the transition of the roastery from Herne Hill to its new home at Tate Britain, Millbank. Having worked at leading coffee roastery, Origin, for nine years, Phil is dedicated to sourcing, roasting and serving the best coffee possible. His experience has taken him through South and Central America looking for new producers and building relationships with existing ones. Tate prides itself on selecting the finest beans from around the world and ensures growers are paid a fair price. Seasonality is
of huge importance and the range of blends reflect the different regions that come into crop throughout the year. Beans from Central America make up the mainstay throughout the summer months, Brazilian beans arrive for Christmas, whilst Africa adds distinct flavours throughout the year. All the blends are exclusive to Tate and are available to order online, as well as to be enjoyed across the gallery’s portfolio of seven restaurants.