Member Article

Major Stir As Coffee Festival Hits York

A MAJOR stir hit York this month as dozens of businesses and online customers attended the city’s first Festival of Coffee.

The four-day event, which demonstrated how coffee beans from around the world are roasted to create connoisseur blends, staged master classes in coffee brewing and extraction, ‘latte art’ and a factory tour for online customers who entered a competition to name a coffee specially created for the festival, was hosted by York Coffee Emporium and its parent company, vending machine and refreshments systems business, the Upton Group, Selby.

Laurence and Philippa Beardmore, who have built York Coffee Emporium from an £11,000 turnover in 2012 to approaching £1m, staged The Festival of Coffee to mark the company’s move to new 4,300 sq ft premises at York Business Park, which includes a coffee tasting laboratory, and the official launch of a new coffee bean roaster by Sheriff of York, Jonathan Tyler and his wife, Brenda, founding members of York Green Party.

Companies attending included more than 20 customers of York Coffee Emporium including cafes, restaurants and hotels, as well as suppliers and businesses from North Yorkshire’s ‘food community’ of small enterprises.

Among customers were Jenna Goodridge and James Hallam from The Whippet Inn, North Street, York, a former Victorian pub which has become a steak and ale house, which has sourced coffees from York Coffee Emporium for three years.

Jenna Goodridge said: “The great coffee supplied to us by York Coffee Emporium is part of the high standards we set ourselves in all we do for our customers. The Festival of Coffee is a great idea and we are here because it is very important that the network of businesses in food and hospitality support one another.”

Laurence Beardmore, who is now Upton Group commercial director, says: “We are continuing to grow rapidly. We produce very high-quality artisan coffee by roasting small batches of single origin beans then blending them after roasting. The new roastery, combined with the coffee laboratory, allows us to increase capacity while maintaining the consistency of our high-quality coffee.

“We’ve held this Festival of Coffee to launch our new facility after being acquired by the Upton Group and to keep in touch with our customers, suppliers and colleagues in the York and North Yorkshire food, beverage and hospitality sector, who form a great community, achieving high standards and of growing value to the local economy.”

In officially opening the new roastery, Jonathan Tyler, said: “As Green Party members we are pleased to support small enterprises with a strong ethical ethos and it is wonderful to share this event with York Coffee Emporium and see small artisan businesses supporting one another.”

The competition to name the York Coffee Emporium Coffee Festival Blend was won by Li Ping Adam of Tadcaster who chose the name, Trinity, and won a place at a special general public roastery tour and coffee tasting and brewing event.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Mike Clarke Communications .