Category: Interview

Anthony Pender CBII, Director of the Yummy Pub Company and former Chair of BII, talks to BII News’ Editor Kate Oppenheim about crisis management and taking a can-do approach to surviving lockdown.

Disasters aren’t new to Yummy Pubs. In 2013, The Grove Ferry in Kent was devasted by floods and in June 2018 its flagship pub, the Somers Town Coffee House in central London, was destroyed by fire, with the damage to the building and trade totalling near to £1m. 

The difference this time around, says Anthony, is that everyone is in this disaster together. 

“It was the probably our past experiences that led us to react more quickly, because two weeks ahead of most others, we began reining in our spending and managed to re-adjust our costs by £80,000 before we were forced to close our doors. Incidentally, prior to closure, we’d seen trade drop by 75%. 

“Our response throughout this period has been to protect our team, satisfy the bank and work with our suppliers,” says Anthony. 

Yummy quickly demonstrated that it had a firm grip on the situation, introducing micro-controls and cost cutting, as well as requesting help from its bank and landlords to avoid any over-borrowing that it couldn’t afford. That, describes Anthony, is “just kicking the can down the road”.

Maintaining Yummy’s business profile on social media and in the press has also been key to keeping the pubs front-of-mind. From Jason creating a grocery market at The Wiremill to sell stock from all four pubs through an online Click & Collect service, to providing 75 food packs a day to support the homeless, working with Haringey Council. Yummy (like many other businesses) hasn’t stopped working despite the pubs being ‘closed’.   

“My business partner Tim Foster has been working with Budvar and Camden Town breweries to help create goody bags for staff at University College London Hospital. Somers Town is the drop off point, helping to collect over 4,000 chocolates and 300 cases of beer, which are then distributed to the hospital teams. Without the pub to unwind in after a hard day, the drinks and socials have offered staff a place to relax and chat after they’ve come off duty,” he says.

“And OAPA advisor Paul Pavli CBII [also a Non-Executive Director of BIIAB] approached Nestle, Britvic, Lupa, Leathman’s, Feel Good, Thomas Franks and Bidfood to provide food and care packages for the homeless and those in need. To date, 33,000 items have been sent to Somers Town to be distributed.”

While Yummy’s good and charitable works continue apace, Anthony is at pains to point out that cash flow management remains critical at every step. 

“I am counting every penny and ensuring all the orders goes through me, as a Director. We have a responsibility to ensure that every penny, whether to pay wages or a supplier, is justified and can be paid. I have spent a lot of time on the phone managing relationships and spread sheets! And I keep reforecasting,” says Anthony, adding that during the first six weeks of lockdown, he actually reforecast twice a week.

“I needed to ensure we were in a position to look after the sole traders – the little guys who must also be protected. And I must add that our landlord, Wells & Co [formerly Charles Wells] has been exemplary in its care of us during this and the fire at Somers Town.” 

Yummy’s staff, while furloughed, are also keeping busy, improving their food and drink knowledge via online training, watching HospoLive and creating their own video diaries to share their new recipes and cocktails devised at home during lockdown.

“Sharing their incredible knowledge has created a great vibe, while helping to protect their sanity through structured communication with each other, using House Party, Zoom and quizzes,” says Anthony.

While the early weeks of closure have been about ‘crisis management’, Yummy has now begun to focus on how it can emerge better, stronger and ready to fight for every pound that consumers will have to spend. 

Anthony explains: “We have been thinking about reopening and how we will be able to do business. Tech, from ordering systems to payment at the tables, will play a vital role in terms of limiting contact. 

“Understanding our business, our supply chain, our people and being able to maintain a firm grasp of the wheel, as well as knowing when to apply the brakes, is essential. 

“In the first few weeks of trading, I think success will be about knowing when to hit the brakes quickly, as well as being able to make a quick decision. You can’t let yourself be paralysed by fear. The worse thing anyone can do in any crisis is not make a decision, or to dither.”

• Anthony Pender CBII’s full-length Viewpoint on the current crisis as it unfurls will be published in BII News magazine’s summer edition, to be published in July.

Interview with Beryl Oppenheim (born May 4, 1929), creating her personal memoir…

“In May 1945, I was living at home with my mum at 17 Dale Road, West Monkseaton, Northumberland. I was 16. My father was still serving in the army in Italy and I’d left school at 14 to go to Greggs, the shorthand and typing school in Jesmond, Newcastle. I remember the headteacher making an announcement to tell us that the war was over and then we formed an orderly file and walked to church, to say a pray of thanks.

“I don’t recollect any street parties or anything like that. I do remember I watched the news at the local cinema, The Regal, and there were bonfires. The Australian and New Zealand airforcemen stationed in Whitley Bay lit lots of bonfires on the fields on their base that night. 

“It wasn’t a case of rejoicing, but a sense of relief. Relief that we could go back to our normal lives.

“Every night for God knows how long, I had pretty much slept in the air-raid shelter at night, as the German Luftwaffe came, dropping bombs on South Shields, North Shields and Whitley Bay.

“We had an Andersen Shelter in the garden. The Government supplied them and you had to dig it into your garden. My father did ours before he went away with the army. It was delivered before the war started and it arrived in bits that you had to put together. You dug the hole and built the shelter in the hole.

“It was always cold and damp.

“Because my father worked on the fish docks, he wasn’t called up at the beginning of the war, but he was eventually, about the time that the 8th Army was in Egypt and Montgomery started his offensive. 

“After joining up, but before he was sent to Egypt, I can distinctly remember arriving home from school with a plate full of doughnuts, that I had made in cookery. My mum smiled as she opened the door and when I looked in, I saw my dad. I was so happy that I dropped the plate and I can remember seeing the doughnuts rolling around on the floor. I hadn’t realised it at the time, but he was on embarkation leave. I never saw him again until after the war. 

“I used to write a letter to him every day, even if it was just a few lines – “I love you daddy”, “missing you” or “I hope you come home soon”. Nothing special. He didn’t often get the chance to write back, but every now and then we’d get a letter telling us that he was okay.

“My father ended up following the 8th Army from Egypt into Algiers. They landed at Salerno in Italy and went into Monte Cassino, Naples and up to Rome, eventually.

“I have a photograph of him, taken in Naples, after they had landed in Salerno and Monte Cassino had fallen. He looked very gaunt and had lost a lot of weight. It had been a tough time. When they landed at Salerno, the Germans were waiting for them, I believe, and they lost a lot of men. I think he lost a lot of friends. 

“After the liberation of Italy, I remember him saying how kind the Italians were to them and that the women used to cook them nice meals.”  

Back in England: “For our nights in the shelter I had a Siren Suit, an all-in-one garment with a zip up the front. You sometimes see photographs of Winston Churchill wearing his. Mine had a hood as well and you’d put it on over the top of your pyjamas. There were pillows kept in the shelter, but you didn’t take your bedding. You didn’t have time to fiddle about. 

“Mostly, we would go upstairs to bed and then I’d be woken up by my mum, who would say: ‘you’ve got to get up, the sirens are going’. 

“In the shelter, I’d just lie or sit there, listening to the bombs fall. I used to count them and I knew that if I’d get to six, they would have passed over and the bombs wouldn’t drop on me! Thinking about it now, that wasn’t very kind, only caring about myself.

“But you would sit there listening, thinking that the next one would hit you. They made a really loud whistle as they dropped. Maybe it was so loud because the planes were so low. I don’t know. Lots of houses around us were damaged, but our road wasn’t hit. 

“Sometimes the siren would go off and I’d be in the cinema and we’d all just carry on watching – my mum would go mad at me! The film would switch off and a sign used to come up, saying ‘The air-raid siren has now sounded, people who wish to leave the cinema, please leave now’. Then the lights would come on and just a few people would leave. Probably those with children at home. But most people stayed and just waited for the film to restart. We only lived five minutes’ walk away.

“People just accepted it. It was life and you just got on with it. It wasn’t until I was older and had left school that I think I began taking notice of what was happening more. I suppose it’s how you protected yourself, as a child. You can’t think about all the bad things that are happening.”

After VE Day, it was another year or two until Beryl’s father, Jack Harpham, returned from Italy. Beryl left Greggs and got a job with NCR, the cash-register firm, in Newcastle as an ‘accounting machine demonstrator’. She got to travel all over the UK, demonstrating how to use the accounting machine, which was basically a sophisticated adding-machine, that also brought an end to hand-written bookkeeping.

She remembers being sent to London for 2-3 weeks, aged 16, to stay at an hotel off Oxford Street for training. 

“The three or four hotels opposite mine were full of American soldiers, all waiting for a ship to take them home. They used to whistle and shout, so you couldn’t go near the window. But they were only wanting to be friendly!

“In fact, I went to the cinema with a couple of them. I remember walking across Hyde Park. People were different then. They had more respect for one another.

“I enjoyed being in London. But can you imagine it now, sending a young girl down to London to stay on her own? But no one thought anything of it then.” 

It was at the Newcastle NCR office that Beryl Harpham, as she was then, met her husband-to-be, John Oppenheim. It was 1947, after he’d been demobbed from the Royal Navy, where he had served throughout the war in the Fleet Air Arm, receiving the Distinguished Service Medal for his part in the first night bombing of a U-Boat.

They married in April 1949 and while still working with NCR, John’s job took the family from Newcastle to Hull, to Manchester and Liverpool, before London and a home life in Maidenhead, Berkshire in 1965, where Beryl still lives today, aged 91.

As global head of coffee at Finlays, the international coffee producer with customers including the major grocers and top high street names, Tom Blackwall is passionate about coffee and the industry.  As the newly appointed chair of the British Coffee Association, he will be striving to bring UK coffee businesses, large and small, together to tackle the key issues affecting coffee now and in the future. Kate Oppenheim reports

“Coffee is a very emotive topic, a lot of people are very passionate about it, myself included,” begins Tom Blackwall, global head of coffee at Finlays and the newly appointed chair of the British Coffee Association. 

“It has a positive impact across the globe. It’s a trading commodity and a high value cash crop, but being a commodity on the Futures Market means that the price fluctuates wildly, and that has resulted in prices being very low at the moment,” explains Tom, voicing concern that it’s currently hard for farmers at origin to cover costs of production. “Coffee companies and consumers,” he continues, “need to make greater efforts to ensure they are paying a fair and proper price for their coffee.”

Not an easy task, he readily admits. “It is hard. I visit many areas around the world and see that the cost of production varies enormously from one country to another, as it is dependent on so many things. It is difficult to buy a blend of coffee and know that the farmer is getting good value for it. I know that many companies do strive to create a sustainable supply chain, where every actor within it is profitable.

“It really is up to each individual company to ensure they are paying a fair price, and for companies and industry to come together to see what we can all do collaboratively to ensure farmers are being paid fairly.”

Projects at origin, including working with farmers to increase yields, reducing inputs, such as fertiliser, all help and were key to helping farmers be able to better withstand fluctuating market prices, he adds.

“Coffee is a luxury item for people in the developed world, but for a farmer it is essential for their income. The BCA brings together key players within the industry to look at sustainability issues, ranging from reducing packaging material to working to tackle concerns at origin,” Tom explains.

BCA currently has 62 members, representing the whole sector and involving some of the biggest players within the industry, including Costa Coffee, Caffe Nero, Bewley’s, Lavazza, Nestle, Matthew Algie and Finlays. For a full list of members, click here https://www.britishcoffeeassociation.org/membership

One of the top jobs on Tom’s ‘to do’ list is to increase that membership to include some of the smaller roasters, the independent and speciality coffee shop operators. The BCA has a structured membership fee, which bases cost of joining upon annual turnover, to make it affordable for smaller businesses to join.

“We provide a very valuable service to our members, from offering help with technical issues to regulatory matters and, of course, questions relating to the current political situation.”

A highly topical issue for roasters at the moment was the levels of acrylamide in coffee, which the BCA could advise them on.  “A member can phone us up and ask how to reduce the amount of acrylamide in their coffee and we can assist. While current EU levels are advisory, it’s highly possible that these will become enforceable within the next few years,” he adds.

Platform for coffee’s next generation

“I am also passionate about the next generation of leadership within the coffee industry. Under my chairmanship, I am very keen to create and embrace this next generation – the many young men and women working within the smaller roasters and businesses who are passionate about what they do. I am keen to create a platform for these people and help them define the future of our industry.”

Campaigning and lobbying is a big part of the BCA’s remit and fighting against a no-deal Brexit is another key issue. “We are pushing for, and will always fight against, a no-deal Brexit.

“If no-deal plays out it will have a massive impact on the coffee industry for two key reasons. One, it will see a return to World Trade Organisation tariffs, which means roasted and processed coffee imported from the EU will have a 7.5% tariff and instant / soluble coffee will have a 9% tariff. That will add a massive cost to the supply of coffee in the UK.

“Green coffee will remain as a zero tariff, but the UK imports a lot of coffee, especially soluble coffee from the EU. If there’s a no-deal, the price of coffee will go up and it’s also quite likely that choice will go down.”

Tom continues: “Secondly, migration and labour movement into the UK. The UK economy relies heavily on the inward migration of EU workers and the current position on no-deal suggests free movement will end in favour of EU visas, favouring highly skilled workers, which will be to the detriment of younger European workers, who are the sort of people working in retail and coffee shops.

“The profitability of our members is of great concern to us and reducing the volume of labour and costs will impact on them.”

The BCA, says Tom, will ensure its membership gets a voice, both within the UK and Europe.

It recently produced a White Paper, looking at sustainability across the supply chain.

“There are many issues in the world of agricultural commodities that one company can’t tackle on its own. But working together as an industry with the BCA we can. As chairman, I am also keen to promote collaboration within our membership but also within Europe and the US with other associations too. The BCA is a key contributor also to any Defra reports and also collaborates with the ICO (International Coffee Organization http://www.ico.org/) and wider European coffee associations too.”

Another topic high on Tom’s and the BCA’s agenda is the issue of waste recycling, discussing key issues such as the need for a national waste infrastructure to end the current post-code lottery of recycling. 

“The issue of plastic is a difficult one, as coffee stales very quickly and making sure coffee quality is maintained is a priority. So, we are actively speaking to the Government about waste recycling. It’s really important, especially as people are unsure of what’s available to them locally; what to do with their cup – do they put it in the compost or recycling bin? Most compostable cups can’t go in a home composter, they need industrial composting,” he adds. 

“There’s talk of a tax on plastic to pay for recycling schemes, but Government needs to recognise that businesses can’t absorb all of these extra costs. We all need to think and consult on the best way forward. It’s important Government gets the infrastructure right first – it’s not about bulldozing through measures.”

So, whether you’re a green coffee buyer, roaster, independent café or speciality coffee shop, it’s highly likely Tom and the BCA will be wanting to speak to you, as he begins his campaign to give a voice to more businesses, while rousing the next generation of coffee’s passionate ‘next generation’ to step forward and join him in his mission. 

This article was commissioned and published in Beverage Business World (Quinic Events).

https://beveragebusinessworld.com/latest-news/big-interview-tom-blackwall-chair-of-the-british-coffee-association-28-06-2019/

For the past two years, Well Grounded has been busy connecting people: inspiring and upskilling individuals and generating work-related opportunities in its mission to provide a ‘talent pipeline’ for the coffee sector.

At the heart of this organisation is its founder Eve Wagg, who with her love of coffee embarked on a journey that is focused on changing lives for the better, by providing skills and openings for individuals whose talent hasn’t yet had the chance to sparkle.

Now she is planning to extend this ‘talent pipeline’ outside of Well Grounded’s current East London home in Tower Hamlets, firstly to London’s Kings Cross in the spring and then onto other major towns and cities across the UK. Areas where social deprivation, high unemployment and scant opportunities keep many gifted people hidden below the surface.

These are people who, as Wagg and the Well Grounded team are able to demonstrate, when given the right environment, support, training and opportunities, will blossom.

With 40,000 Barista jobs forecast to be vacant by 2023 and 1.4m unemployed people in the UK, Wagg’s ambition is to grow academies in locations where speciality coffee operators are opening and tap into the employment opportunities for the local communities. 

“I always had this idea about how coffee could connect with people who were experiencing some sort of disadvantage,” said Wagg, who gave up a career in the voluntary sector to test her idea in a pilot scheme with Ozone Coffee in 2015.

From the seeds of that first pilot, today’s fully-grown training programme focuses on five skill sets, served up to individuals on a nine-week course where technical and work skills are complemented by life-skills to enable employability and success.

“We’ve developed a curriculum based upon educational methodology, growth mindset and technical skills, along with work readiness and support. It links to the key strengths of resilience, self-awareness, confidence, teamwork collaboration and technical skills,” explains Wagg.

“It’s about allowing people to develop other strengths through learning about coffee. Research shows that it’s important to contextualise wider skills in order for them to be embedded, so we don’t just talk to people about feeling confident, but show them what it looks like when working in a busy café.”

Well Grounded’s HQ and training centre is based within the Spotlight Youth Academy centre at Poplar HARCA, an award-winning Social Housing Association in Langdon Park in London’s E14 postal area. Langdon Park is in ‘Lansbury Ward’, which falls within the top 20% of the most deprived areas of the country. It also has the highest unemployment rates in Tower Hamlets, with 20% of residents being long-term unemployed or whom have never worked.

With its training and network of more than 50 coffee companies, including Ozone, Notes, Harris + Hoole, PRESS and the big brands, such as Caffe Nero, Well Grounded is ever on the look-out for new partners and opportunities.

“First and foremost we look to develop talent for the industry. We work with a diverse group of people aged between 16 and 60, refugees, victims of modern slavery, people with mental health issues, young people who have never been employed or older people out of work and looking for a new career. There’s a huge demand for talent in this industry, which needs experienced baristas, and we find the people who have that talent.

“We’re creating coffee professionals.”

Take Sis, one trainee on the current nine-week course who retired after a 25-year career in housing management, only to find herself, aged 55, unemployable elsewhere. She’s learning about coffee with plans to open her own bespoke coffee house in Deptford where the coffee will be imported from local producers and farmers in the Caribbean. Or Stephen, who is seeking a more sensory experience and gaining skills to find work in a roastery. 

With 10 people applying for every place, there’s a huge demand for Well Grounded’s three courses. The one-day course is a taster session for anyone looking at a new career in coffee; who might just need some speciality coffee association tech skills connections and support with their CVS, and the flagship nine week course, which combines SCA tech skills with soft ‘work’ skills, plus a four-week placement at the end.

It costs £1,500 to transition someone from unemployed through training, mentorship, employment support and into sustained work, explains Wagg. With every one of the Well Grounded graduates provided with ongoing support, refresher training, social events, mentoring and more.

Funding is obtained through a variety of grants, which represent 40% of its income, with the rest coming through delivering private training and recruitment services to coffee companies.

To find the right individuals, Well Grounded spends a lot of time engaging with communities and getting them to try coffee, like the young football fan who Wagg met at event hosted by the Arsenal Foundation, an initiative by the football club to support youngsters who have fallen out of education.

“This one lad had never tried coffee before, but when he tasted it, you could see he saw something in it. Coffee has transformed him. He’s now a full-time barrister working in Clerkenwell,” she says.

Then there’s the refugee from Yemen, who went to work for Notes after completing her nine-week training course. What followed was a summer internment with the Rwanda Farmers Coffee Co and a Masters in Coffee Economics in Trieste, Italy, sponsored by Illy. She is now working for Falcon Coffee in quality control and speaks at United Nation’s conferences on post-conflict resolution in agriculture and supporting women in the coffee industry!

“Everyone needs a foot in the door. We pick people up and help unlock their potential. They can finish up working in a roastery, wholesale, marketing or running their own coffee cart. People end up in the right work solution for them,” says Wagg, who is keen to point out that none of it could have happened without the amazing support she and her team of five at Well Grounded have received from individuals and companies within the industry.

“We have an incredible board and advisory team and a community of great people from employers to industry people –  La Marzocco, Ozone, Notes, Soho House, British Airways, UBS and Lloyds too.”

And in just two years’ Well Grounded has given 161 people access to training, got more 82 people into work, education or further training, 103 have gained SCA-accredited training with 50 employers hiring its graduates.

Leeds, Sheffield, Glasgow and Bristol are all on Well Grounded’s hit-list. “Bristol isn’t probably an area people think of as having high levels of unemployment or disadvantage, but every community in the UK does. Our value is that we unlock the potential of people and connect communities, so in areas where there’s a growth of speciality coffee, we can make sure that the communities living there are accessing their jobs and are visiting them and enjoying their service.”

Well Grounded is planning to establish five academies within the next five years, with each academy working with 100 individuals annually, creating opportunities for 500 people a year.

This article was commissioned and published by Beverage Business World (Quinic Events).

https://beveragebusinessworld.com/latest-news/big-interview-well-grounded-16-10-2018/

Large hotels aren’t often celebrated for their coffee offer, but Tony Mosca, InterContinental London Park Lane’s director of food and beverage, has set out to create a unique and altogether special experience for coffee lovers.

High Coffee, an alternative to the hotel’s well-established Royal Afternoon Tea, is a sensory event that takes guests on a culinary journey with each course paired with a coffee experience, courtesy of Mosca, executive chef Ashley Wells, executive sous chef Stirling Webb and Eva Inzani of coffee partner, L’Unico Caffe Musetti.

“The idea was to deliver a coffee experience to guests that celebrated the different ways of serving coffee,” explains Mosca, a self-proclaimed coffee lover who grew up in Melbourne, Australia amid his coffee-centric family, whose percolator was always brewing and kitchen packed full of coffee-related gadgets.

“Our High Coffee experience is a first within the London hotel market and is about creating theatre; giving our guests a unique coffee experience.”

Mosca first mooted the idea of High Coffee while working in Sydney, where he was food and beverage director for InterContinental (2009-2012). 

“Afternoon tea was at a peak, so we wanted to develop a new market and while afternoon tea was seen as more of a feminine experience, we understood that coffee would have a broader appeal,” says Mosca.

Working with award-winning Australian/Italian chef, Stefano Manfredi, Mosca helped develop a food and coffee pairing menu. It was hugely successful and led InterContinental to expand the High Coffee concept into its hotels in Melbourne and Adelaide.

When Mosca arrived in London last year, he again recognised a ‘saturated afternoon tea’ market and set out to recreate a coffee experience to capture a whole new market here.

“We wanted to bring something unique to London’s coffee scene,” he continues.

“London’s coffee market is growing; there are more coffee houses than ever before, even Harrods has a roasting area. There is amazing coffee to be enjoyed and people will go out of their way to get a great cup.” 

Adding: “And people are increasingly prepared to pay more for a great cup of coffee, while not being prepared to put up with sub-standard products.”

Mosca continues: “Our High Coffee is an experience for coffee lovers and makes a perfect gift, or can be enjoyed by friends and groups of people. We’re seeing big groups of friends taking over a corner of our Wellington Lounge to hold a baby shower or other celebration. It’s a unique experience and being coffee, it leaves people feeling energised afterwards.”

The hotel, which serves over 100,000 cups of coffee a year, offers four different blends with the majority of it being a 85% Arabica/15% robusta blend from Musetti, which also supplies the coffee equipment and staff training.

There’s a barista station, with a Gaggia machine, situated in the Wellington Lounge for the staff who have gone through “extensive training” to provide them with a wide spectrum of knowledge; from how coffee is grown, the regions, the coffee to milk ratio, how to keep the machines clean and so on. 

“We want our staff to be confident and be able to explain our High Coffee experience; why the foods are paired with the particular style of coffee. For instance, we have smoked eel (served with red onion, caper aioli on a beetroot brioche roll) among the open sandwiches on the first course, which compliments the 100% Arabica 1934 blend used in the Espresso Martini,” says Mosca.

“People are surprised how well it works, with the oil in the eel going beautifully with the coffee. It creates a ‘wow’ reaction, with people saying they are surprised by the pairing and how well the flavours work together.”

From the open sandwiches, warm savouries to the desserts, which are paired with a Caffe du Paradiso – an 85% Arabica/15% robusta, with a dark cocoa, nuttiness, peachy, caramel, blackcurrant and butterscotch notes – every element of the menu, the dishes and the presentation is designed to impress. 

The finale is a Gold Cuvee, a special blend exclusively produced by Musetti for the hotel using beans from seven countries, explains the manager of the Arch Bar and Wellington Lounge Manuel De Juan (pictured right), whose passion for High Coffee is evident in his elegant narration of the each course and coffee pairing.

Mosca continues: “All the feedback has been very positive, although some say there is, perhaps, too much food! Guests enjoy the interaction with the staff. They’re not just there to drink a pot of tea, but take part in an experience – one which begins with an Espresso Martini!”

The development of High Coffee isn’t to end here, with plans afoot to review the menu early next year as Mosca believes the experience must continue to evolve.

Elsewhere in the hotel, Mosca is looking to reinvigorate the coffee experience. He’s currently in discussion with a Cold Brew company to supply product for the rooms’ mini-bars.

Events are another big area for the hotel, with up to 1,000 delegates using the conference facilities at any one time.

“We want to develop the hotel’s regular cup of coffee by bringing in different varieties of beans to make the coffee offer even better. It’s about giving more attention to coffee culture within the hotel.”

Looking how to deliver a better coffee experience to a larger audience is something he’s actively investigating – to provide delegates with a choice of cappuccinos or lattes, alongside the filter coffee.

“Often the problem comes with how the coffee is served. People see large coffee pots or urns and think it won’t be great quality. I’d like to find different ways to serve coffee to create theatre and interest. For instance, in New York we used syphons to create a sense of fun.”

From High Coffee to expanding the hotel’s coffee culture, Mosca is intent on delivering an altogether more spectacular and unique coffee offer than is available at any other big London hotel – perhaps driven by a long-held dream to one day open a speciality coffee shop of his own back home in Melbourne.

This article was commissioned and published by Beverage Business World (Quinic Events).

https://beveragebusinessworld.com/latest-news/big-interview-intercontinental-london-park-lane-02-10-2018/

Inside a WWII Nissen Hut, hidden within the imposing structure that is home to Tate Britain in London’s Westminster, is the Roastery at Tate, delivering fine coffee to the four Tate galleries; Britain, Modern, Liverpool and St Ives.

It is also home to the Slot Roasting Collective, a roasting solution utilised by eight to 10 coffee clients each week. The roastery also produces white label blends and performs contract roasting, which all help ensure the resident Probat 25kg roaster is never idle – it produces 60-65 tonnes of coffee a year.

“We see ourselves as a stepping stone for people to move into their own roastery operations, if that’s what they want to do. Roasting can be inaccessible financially and in terms of knowledge, and we are helping to break those barriers down,” says Thomas Haigh, Tate’s head of coffee and certified Q-Grader.

Partnering people and creating communities is at the very heart of Tate Coffee, with ethicality, transparency and gender equality its lifeblood, explains Haigh, who was brought on board three years ago to take-over the roastery by Tate Catering’s CEO Hamish Anderson, a notable wine sommelier.

Along with inheriting the roastery (Tate has been roasting inhouse since 2011, but previously in Herne Hill), Haigh has established Tate’s Gender Equality Project (GEP) in partnership with import and export partners Falcon Specialty and Caravela.

“I was really interested in equality in coffee and when I took over the roastery it was the chance for me to use it as a platform to research and engage with the issue – which I believe is at the heart of sustainability,” says Haigh, formerly Climpson & Sons’ head of coffee.

Equality is, as Haigh describes it, the narrative that runs throughout everything Tate does, with the roastery, as a non-profit business, helping to fund Tate galleries while championing coffee producers and professionals throughout the coffee chain.

Last year, 63% of coffee bought by Tate was grown by women, with the rest produced by families.

“This narrative ordains everything we do. One of the issues that women producers face is access to market, and we’ve created export avenues for over 60 independent women in Latin American since we started,” he explains.

An example is Mezcla de Mujeres in Honduras, which champions the talents of eight women producers in Corquin, Copan and was an initiative Tate established with Falcon in the region.

“It is a way for us to increase our impact with the women of the area… to create high volumes and cost effective, exportable coffee for them as well.”

He continues: “Accelerating equality makes huge changes within communities. Yields and quality go up too. After all, if you’re under-mobilising half of a community, that community’s potential is diminished. By reducing inequality and creating accessibility, communities thrive, the harvest thrives and quality thrives.”

Furthermore, he believes the coffee sector’s obsession with quality is often counter-productive for the growers, adding that it can be Euro-centric and egotistical too.

“I believe [the coffee industry’s] focus on quality isn’t doing much for equality, so we’re working with partners to build quality from the ground up. When the focus is on experimental processing on ‘in vogue’ varieties, such as Geisha, we’re all creating a symbolic culture around quality which is inaccessible to producers in marginalised areas.

“Our understanding of quality is very different to the producers we work with. We’re worlds apart when it comes to analysis and understanding. But by reducing the inequalities within the communities in which we work, we’re seeing different types of quality coming out and we’re having to react by changing what we do; how we roast and talk about the coffees, and showcase them.

“Women don’t have the same access and knowledge that men have got, so they’re finding new ways and thinking differently when it comes to treating their crops.

“Rather than me having expectations of quality and expecting producers to fit in, we’re creating platforms for women and producing communities to thrive by using whatever quality comes and reacting to those qualities – which are still within our idea of quality, because the coffee is sensational. There are just different ways of getting there and it is quite empowering for both parties.”

And Haigh continues: “Personally, I find it all super refreshing, because it changes the direction of the narrative,” adding that he wouldn’t be able to do ‘all of this’ if it wasn’t for working in a non-profit environment.

Tate Coffee doesn’t wholesale its coffee, but offers it just for sale in the galleries – selling one million cups of coffee to what is a diverse and international audience each year.

“Quality is a factor but not the overriding one for us. We operate on the periphery of speciality, making speciality enjoyable and accessible for all.”

Tate – which has a range of four coffees, its single origin espresso, two micro-lots from different regions and a decaf – pays a premium price for each kilo of coffee purchased and pays into the World Coffee Research Institute, which explores ways to secure the future of coffee. Money is also donated to the Partnership for Gender Equity.

And Tate’s equality project doesn’t just focus aboard, but at roasting level here in the UK too. Lottie Poulton is head roaster at Tate, having joined earlier this year.

“We had got to a point in the business where we wanted to reach out and have more impact outside of the roastery. Lottie is fundamental in this and has played a big part in making us a more accessible, education-focused space, where people feel safe and feel good about coffee.”

Coffee, he continues, is a great tool to create platforms for hope and dignity, citing fellow roasters Manumit and Redemption as great examples.

“We’re trying to be that space that people can use to learn about sourcing, roasting, operating a roasting environment, the logistics, financials and operations so they develop relationships that will last.”

He concludes: “A lot of the time roasters and baristas brew coffee they want to drink, not what their audience wants to drink. We can’t afford to do that. We have people from all over the world drinking our coffee and it has to be accessible and enjoyable for all.

“What we’re doing here is a refreshing change in speciality coffee.”

He adds, “there’s no room for egos within Tate Coffee’s WWII bunker”. Instead, Tate Coffee is all about helping to empower people to live better.

This article was commissioned and published by Beverage Business World (Quinic Events).

https://beveragebusinessworld.com/latest-news/big-interview-coffee-by-tate-25-09-2018/

Inside a WWII Nissen Hut, hidden within the imposing structure that is home to Tate Britain in London’s Westminster, is the Roastery at Tate, delivering fine coffee to the four Tate galleries; Britain, Modern, Liverpool and St Ives.

It is also home to the Slot Roasting Collective, a roasting solution utilised by eight to 10 coffee clients each week. The roastery also produces white label blends and performs contract roasting, which all help ensure the resident Probat 25kg roaster is never idle – it produces 60-65 tonnes of coffee a year.  

“We see ourselves as a stepping stone for people to move into their own roastery operations, if that’s what they want to do. Roasting can be inaccessible financially and in terms of knowledge, and we are helping to break those barriers down,” says Thomas Haigh, Tate’s head of coffee and certified Q-Grader.

Partnering people and creating communities is at the very heart of Tate Coffee, with ethicality, transparency and gender equality its lifeblood, explains Haigh, who was brought on board three years ago to take-over the roastery by Tate Catering’s CEO Hamish Anderson, a notable wine sommelier.

Along with inheriting the roastery (Tate has been roasting inhouse since 2011, but previously in Herne Hill), Haigh has established Tate’s Gender Equality Project (GEP) in partnership with import and export partners Falcon Specialty and Caravela.

“I was really interested in equality in coffee and when I took over the roastery it was the chance for me to use it as a platform to research and engage with the issue – which I believe is at the heart of sustainability,” says Haigh, formerly Climpson & Sons’ head of coffee.

Equality is, as Haigh describes it, the narrative that runs throughout everything Tate does, with the roastery, as a non-profit business, helping to fund Tate galleries while championing coffee producers and professionals throughout the coffee chain.

Last year, 63% of coffee bought by Tate was grown by women, with the rest produced by families.

“This narrative ordains everything we do. One of the issues that women producers face is access to market, and we’ve created export avenues for over 60 independent women in Latin American since we started,” he explains.

An example is Mezcla de Mujeres in Honduras, which champions the talents of eight women producers in Corquin, Copan and was an initiative Tate established with Falcon in the region.

“It is a way for us to increase our impact with the women of the area… to create high volumes and cost effective, exportable coffee for them as well.”

He continues: “Accelerating equality makes huge changes within communities. Yields and quality go up too. After all, if you’re under-mobilising half of a community, that community’s potential is diminished. By reducing inequality and creating accessibility, communities thrive, the harvest thrives and quality thrives.”

Furthermore, he believes the coffee sector’s obsession with quality is often counter-productive for the growers, adding that it can be Euro-centric and egotistical too.

“I believe [the coffee industry’s] focus on quality isn’t doing much for equality, so we’re working with partners to build quality from the ground up. When the focus is on experimental processing on ‘in vogue’ varieties, such as Geisha, we’re all creating a symbolic culture around quality which is inaccessible to producers in marginalised areas.

“Our understanding of quality is very different to the producers we work with. We’re worlds apart when it comes to analysis and understanding. But by reducing the inequalities within the communities in which we work, we’re seeing different types of quality coming out and we’re having to react by changing what we do; how we roast and talk about the coffees, and showcase them.

“Women don’t have the same access and knowledge that men have got, so they’re finding new ways and thinking differently when it comes to treating their crops.

“Rather than me having expectations of quality and expecting producers to fit in, we’re creating platforms for women and producing communities to thrive by using whatever quality comes and reacting to those qualities – which are still within our idea of quality, because the coffee is sensational. There are just different ways of getting there and it is quite empowering for both parties.”

And Haigh continues: “Personally, I find it all super refreshing, because it changes the direction of the narrative,” adding that he wouldn’t be able to do ‘all of this’ if it wasn’t for working in a non-profit environment.

Tate Coffee doesn’t wholesale its coffee, but offers it just for sale in the galleries – selling one million cups of coffee to what is a diverse and international audience each year.

“Quality is a factor but not the overriding one for us. We operate on the periphery of speciality, making speciality enjoyable and accessible for all.”

Tate – which has a range of four coffees, its single origin espresso, two micro-lots from different regions and a decaf – pays a premium price for each kilo of coffee purchased and pays into the World Coffee Research Institute, which explores ways to secure the future of coffee. Money is also donated to the Partnership for Gender Equity.

And Tate’s equality project doesn’t just focus aboard, but at roasting level here in the UK too. Lottie Poulton is head roaster at Tate, having joined earlier this year.

“We had got to a point in the business where we wanted to reach out and have more impact outside of the roastery. Lottie is fundamental in this and has played a big part in making us a more accessible, education-focused space, where people feel safe and feel good about coffee.”

Coffee, he continues, is a great tool to create platforms for hope and dignity, citing fellow roasters Manumit and Redemption as great examples.

“We’re trying to be that space that people can use to learn about sourcing, roasting, operating a roasting environment, the logistics, financials and operations so they develop relationships that will last.”

He concludes: “A lot of the time roasters and baristas brew coffee they want to drink, not what their audience wants to drink. We can’t afford to do that. We have people from all over the world drinking our coffee and it has to be accessible and enjoyable for all.

“What we’re doing here is a refreshing change in speciality coffee.”

He adds, “there’s no room for egos within Tate Coffee’s WWII bunker”. Instead, Tate Coffee is all about helping to empower people to live better.

This article was commissioned and published by Beverage Business World (Quinic Events).

https://beveragebusinessworld.com/latest-news/big-interview-redemption-roasters-14-08-2018/