Coffee business invests £250,000 in new roasting facility
Cafeology, the Sheffield-based ethical coffee merchant, is set to invest £250,000 in its business-to-business coffee roasting and blending service, Roastology.
The investment comprises a new roastery featuring a £110,000 giant roaster, a ‘coffee laboratory’ and a fully-equipped training academy. Three new jobs have been created and there are more to follow.
The roastery is based at Cafeology’s new 10,000 sq ft distribution centre at Vantage Riverside Business Park near Meadowhall in Rotherham.
Own-label Cafeology products are sold to the public via retailers, coffee shops and cafeology.com and supply over 50 cafes, restaurants and businesses, while Roastology creates artisan blends from ethically-sourced green coffee.
Bryan Unkles, the managing director who launched Cafeology with business partner Andy McClatchey, said: “We have stayed true to our values of quality, ethical sourcing, full traceability and Yorkshire roots and poured our years of experience into our artisan service, Roastology.
“It has taken off at an unprecedented rate in just two years. Investing in a new site and the latest equipment is proof of our commitment to further expansion. We now have 16 staff and will be creating more jobs on that journey.”
Officially launching on December 6, the site features a 35 kilo Diedrich roaster. It is three times the size of Roastology’s existing equipment and capable of roasting 35 kilos of Cafeology’s Fairtrade-certified beans at 430degC in 12 minutes, with a capacity of a tonne a day.
The training academy for baristas is expected to become the only one in South Yorkshire to gain accreditation for excellence from the global Specialty Coffee Association.
The Coffee Laboratory will also allow the public to see how blends are created and do blind taste-testing to identify flavour characteristics, and learn the art of making a range of coffees.
Other Cafeology brands now include Teaology, Cocoaology and Frappeology, all Fairtrade, and Rainforest Alliance-approved Café Cereza.
Cafeology is maintaining its Sheffield’s Acorn Business Park base.
