ST AUSTELL, Cornwall – One of the South West’s biggest breweries is diversifying into the coffee market, with the launch of its own new, exclusive brand of Fairtrade coffee. St Austell Brewery has developed the Brewer & Bean coffee brand which this February will launch across the company’s 25-strong retail estate in Cornwall and Devon.
The Brewery is adapting the basic coffee shop model to provide high quality freshly ground coffee to drink in and take away, as an alternative to the big name national coffee brands on the high street.
Brewer & Bean’s launch comes as pubs are increasingly looking to food and accommodation as their main source of income, and so St Austell Brewery has responded to this trend by creating a unique coffee brand which will appeal to this new audience.
According to coffee specialists Allegra Strategies, the UK coffee market has grown by 6.4 per cent in the last year, with over 16,500 outlets nationwide. Branded coffee chains account for around a third of these, but they are facing increasing competitive pressures from the non-specialist sector.
The Brewer & Bean range, supplied by local firm, Cornish Coffee, has been blended to St Austell Brewery’s own unique recipe, using a combination of two Fairtrade beans; Robusta from Uganda and Arabica from Guatemala, Honduras, Peru and Salvador.
The unique blend of roasted coffee beans are then freshly ground to order by the pubs’ trained baristas.
A full menu of Brewer & Bean coffees, including classic espressos, lattes and cappuccinos, as well as slightly more unusual options like bianco mochas and café con hielos will be available to either drink in or take away.
Customers can also choose from a range of Tea Pig Infusion teas, Fairtrade hot chocolates and the traditional Cornish cream tea
Nick Hemming, St Austell Brewery’s catering development manager said: “Customers know that when they visit a St Austell Brewery pub they are guaranteed fantastic, locally brewed beers, and now we want to offer the same assurance of quality with the hot beverages we sell.
The market for coffee shops has exploded in recent years, and we want St Austell pubs to become as famous for serving tremendous coffee as they are for great beer.
“St Austell Brewery’s pubs, hotels and inns are also well-positioned for offering take away refreshments, as the majority are easily accessible to people travelling around the South West – you can pull into a car park right outside the pub, rather than having to pay to park at a shopping centre or head into a busy town centre.
By choosing a St Austell pub for coffee, customers will also benefit from being able to enjoy a proper meal from a good menu with their coffee, rather than just a pre-packaged sandwich.”
In addition to being available in all the Company’s managed estate, the first Brewer & Bean retail unit will open during February half term, within the Old Custom House in Padstow, with further coffee shops planned to be rolled out over the coming months.
For more information, and the full menu, visit www.brewerandbean.co.uk.
