We support our team to gain professional qualifications within the coffee industry and actively encourage them to enter competitions and share their expertise where they can.
Coffee Quality Institute (CQI)
We recognise the importance of accurately assessing the coffee we buy and sell, and have eleven Q-graders and two of which also have the level 1 Q-Processing qualification.
Q – Grader Arabica
Thierry Akroman – Quality
Philip Searle – Senior Trader
Priscilla Daniel – Senior Trader
Henry Clifford – Senior Trader
Mantvydas Trainavicius – Senior Trader
Jamie Treby – Strategist
Thomas Haigh – Head of Marketing & Sustainability
Timea Vas – Quality
Guus Bremer – Trader
James Duncan – Trader
R – Grader Robusta
Thierry Akroman – Quality
Q – Processing Level 1 : Generalist
Priscilla Daniel – Senior Trader
Philip Searle – Senior Trader
Coffee Chemistry
The industry’s first and only program of understanding aimed at providing a greater technical understanding of overall coffee science.
Coffee Science Certificate Level 1
Philip Searle – Senior Trader
Jamie Treby –Trader, Speciality
The Specialty Coffee Association (SCA)
Part of the coffee skills program, these courses offer in-depth training on specific specialist modules.
Sensory Skills Foundation
Henry Clifford – Senior Trader
Thomas Haigh – Marketing Manager
Hriday Gupta – Marketing Executive
Sensory Skills Intermediate
Henry Clifford – Senior Trader
Thomas Haigh – Marketing Manager
Brewing Skills Intermediate
Henry Clifford – Senior Trader
The Specialty Coffee Association
Authorised Training (AST)
Our Quality Lab is a certified Premier Training Campus for Sensory, Green and Q-grading qualifications.
Competitions and judging
UK Barista Competition Head Judge – 2014 to 2016
Jamie Treby –Trader, Speciality
Industry Involvement and achievements
We have been a member of the British Coffee Association (BCA)
since its conception and contribute to the following:
Member Services Committee
Trade & logistics meetings
Technical and Quality Arbitration
Sustainability Committee
We have been a member of the Speciality Coffee Association (SCA)
since its conception:
Forming part of the first Board of Directors and were the first UK Coordinator
Certifications
In 1994 we become the first independent coffee importer to gain a Fairtrade licence and the first to gain an Organic licence in the UK.
In 2003 we secured Rainforest Alliance certification and are presented with the Rainforest Alliance’s prestigious “Corporate Green Globe Award” for introducing and promoting their programme in the UK
In December 2020, we proudly became B Corp. Becoming B Corp felt like a natural extension of our heritage in certification, enabling us to tie our accreditation, projects, and employee benefits together, helping us pave the way for the future as we continue to seek ways to improve.
