Roasting innovation
Rounton Coffee create a new product range with help from a PAPI grant
Rounton Coffee is an independent artisan coffee roastery, based in East Rounton in North Yorkshire. They supply a variety of coffees to home brewers across the UK, as well as wholesale customers.
Rounton only roasts speciality coffees, as these have greater benefits in terms of social, environmental and economic impact globally. The business has a strong focus on ethical sourcing and traceability and has created strong relationships with farmers in Ethiopia, Colombia, Sumatra and Kenya, ensuring that they are paid fairly for their coffee. Rounton’s products have been recognised with a number of awards, including 5 Great Taste awards, and the Flavours of Herriot Award for Specialist Retailer of the Year.
Innovation
The business started by roasting small batches, using a small spice roaster. It soon became apparent that this was unsuitable for roasting darker blends or producing filter coffees as it had poor flame control which created harsh and bitter notes in the coffee. The equipment was limiting business innovation capacity, as they could not create new flavours and products. In an increasingly competitive marketplace, Rounton sought to purchase new equipment which would allow them to achieve their innovation goals. They approached PAPI for grant funding to help with the purchase of a coffee roaster and a 'cafe racer'.
Business growth
The business was awarded a £20,000 grant to purchase the new equipment. The new Coffee Roaster allowed Rounton the ability to control the amount of heat produced in the roasting process, resulting in the ability to produce a wider range of coffees and enter new markets, such as the lucrative filter coffee market. The café racer gives the business a high level of precision that will allow them to create accurate, bespoke coffee recipes for wholesale customers.
The project allowed the business to create two new products, which increased turnover and profit substantially and in doing so allowed them to create one new full-time role within the business.
The PAPI grant allowed us to expand our award-winning product range into new, lucrative markets.