Waterford Coffee roasters go Grande!

Waterford’s family-run coffee roaster, Coffee House Lane, is on the move to bigger premises as a result of the increased demand for its freshly roasted coffee.

Moving from a 2,000 square foot premises in Kilcohan Industrial Complex to a new 6,000 square foot home at the IDA Northern Extension, the move will facilitate increased production, create employment, expansion into new export markets and development of new coffee blends.

Mark Bergin, founder of Coffee House Lane is excited about the new move this month. “The move comes about as a result of the exponential growth in sales in the last year.  The demand for our coffee blends has grown by over 30% and as a result we will increase our capacity to 250-plus metric tonnes per annum.”

“Not only does this mean bigger premises, it also requires new equipment such as a new 30kg roaster, an automated packing line and more staff.   For a company like us, this is a step in the right direction and copper-fastens our commitment to roasting the best coffee in Waterford.”

Mark says a lot of the company’s success can be attributed to its dedication to continual development and upskilling.

“We were one of the first Waterford businesses to graduate from the SuperValu Food Academy ‘Start’ programme two years ago and following that we secured a place on the first SuperValu Food Academy ‘Advance’ programme.  Our involvement with these programmes saw the sales of our product grow and it is now stocked on the shelves of over 200 SuperValu stores and numerous independent retailers.”

“Earlier this year we were chosen as one of nine national food producers to partake in the first FoodService Academy, a programme run by Bord Bia and Musgrave MarketPlace.  We feel it is imperative for us to continue to explore ways to reach new markets and have a presence on the shelves of the big retailers.  That means investing in our premises, our equipment and our people, hence the move to our new, state of the art roasting facility.”

Coffee House Lane currently employs seven full time staff in the areas of production, distribution and sales, however it intends to create four new positions in 2017.

Although Coffee House Lane is a relatively new brand, Mark and his family have a long association with coffee. Mark’s father, Stephen, began working with coffee in the 1960’s.  Coffee Warehouse created its first range, Ponticelli in 2009 and in 2014 launched its Award Winning signature 1690 Blend which pays tribute to the true home of coffee in Ireland, Coffee House Lane.

In the late 17th century John Aikenhead, a merchant and visionary, first brewed and distributed coffee in Ireland from his Waterford coffee house in the aptly named Coffee House Lane.

Mark and his team also have plans to broaden the range of blends on offer and are dedicated to sourcing the finest quality beans from Kenya, Sumatra, Ethiopia and Brazil along with developing new and innovative roasting techniques.

 For more information about Coffee House Lane and the range of Coffee Warehouse blends visit www.coffeehouselane.ie or keep up to date with Coffee House Lane on Facebook and Twitter.