I own cafe named UK's 'best' - customers love our 200 different types of coffee
EXCLUSIVE: This popular cafe sources its coffee from around the world, but that's not the only reason it is loved by customers.
A Bristol café says its honest and transparent approach to coffee has been the key to its success. Specialty coffee subscription service Batch Coffee has ranked the city’s Full Court Press as its best in the country.
The café – which gets roughly 200 customers per day on average – sells an ever-changing menu of two options for espresso and two options for filter coffee.
Read more: Coffee will taste 'less bitter' with 1 added ingredient - not sugar or sweetener
Read more: Experts say coffee could help reduce the risk of 1 condition
Co-owner Jonny Simpson told the Express: “Each one is priced based on what we pay for it, so there are no fixed prices. So if you’re a regular customer, you might try about 200 different coffees in the year. With all that variety, we keep it simple in that we have one price for any milk drink and don’t charge for dairy alternatives.”
Its website says they roast some of their coffees, with others roasted by trusted specialty owners. The site also provides information on brews, methods and recipes tailored to each coffee, as well as where they source their coffee from.
The cafe purchases its supplies from importers and then shares the fee paid with customers.
Around 60% of the coffee they purchase is from social enterprise Raw Material. They reinvest all profits through coffee and community-level investments. The coffee Full Court Press purchases from Raw Material comes from Colombia, Rwanda, Burundi, Timor-Leste, and Mexico.
But that doesn’t mean Full Court Press isn’t immune to any ongoing financial challenges. Simpson told the Express he feels the goalposts are always being moved when it comes to doing business.
He said: “Making sure our staff are getting paid enough to afford high rent and high living costs is a challenge when we are already pushing the limits on what people are comfortable paying. Even though the shop is consistently busy, it’s a struggle to make the high VAT bills every quarter. VAT rates can be very nonsensical, and the system doesn’t make it easy for coffee shops to make much profit.”
But despite the challenges, Simpson said he has a plan to maintain their success: “We will continue to have a focus on high quality but being approachable. Keeping ourselves, our customers and our staff engaged by keeping the menu varied!”
