Great coffee, great cause, great business

November 2008

A Sheffield entrepreneur’s passion for coffee and the Fairtrade movement has proved a uniquely successful business blend.

From left to right: Cafeology Operations Manager Toni Unkles, SYIF Investment Manager Grahame Lunt, Cafeology Sales Director Andy McClatchey and Managing Director Bryan Unkles with Hart Shaw head of corporate finance Chris Sellars.

Bryan Unkles has brought together a love and knowledge of the finest coffee and cocoa with a genuine commitment to ethical trading. And, in just three years trading, Cafeology has become one of the UK’s leading suppliers of exclusively Fairtade drinks to the out of home market.

It supplies 100 per cent Fairtrade certified coffee, cocoa, teas, and sugar to caterers, universities, colleges, businesses, festivals and restaurants all over the UK. Customers range from the Glastonbury Festival to Revolution bars, from News International to Sheffield College.

Bryan formed the company with business partner Andy McClatchey in 2003 and earlier this year his wife Toni was brought in to head up the financial side, after a 19 year career in the banking industry.

In the last six months, the company has secured two major national contracts, the first to supply Cafeology drinks to the fifth largest managed pub retailer in the country, the Orchid Group, with over 300 pubs, bars and restaurants.

And, in a major coup, they have also secured access to 900 outlets across the UK supplied by the global leader in professional services ARAMARK, helping to move Fairtrade products from the niche to the mainstream market.

The company’s rapid growth is being managed in partnership with the corporate finance team at leading independent South Yorkshire accountants Hart Shaw who have just helped Cafeology source a refinancing package which includes a £30,000 loan from South Yorkshire Investment Fund.

Hart Shaw’s head of corporate finance Chris Sellars said: “Bryan, Andy and Toni have developed the Cafeology brand which is built on superb quality products ethically produced.

“The business is rapidly expanding and we are delighted to help such a fantastic company to develop and expand further.”

Bryan, who has more than 15 years experience in the coffee trade, said: “Hart Shaw helped us to develop a business plan and with sourcing the re-financing package which has enabled us to create a national brand and to manage Cafeology’s significant growth.

“We truly believe in the importance of supporting the Fairtrade movement, and our mission is to build a market for the finest products available and bring visibility to small independent producers.

“We source the finest coffee beans, mainly from cooperatives in Colombia and Costa Rica, and we are the one of the first coffee companies in the UK out of home market to be exclusively 100 percent Fairtrade certified.”

Cafeology is delighted to add a range of triple certified coffees, not only Fairtrade, but organic and backed by the Rainforest Alliance. Indeed Bryan is travelling to Rainforest Alliance plantations in Costa Rica after Christmas to personally meet farmers and their families.

He added: “I am incredibly proud of what we have done. Fairtrade is about better prices, decent working conditions, local sustainability and fair terms of trade for farmers and workers in the developing world.

“It is truly rewarding to be providing customers with the finest coffee, tea and hot chocolate products and knowing that this business is directly benefiting the lives of hundreds of farmers and their families around the world.”

South Yorkshire Investment Fund’s, Investment Manager Grahame Lunt, added: “Cafeology is an early stage business which has shown great potential to create an impact upon their chosen marketplace through unique products.

“They have created terrific promise of dynamic development and the potential for high yield returns. We are therefore pleased to support another Sheffield-based business in the UK market.”