Another strong year for specialist coffee roaster Matthew Algie
Increased demand for quality coffee from restaurants, hotels, coffee shops and universities has helped one of the UK and Ireland’s leading coffee roasters grind out another year of strong growth.
In its latest set of financial results covering 2016 Glasgow-based Matthew Algie – which was acquired by the German family-owned Tchibo Coffee Service in August last year – saw its turnover increase by 3.9 percent (£1.4m) from £36.0m to £37.4m.
Despite continued volatility in the global price of raw coffee and significant impact on currency exchange rates, retained profits at the independent coffee roaster increased from £2.2m to £2.8m. Operating profits increased to £2.65m, up from £2.58m in 2015.
In a fiercely competitive and evolving market, Matthew Algie’s sustained growth is a result of its strong emphasis on the quality of its products, on its investment in and development of ethical and sustainable supply chains, and on its technical customer support programmes.
The coffee shop market continues to enjoy steady growth with the total number of outlets in the UK increasing by 6 percent which has helped drive turnover by 12 percent to £8.9 billion annually. The number of coffee shops in the UK is now expected to surpass the number of pubs by the year 2030.
Commenting on the results Nick Snow (pictured), managing director at Matthew Algie, said:
“Coffee outlets face fierce competition on the high street and as consumer expectations increase, so must the quality and standard of the coffee on offer. In today’s market differentiation is everything. As well as taste acting as a measure of quality, consumers see provenance, ethics and sustainability as important. Our ethical values are central to our business and we are proud to supply coffee to our customers that meets this level of expectation.
“Increasingly, coffee drinkers consider themselves coffee connoisseurs, so it is crucial coffee shops offer something that goes above and beyond. By helping our customers to stay one step ahead of the competition in terms of the quality of coffee they offer, we have once again been able to grow our overall share of the market.
“We will continue to invest behind the Matthew Algie business and we have bought a major new warehousing facility at our Glasgow site to cope with the expansion. The growth over the last 12 months has been driven by a customer focused approach and as a result we have won new customers across multiple sectors and further strengthened our position in the market. Through contract catering our distribution has broken into some new areas including some major UK universities. On top of this the Espresso Warehouse brand and the added value support we offer customers, such as tailored branding, have continued to help grow our customers’ businesses.”
Increased demand for quality coffee from restaurants, hotels, coffee shops and universities has helped one of the UK and Ireland’s leading coffee roasters grind out another year of strong growth. 
