Direct trade is not a certification. There is no sticker, no annual audit, no fee to pay. It is a relationship. These 88 UK roasters buy coffee directly from farmers and cooperatives, cutting out the layers of importers, exporters, and brokers that sit between a coffee farm and a roastery.
The result is usually better prices for producers and better quality for the roaster. When you know the farmer personally, you can ask for specific processing methods, specific varieties, specific quality standards. And you can pay what the coffee is actually worth, not what the commodity market says.
Ask a direct trade roaster about their partners and they will talk for hours. Many visit origin countries annually, build long term buying commitments, and invest in farm infrastructure. It is the closest thing specialty coffee has to a genuine supply chain relationship.
Anne and Joe O'Hara came back from a backpacking trip around Central America in 2000 and spotted a gap: nobody was doing...
Andronicas has been trading since 1979, supplying coffee alongside commercial espresso machines from a Shoreditch base i...
Apostle Coffee was founded in 2016 by Jon and Charlotte, who run an off grid roastery in the heart of the Shropshire Hil...
Artisan Roast has been roasting specialty coffee in Edinburgh since 2007, one of Scotland's longest standing independent...
Baytown Coffee Company roasts daily in a converted cowshed on a family farm just outside Whitby, on the North Yorkshire ...
Bella Barista has been trading since 1998 from its base in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, operating as both one of th...
Little Birdie Coffee is a small batch roaster based in Alyth, rural Perthshire, founded after the owner first encountere...
Blossom Coffee Roasters launched in Manchester in 2020 with sourcing transparency at the heart of the business. Since th...
Brazier Coffee Roasters was founded in 2015 by Tom and Claire Brazier, who developed the idea while in Australia and tra...
Cafe Du Monde is a family-run Kent coffee and tea business founded in 1989 by David Latchem, with son Michael joining in...
Cairngorm Coffee was founded by Robi Lambie in 2014 around a kitchen table in Newtonmore, and now roasts from a dedicate...
Campbell & Syme was founded in 2012 by Joe Syme after a trip to Portland, Oregon, where the city's coffee scene, and Stu...
Caravan Coffee Roasters opened on Exmouth Market in early 2010, founded by Laura Harper-Hinton, Miles Kirby and Chris Am...
Caribe Coffee Co. is a family business based at Fairmoor in Morpeth, Northumberland, founded in 2018 by Wilmer Carcamo, ...
Carnival Coffee Roasters operates from a workshop in Penge, South East London, roasting speciality coffee and selling it...
Cartwheel Coffee Roasters is one of the longer-running independent roasteries in Nottingham, with a roastery and cafe in...
Cast Iron Coffee Roasters is a family-run speciality roastery and coffee shop based at Units 11 and 12 The Mill, Stane S...
Chimney Fire Coffee is based at Denbies Wine Estate in Dorking, Surrey, the UK's first net-zero certified wine estate, w...
Chipp Coffee Co. is a Leeds speciality roaster founded in 2016 by Zach Chipp, who returned to his hometown after three y...
Clifton Coffee Roasters was founded in Bristol in 2001 by James Fisher, who started out servicing espresso machines for ...
Climpson & Sons has been part of the Broadway Market scene in Hackney since 2002, when founder Ian Burgess moved from a ...
CLO Coffee was founded in 2008 by Nick and Linda Castle, who set out to swap career dissatisfaction for a social busines...
Coaltown Coffee Roasters is a speciality roaster based in Ammanford, a former anthracite mining town in Carmarthenshire,...
Coffee Bean Shop was founded in 2008 by Lizzie Powell and is based in Ashford, Kent. The business began as a personal re...
Founded in early 2008, Coffee Real roasts speciality coffee in Horsham, West Sussex, working directly with farming famil...
Coffeelink is an Ipswich family business founded by Azzouz and Rebecca on 25 August 2005, with the first cafe opening on...
Colco Coffee is a family-run roaster based at Manor Farm in Eton Wick, Berkshire, with roots on a working coffee farm in...
Colombia Coffee Roasters is a family-run, Oxford-based roastery focused exclusively on 100% Colombian arabica, working d...
Colonna Coffee is a Bath-based roastery founded by Maxwell and Lesley Colonna-Dashwood. The story began in Australia in ...
Cooper & Co is one of Jersey's oldest surviving locally owned businesses, founded in 1834 by Thomas Cooper, Richard Coop...
Copper Coffee Roasters is a speciality coffee roastery and cafe based at Bramley Hedge Farm in Cobham, Surrey. The roast...
Craft House Coffee is an independent West Sussex roastery that sources 100 percent high-grade Arabica with an 80-plus SC...
Crankhouse Coffee launched in 2014 in Exeter, beginning in a single car garage before moving through a converted barn ne...
Creation Coffee is a small Cheshire roastery run by Jon Cook from a log cabin at the bottom of his garden in Weaverham, ...
Cribyn Coffee Company is a husband and wife roastery founded by Rhys and Gwen during lockdown in 2021, working out of a ...
Cricklewood Coffee Roasters is a small-batch specialty roaster and cafe in north-west London, founded in 2018 by James. ...
Crosby Coffee was founded in Liverpool in 2014 by Jack Foster, who started roasting at home and selling at local markets...
Cult Coffee Roasters opened in 2014 as a cafe on Buccleuch Street in Edinburgh's Newington neighbourhood, growing from t...
Curve Coffee Roasters was founded in 2016 by Tereza and Jon, who relocated from London to the Margate coast with a secon...
Danielle's Coffee was set up in May 2010 by Danielle, who built her career in coffee at Rick Stein's restaurants in Pads...
Horsebox Coffee Co was founded in May 2015 by Emily, who returned to South Oxfordshire after twenty years in London spec...
Dark Woods Coffee was founded in 2014 by three people with deep roots in the coffee industry. Damian, the senior roaster...
Darkhouse Coffee Roasters was formed in 2019 by Jiri Buchtela, a Cumbria based barista who learned his trade as a coffee...
Django Coffee Co. is a Manchester-based specialty roaster founded after its founder returned from five years of travel, ...
Double Trouble Coffee is a small Welsh roastery founded by two sisters and their families, named for the duo at the hear...
Due Fratelli means 'two brothers' in Italian, and this Suffolk roastery carries that name honestly. Brothers Graham and ...
Easy Jose Coffee is a Bath-based roastery built around partnerships with indigenous coffee-producing communities. The fl...
Electric Coffee Co. is a London roastery with a cafe at 40 Haven Green in Ealing and additional sites at Goldhawk Road, ...
Elsewhere Coffee is a South East London roastery and brew bar based at Unit 3 Titan Business Estate, Ffinch Street, Dept...
Established Coffee is a Belfast specialty coffee roaster and cafe based at 54 Hill Street in the city's Cathedral Quarte...
Ethical Addictions Coffee Roasters is a small family business roasting speciality coffee from a unit on Bamfurlong Indus...
Founded in 1819 in the Cumbrian market town of Kendal, Farrer's is one of the UK's longest-standing tea and coffee merch...
Ferrari's Coffee traces back to 1927, when Vittorio Ferrari settled in South Wales from Italy and built a following for ...
Figment Coffee roasts in Aberdeen and runs two cafes in the city, at 70 Countesswells Road and 33 to 35 Fountainhall Roa...
Fire & Flow is a Cotswolds speciality coffee roaster founded by childhood friends Callum and Phil with Phil's wife Char....
Flaming Bean Coffee Roastery is a small Cheshire micro-roaster run by Steve and Karen, founded in 2012. Steve trained wi...
Forge Coffee Roasters is a Sheffield roastery on Don Road, sat on Newhall Road near where the Forge Inn once stood. Esta...
Fountain Rock Coffee Roasters is a speciality roastery in Weymouth, Dorset, founded by Andrew, a scientist by background...
Frazer's Coffee Roasters was founded in Sheffield in 2014, roasting from the Arundel Coach House on Arundel Street in th...
Freshpac is a family-run Suffolk coffee and catering supplier, founded in 1979 by husband and wife team Gerald and Queen...
Fuel and Fable is a speciality coffee roastery and shop in Christchurch, Dorset, built around the founder's twin loves o...
Girls Who Grind Coffee is an independent, female-founded speciality coffee roastery founded in 2017 by Casey LaLonde, wh...
Glen Lyon Coffee Roasters was founded in 2011 by Fiona Grant, who started out with a five-kilo roaster in a bothy next t...
Glesga Roasters is a Glasgow coffee roastery and shop run as an initiative of Bishopbriggs Community Church (Scottish Ch...
Good Times Roastery is a solo operation run by Simon from Guernsey, who has been roasting coffee since 2017 after leavin...
Grain and Grind started roasting in 2018 after installing a roaster inside one of their existing Scottish coffee shops, ...
Grey Seal Coffee is a North Norfolk roaster founded in 2012, bringing third wave coffee to the region from a working far...
Grumpy Mule is an independent coffee roaster based in Meltham, Yorkshire, roasting since 2006 and now part of the Cafédi...
Heartland Coffee Roasters started in 2005 when Mal and Tara began roasting commercially in London after moving from New ...
Hermanos Coffee Roasters was founded in 2018 by brothers Victor and Santiago Gamboa with Adnan Millwala, starting as a W...
Horsham Coffee Roaster started in 2012 in a garage in West Sussex with a 1kg roaster, selling at Horsham food market bef...
Hot Numbers Coffee is a Cambridgeshire roastery and cafe business now marking 15 years of trading. The roastery sits at ...
Hoxton Coffee Company is a UK roaster based at Priory Park in Hartfield, East Sussex, trading under the line No-Nonsense...
H.R. Higgins is one of the oldest independent coffee roasters in Britain, founded by Harold Rees Higgins on 1 April 1942...
Hundred House Coffee roasts speciality coffee from the Welsh Borders, founded by head roaster Matthew Wade, a Q Arabica ...
Imperial Jade Coffee is a Kent-based roaster sourcing exclusively from Yunnan province in China, a coffee-growing region...
Island Roasted is the roasting arm of the I.O.W Espresso Co., based in Newport on the Isle of Wight. The business grew o...
J. Atkinson and Co., trading as Atkinsons Coffee Roasters and Tea Merchants, is a Lancaster based coffee roaster and tea...
Jackalope Joe Coffee Co is a one-person micro-roastery in Spalding, Lincolnshire, run by founder Hannah from home around...
Javabean is a family-run speciality roastery based at Scottow Enterprise Park near Norwich, working on a 100% direct tra...
Kiss the Hippo is a London specialty roaster that opened its roastery in 2018 and has built a strong sustainability posi...
Leicester Coffee House Company is a small roastery and coffee shop at 110 Granby Street, Leicester, named after the orig...
Lincoln and York is a large-scale B2B coffee roaster and private label specialist founded in 1994 by James Sweeting and ...
Lincoln Coffee House and Roasters is a family-run speciality coffee business in Reading, founded by Jas and Simmi in 201...
Lindfield Coffee Works was founded in 2015 in Lindfield, West Sussex and has grown into a multi-site operation with a fl...
London Calling Coffee Company roasts and packs daily from a unit at 3 Little Mundells in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshi...
Lost Sheep Coffee was founded in 2012 by Stuart and Sarah, who picked up a love of specialty coffee in Melbourne and bro...
Lucid Coffee Roasters is based at Unit 5, Kennedy Way, Belfast, and was founded in 2021 by Stephen Houston, a coffee pro...
Mac & Me Roasting has been supplying and training the hospitality trade from its base at Reed Farm Estate in Writtle, Es...
Machina Coffee is an Edinburgh roaster founded by Steve Glencross, who moved from the music industry and spent around tw...
Meletius is a speciality coffee roastery based at Wembley Commercial Centre in London (HA9 7UR), with a cafe at 37-39 Hi...
Method Roastery works from under the railway arches near Worcester Foregate Street station, where the roastery, café and...
Modern Standard Coffee is a Scottish speciality roaster founded by Lynsey Harley, with a roastery at 38 Cavendish Way, G...
Monkey Board Coffee is a roastery based at Compass Industrial Park in south Liverpool, working across single-origin coff...
Monmouth Coffee is a long-standing London independent that has been roasting and retailing from its Covent Garden shop s...
Mr Tinto is a Croydon roastery founded in 2017 by Francisco, a Colombian who started by selling coffee from a bicycle ou...
New Ground Coffee is an Oxford-based B Corp roastery built around a social mission: helping people leaving prison find w...
North Star Coffee Roasters was founded in 2013 by Holly and Alex Kragiopoulos, after conversations with small-scale prod...
Northside Coffee is a Northumberland-based roastery that imports green coffee directly from farms and co-operatives arou...
Notes is a London coffee business co-founded in 2010, with co-founder Fabio building close ties with producers who pract...
Nude Coffee Roasters has operated from Hanbury Street, in the Spitalfields stretch of east London, since 2008. The flags...
Obadiah is a specialty roastery based in Edinburgh, founded in 2017. The business is built around a defined roasting phi...
OddKin Coffee is a small batch specialty roaster based at Unit 18 Kenn Court on Roman Farm Road in Hengrove, Bristol. Fo...
Old Spike Roastery was founded in Peckham in 2015 by two childhood friends, with a mission to roast specialty coffee whi...
Olfactory Coffee Roasters was founded in 2013 in Cornwall by a couple who started drinking specialty coffee during unive...
Origin Coffee is a Cornwall-based specialty roaster with the roastery in Porthleven and coffee shops in Bristol, London ...
Outpost Coffee is a small, independent specialty coffee roastery based at 32 Salisbury Square in Nottingham (NG7 2AB), w...
Ozone Coffee UK roasts daily at its Stafford site on the Ladfordfields Industrial Estate, supplying a small group of Lon...
Pact Coffee was founded in 2012 by Stephen Rapoport and started life trading as Your Grind before becoming Pact. The bus...
Paddy & Scott's is a Suffolk coffee roaster founded in 2007, when Paddy and Scott started out on a two kilo roaster nick...
Perky Blenders is an East London specialty coffee roaster based at Unit 10, Acacia Business Centre in Leytonstone. The r...
Pharmacie Coffee Roasters was founded in 2015 by Rick, who had previously run coffee shops in Brighton, Hove and Kemp To...
Pink Lane Coffee opened on Pink Lane in Newcastle in 2012, just across from Central Station, and the roastery grew from ...
PLOT Roasting is a London specialty coffee roaster, founded in 2019 and built around a stated mission to source and roas...
Podda & Wren is a specialty coffee roaster based at 4 Elephant Yard in Kendal, Cumbria, on the edge of the Lake District...
Pure Roast Coffee is a third-generation family business based in Northern Ireland, founded in 2006 by Martin Symington a...
Quarter Horse Coffee is an independent roaster based in the West Midlands. The business was founded in 2012 in Oxford an...
Red Bank Coffee Roasters is an online roastery built around close producer relationships rather than broker catalogues. ...
Red Roaster has been roasting in Brighton's Kemptown since 2000, making it one of the longer-established specialty roast...
Redber Coffee has roasted in Guildford, Surrey since 2011 and operates from an industrial unit at Merrow Depot Industria...
Relish Coffee is a small roaster based in Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear. The team roast their own beans on site and sell th...
Rise & Grind Roastery is a Scottish speciality roaster operating from 104 Abercorn Street, Glasgow G53 7EE, with coffee ...
Ristretto Coffee is a Northern Ireland specialty roaster founded in 2006 and based in Banbridge, County Down. The team r...
Roastersaurus is the dinosaur-themed coffee brand of Sense It London, the East London training school in Stratford run b...
Roasting Plant is an American-born coffee concept with five London cafes, in Gracechurch Street, London Bridge, The Stra...
Roastworks Coffee Co is an independent specialty roaster based in the heart of Devon, sourcing coffee through direct rel...
Rockhopper Roaster is a micro-roastery founded by Kate, a one-person operation that started in Bognor Regis and has sinc...
Root and Branch is a Belfast specialty roaster founded by Simon Johnston and Ben Craig, now marking ten years in coffee....
Round Hill Roastery has been roasting in Somerset since 2012, working from Unit 14 at Midsomer Enterprise Park near Bath...
Rounton Coffee roasts from a converted granary in East Rounton, North Yorkshire, where a small team grew the business ou...
Routes Coffee is an Oxford roaster, based in an industrial unit at Fenchurch Court, and the UK's first and only Certifie...
Sea Island Coffee was founded in 2007, in the wake of the Third Wave coffee movement, and grew out of a sister business ...
Seamoor Coffee is a Peak District roastery based at Riders Point on Bridge Street in Bradwell, sourcing from independent...
Secret Garden Roasters is a one-person roastery in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, founded in 2020 by Alex, who began working in ...
Seven Districts Coffee is a Lincolnshire roastery built around storytelling. Each coffee is named after a local fable ti...
NOTE: Slumberjack Coffee is not primarily a consumer coffee roaster. It is a private label manufacturer and contract roa...
Source Climate Change Coffee is a Yorkshire-based roaster founded by Cristina Talens, who built a career in ethical trad...
Square Mile Coffee Roasters was founded in 2008 in East London by James Hoffmann and Anette Moldvaer, both former World ...
Sustain Coffee is a Hertfordshire roastery and cafe based at York House on Salisbury Square in Hatfield, trading as Sust...
Swan Song Coffee is a solo-operated speciality micro-roastery in Salford, Manchester, founded in 2018 by Josh Wilson and...
Symposium Coffee is a small Norwich roastery run by Steven and his wife Catriona from Unit 21C on the Hellesdon Park Ind...
Symva Coffee Roasters is a family-run roastery and coffee shop on Church Road in Hove, with the roastery operating downs...
Tank Coffee is a Greater Manchester roastery based in Leigh, with a long-standing focus on African origins alongside Lat...
The Roastery at Tate is a specialty coffee operation based within the grounds of Tate Britain in London. Started in 2011...
The Coffee Officina was founded in 2013 by Marcella Fiori and Rory Lloyd, roasting from a unit at Housham Hall in Matchi...
The Ethiopian Coffee Company is a London business focused exclusively on Ethiopian coffee, run from a cafe at 61 Amwell ...
The Isle of Wight Espresso Company is the wholesale and equipment arm of Island Roasted, a roastery and cafe operation b...
Missing Bean opened in Oxford in 2009 as the city centre's first independently owned coffee shop. Roasting began in 2014...
The Roastery at Bella Barista is the in-house roasting arm of Bella Barista, a Wellingborough-based espresso machine ret...
The Source Coffee is an Edinburgh roaster running a coffee bar at 4 Spittal Street in the Old Town. The range leans towa...
Thomsons is Scotland's oldest coffee roaster, founded in Edinburgh in 1841 by David Thomson before relocating to Glasgow...
Three Hills Coffee roasts in Selkirk in the Scottish Borders, where a dedicated roastery and SCA-accredited barista trai...
Triple Co Roast is an open-access specialty coffee roastery in Bristol. The site invites anyone to visit, watch the team...
Ue Coffee Roasters was founded in 2009 by Dominic Boyett with the aim of becoming the first speciality coffee roaster in...
Union was founded in 2001 in east London by Steven Macatonia and Jeremy Torz, two scientists who encountered the America...
Uplands Roast is a specialty roastery focused entirely on Vietnamese coffee, roasting daily in Edinburgh. The founders s...
Vagabond Coffee Roasters has been roasting in north London since autumn 2014, working from a 5kg Giesen and supplying th...
Weanie Beans has been sourcing and roasting coffee since 2007. The roaster works on a direct trade model, paying above w...
White Rose Coffee Roasters operates from Halifax in West Yorkshire and carries the Made in Yorkshire mark. Head roaster ...
Wild Pen Coffee Roasters is based in Pendle, Lancashire, taking its name and outlook from Pendle Hill. The roastery focu...
Workshop Coffee is a London specialty roaster running an integrated model across sourcing, roasting, cafe operations, wh...
Yallah Coffee is a single origin specialty roaster based in Cornwall with a stated mission to put honesty and social res...