Over 100 UK coffee roasters hold at least one environmental or ethical certification. That includes Soil Association Organic, Fairtrade, B Corp, and Rainforest Alliance. Each certification means something different, and none of them are easy to get.
Organic certification covers how the coffee is grown. No synthetic pesticides, no chemical fertilisers. Fairtrade sets a minimum price paid to farmers and invests a premium in community projects. B Corp audits the entire business, from pay to packaging. Rainforest Alliance covers farming practices and biodiversity.
Certification tells you a minimum standard has been met. But many of the best ethical roasters in the UK go further than any certificate requires. Look at their sourcing pages, read how they talk about their farmer relationships, and you will often find the real story behind the sticker.
918 Coffee Co is the roastery brand at the heart of Just In Coffee Group, based at Semley Business Park near Shaftesbury...
92 Degrees began in Liverpool and has expanded across the UK at a pace that is hard to ignore. The brand now operates lo...
Adams + Russell have roasted coffee from 8 Appin Road on Birkenhead's Argyle Industrial Estate since 1978, neighbours to...
Ancoats Coffee Co. is a Manchester speciality roaster founded in 2013 by Jamie Boland, based in the historic Royal Mills...
Apostle Coffee was founded in 2016 by Jon and Charlotte, who run an off grid roastery in the heart of the Shropshire Hil...
Assembly Coffee was founded in 2015 in Brixton, south London, growing directly out of a six-month consultation process w...
Atkinsons Coffee Roasters and Tea Merchants traces its roots to 1837, when it opened in Lancaster as The Grasshopper Tea...
Barista Cats is a family run roastery based in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, hand roasting small batches to order and s...
Bay Coffee Roasters is a Welsh speciality roastery based at Parc Tanygroes in Cardigan, near Tresaith beach on the west ...
Baytown Coffee Company roasts daily in a converted cowshed on a family farm just outside Whitby, on the North Yorkshire ...
Bean 14 is a Fairtrade-certified coffee roaster based on La Rue des Reines in Guernsey, with more than twenty years of e...
Beanberry Coffee Company is a small batch roaster based in Woking, Surrey, focused on speciality grade Arabica with a st...
Bella Barista has been trading since 1998 from its base in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, operating as both one of th...
Bird & Wild was founded in 2017 around a single certification that most roasters ignore: Bird Friendly, issued by the Sm...
Blue Goose Coffee is a UK speciality roaster built around a simple promise: barista-quality coffee with as little enviro...
Boona Boona started in a garden shed in Totterdown, Bristol, before moving to a 10kg Roastmax roaster in an industrial u...
Brazier Coffee Roasters was founded in 2015 by Tom and Claire Brazier, who developed the idea while in Australia and tra...
Bridge Coffee Roasters has been roasting in South Wales since 1985, operating from Dyffryn Business Park in Ystrad Mynac...
Cafe Du Monde is a family-run Kent coffee and tea business founded in 1989 by David Latchem, with son Michael joining in...
Cafedirect is one of the most structurally distinctive businesses in UK coffee. Founded in 1991 by Oxfam, Traidcraft, Eq...
Caffe Society is a family-run business based in Sherburn in Elmet, near Leeds, started around 2000 by three brothers wit...
Caravan Coffee Roasters opened on Exmouth Market in early 2010, founded by Laura Harper-Hinton, Miles Kirby and Chris Am...
Chimney Fire Coffee is based at Denbies Wine Estate in Dorking, Surrey, the UK's first net-zero certified wine estate, w...
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 ...
Clumsy Goat Coffee is a speciality coffee roaster and equipment retailer based at Chesterfield House, Lloyd Street, Whit...
Coaltown Coffee Roasters is a speciality roaster based in Ammanford, a former anthracite mining town in Carmarthenshire,...
Coffee Mango is a small UK roaster offering slow-roasted, single-origin coffees prepared in 1kg batches. The range is cu...
Coffeelink is an Ipswich family business founded by Azzouz and Rebecca on 25 August 2005, with the first cafe opening on...
Colombia Coffee Roasters is a family-run, Oxford-based roastery focused exclusively on 100% Colombian arabica, working d...
Cooper & Co is one of Jersey's oldest surviving locally owned businesses, founded in 1834 by Thomas Cooper, Richard Coop...
Danielle's Coffee was set up in May 2010 by Danielle, who built her career in coffee at Rick Stein's restaurants in Pads...
Dark Woods Coffee was founded in 2014 by three people with deep roots in the coffee industry. Damian, the senior roaster...
Dear Green Coffee Roasters was founded in Glasgow in 2011 by one woman with a single roaster. The name comes from Dear G...
Doppio Coffee Warehouse is a London-based coffee company founded in 2010, operating across four retail sites in Muswell ...
Edinburgh Tea & Coffee Co traces its origins to Andrew Melrose, who began importing tea into Edinburgh in 1812, making i...
Exchange Coffee Co. is a Lancashire roaster and tea merchant with coffee houses and roasting shops across Blackburn, Cli...
Extract Coffee Roasters is a Bristol speciality roastery founded in 2007, with its origins famously in a chicken shed be...
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 ...
Finest Coffee and Tea is an online roaster and tea merchant operated by Milestone eCommerce Ltd, selling freshly roasted...
Flaming Bean Coffee Roastery is a small Cheshire micro-roaster run by Steve and Karen, founded in 2012. Steve trained wi...
Frazer's Coffee Roasters was founded in Sheffield in 2014, roasting from the Arundel Coach House on Arundel Street in th...
Gillards of Bath is a family-owned tea and coffee merchant trading from Guildhall Market in Bath, with roots going back ...
Glen Lyon Coffee Roasters was founded in 2011 by Fiona Grant, who started out with a five-kilo roaster in a bothy next t...
Green Farm Coffee is based at Unit 1 Green Farm on the Rackheath Industrial Estate in Norwich, Norfolk. The business gre...
Grind is a London coffee company that grew from a single Shoreditch cafe, opened in 2011, into a B Corp certified roaste...
Grumpy Mule is an independent coffee roaster based in Meltham, Yorkshire, roasting since 2006 and now part of the Cafédi...
Hampton Roast Coffee is a small batch specialty roaster based at 19 Hampton Close, Larne, in County Antrim, Northern Ire...
Happy Donkey has been roasting and supplying coffee across the UK since 2004. The family-run business, owned by Cool Bea...
Hayman Coffee is a specialty coffee roaster founded in 2014 by Antonio, who left a corporate career after a visit to a B...
Hundred House Coffee roasts speciality coffee from the Welsh Borders, founded by head roaster Matthew Wade, a Q Arabica ...
Indigo Valley has been roasting since 2005, when it set out to bring together Fairtrade and speciality grade coffee at a...
J. Atkinson and Co., trading as Atkinsons Coffee Roasters and Tea Merchants, is a Lancaster based coffee roaster and tea...
James Gourmet Coffee is a family roastery in the market town of Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire, roasting since 1999. The ran...
Kendricks is a family coffee roastery and tea blender in Ferring, West Sussex, founded in 1964 by Thalben Kendrick Loyde...
Kiss the Hippo is a London specialty roaster that opened its roastery in 2018 and has built a strong sustainability posi...
Kokebi Coffee is a Hertfordshire roaster based at Unit 6, The Maltings Business Centre in Stanstead Abbotts, SG12 8HG. T...
Kulture Coffee is a speciality coffee roastery and cafe based in Leeds LS4, founded in 2022 and now run by a team of eig...
Lalico Coffee is a UK specialty roaster founded by Glenn, offering green beans, roasted whole beans and freshly ground c...
Lincoln and York is a large-scale B2B coffee roaster and private label specialist founded in 1994 by James Sweeting and ...
The Lincoln Tea and Coffee Company operates from Exchange Close in Lincoln as a wholesale supplier to the hospitality tr...
London Calling Coffee Company roasts and packs daily from a unit at 3 Little Mundells in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshi...
Masteroast Coffee Company Ltd is one of the UK's largest private label coffee roasters, founded in 1981 by Les and Eve M...
Matthew Algie has roasted coffee in Glasgow since 1864 and grown into one of the UK and Ireland's largest commercial roa...
Meletius is a speciality coffee roastery based at Wembley Commercial Centre in London (HA9 7UR), with a cafe at 37-39 Hi...
Mont58 Coffee is a certified B Corporation based in South-East London, founded by husband-and-wife team Shai and Maya. T...
Nairobi Coffee is a long-established wholesale and foodservice roaster operating from an industrial unit in Watford, Her...
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...
Northern Tea Merchants is a Chesterfield tea and coffee specialist with three generations of the Pogson family at its co...
Origin Coffee is a Cornwall-based specialty roaster with the roastery in Porthleven and coffee shops in Bristol, London ...
Owens Coffee roasts at The Roastery in Endsleigh, Ivybridge, Devon. Every coffee is certified organic and Fairtrade, and...
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...
Real Deal Roasters has been hand-roasting coffee on the outskirts of Deal in Kent since 2013. The roastery uses two beau...
Red Roaster has been roasting in Brighton's Kemptown since 2000, making it one of the longer-established specialty roast...
Relish Coffee is a small roaster based in Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear. The team roast their own beans on site and sell th...
Ringtons was established in 1907 by Samuel Smith, who started with a £250 investment and a single horse-drawn cart deliv...
Rocket Monkey Coffee is a roastery and coffee house at 33 Burns Statue Square in Ayr town centre, run by a small team th...
Sea Island Coffee was founded in 2007, in the wake of the Third Wave coffee movement, and grew out of a sister business ...
Second City Coffee is a Manchester-rooted roastery and coffee house, with a tight-knit team operating from Quayside in W...
NOTE: Slumberjack Coffee is not primarily a consumer coffee roaster. It is a private label manufacturer and contract roa...
Smith's Coffee has been roasting since 1936, making it one of the oldest coffee businesses in the UK. It started as a sm...
Source Climate Change Coffee is a Yorkshire-based roaster founded by Cristina Talens, who built a career in ethical trad...
Spiller and Tait is a UK coffee roaster founded by Simon Spiller and David Tait, selling whole bean, ground and decaffei...
Stokes Tea and Coffee has been roasting in Lincoln since 1902, now in its fourth generation under managing director Nick...
Symva Coffee Roasters is a family-run roastery and coffee shop on Church Road in Hove, with the roastery operating downs...
The Bean Shop was founded in 2003 by John and Lorna Bruce on George Street in Perth, Scotland, and has been roasting and...
The Fresh Coffee Company is a Surrey-based wholesale coffee supplier founded in 2013 by Toby Richardson and colleagues. ...
The House of Coffee is a small Bedfordshire roaster operating from two sites in Leighton Buzzard. The retail shop sits a...
The Roastery at Bella Barista is the in-house roasting arm of Bella Barista, a Wellingborough-based espresso machine ret...
Trading Post Coffee Roasters opened its first coffee house on Ship Street in Brighton in January 2017, combining a coffe...
Union was founded in 2001 in east London by Steven Macatonia and Jeremy Torz, two scientists who encountered the America...
VeliK Coffee is a small family-run roastery based in Harpenden, Hertfordshire, run by two adults with three young helper...
Volcano Coffee Works was founded in West Dulwich by New Zealand-born chef Kurt Stewart, who started by serving espresso ...