Alchemy Coffee

Anne and Joe O'Hara came back from a backpacking trip around Central America in 2000 and spotted a gap: nobody was doing serious specialty coffee at events. Rather than open a cafe, they built a mobile operation capable of setting up and serving exceptional coffee at venues across the world, from the Henley Regatta to backstage at Glastonbury.

They have made coffee at every Glastonbury since 2005. Over 16 years of events they steamed 600,000 litres of milk and used 95,000 kilos of coffee, roughly what a busy cafe would get through in 75 years.

By 2008 they were roasting their own. The roastery is now built around an 85-year-old reconditioned roaster named Brynhildr.

Direct trade is the sourcing model: no brokers, payment direct to the farm in the local currency. Three cafes operate in London, in Spitalfields, Ludgate Broadway, and Shoreditch.

Online sales and subscriptions run alongside.