Herbert and Ward was established in Rochester, Kent in 1929, founded by two men who met at a reception in India in 1920 and spent the following decade travelling extensively through Africa, India, Ceylon, China, and South East Asia buying coffee, tea, cocoa, and spices.
Herbert and Ward was established in Rochester, Kent in 1929, founded by two men who met at a reception in India in 1920 and spent the following decade travelling extensively through Africa, India, Ceylon, China, and South East Asia buying coffee, tea, cocoa, and spices. The company has remained family-run across four generations, now managed by Nigel Miller.
The business operates as a full-service commercial coffee and tea supplier: it roasts coffee at its Kent roastery (claiming 0-emission operations and output of up to 8 tonnes per day), sells fine teas, and provides commercial espresso machine sales, leasing, rental, servicing, and barista training. It serves homes, independent coffee shops, offices, farm shops, hotels, leisure parks, and restaurants.
The scope of the business is closer to a commercial beverage distributor with in-house roasting than a specialist roastery.
