For us to be recognised by such a prestigious organisation like The Sunday Times, whilst accompanying such huge household names like BrewDog, in the same article, on the same page, is a triumph on its own, but to come out on top of the eventual pile is a caffeine kick like no other.

The Sunday Times International Track 200 awards, now in its ninth year, ranks Britain’s mid-market private companies with the fastest growing exports. This year, the average annual growth of the 200 listed companies was 62%. Fortunately, for us, we quadrupled this amount to achieve a phenomenal 265% increase in sales, taking our figures from £541,000 to £7.2 million, landing us first prize.

However, this wasn’t an overnight occurrence. The foundations began way back  in 1994 and the journey has been both long and testing. The historical efforts, alongside today’s continued dedication and belief, to be able to source and pack 8,000 tonnes of coffee each year whilst managing a 50,000 square foot operation, is remarkable. To take it to new heights by supplying our product on an international scale, we’ve needed the whole team to pitch in, and they have. This is something we’ve achieved together, as one.

Interestingly, The Sunday Times went with the headline: ‘Sunday a day of rest? Not for our export stars’ and it’s true, to an extent. International business does require adaptation and evolution, if you want to succeed. It has been a lesson for all of us. We are proud of what we’ve achieved and we are in complete acknowledgement of the levels of hard work it took to to get here.

Moving forwards, we’re looking to increase our overseas sales to account for 50% of our revenue by 2023, so the hard work has only just begun! We are also opening up new avenues in to the speciality coffee market, with our cold brew product: Black Eye Cold Brew. This is something we have high hopes for and envisage it being an offering in bars, restaurants and cafes across the whole of Europe.