Gourmet Coffee to Go!

The increasing mobility of people in the 21st century means that, while some are quite happy to sit down, relax and perhaps read the paper most prefer to grab a quick coffee whilst on the road, shopping or during a lunch break.

Over the last forty years or so, particularly as more people take holidays abroad or travel overseas for business, tastes in coffee have changed and people now expect a choice of coffee options, coupled with a demand for high quality. Today, people do not want a quick cup of instant coffee but, instead, expect professionally roasted beans freshly ground in high quality machines.

MyCoffee was set up nearly 10 years ago to deliver high street coffee quality to customers on the go. Owner, Mark Heron, explains, “I had been working for a number of major coffee roasters and was working in Germany at the time when the introduction of shop-in-shop businesses was just taking off. I believed that I could do a job at least as good as they were doing and so I left my job in Germany in 2003 and returned to the UK. I saw that a company called Coffee Nation was starting to offer a forecourt coffee machine and so, with the help of two partners, started MyCoffee Limited with the aim of serving high quality coffee from a merchandising unit.”

The new company began trading in 2004 and straightaway was given an opportunity by Sainsbury’s. This trial lasted for two and a half years at 25 locations but, sadly, did not result in an ongoing contract. However, it was sufficient to get the company up and running and gave it both the time and the funds to develop the concept further. Mark adds, “I had the unshakeable belief that while some people will always go into a coffee bar, others simply wanted a coffee while on the move. These people may be on the road, travelling by rail, wandering through a shopping centre, visiting a tourist attraction or simply nipping out for lunch.”

The next break came through discussions with Shell whereby a trial was carried out at 15 sites around the motorway forecourts. This proved to be extremely successful and, as a result of winning the tender during 2010, MyCoffee, in just four months went from 15 sites to 350! These machines are being installed as “Coffee Republic to go” – under an arrangement where MyCoffee licences the brand from the brand owners. These are not coffee bars in the sense of perhaps the Dutch pavement coffee bars or even the old UK coffee bars of the 1960s but, instead, are a 21st century vending machine, with a choice of three cup sizes, Italian coffee specialities, chocolate and tea. Each cup of coffee is made at the point of purchase, using freshly ground gourmet coffee beans with fresh milk. The coffee is especially roasted for MyCoffee by traditional roasters in Milan in order to give true espresso coffee.

Mark concludes, “Since we launched MyCoffee and now Coffee Republic To Go, it has been one of the UK’s fastest growing brands. We are now working with Shell and their food partners in order to be able to provide more than simply a hot drink. In this way, food to go sits alongside coffee for people on the move. We are now looking to extend our range of sites to major A roads, trunk roads, motorways and any other high footfall locations. We will continue to work with our major partners, such as Shell in order to create exciting new destinations that will continue to offer our customers their favourite gourmet coffee, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with the quality they demand. Our aim is to provide the coffee you want, when you want it, where you want it. We offer cappuccino, espresso, caffé latte, flat white and long black coffee or hot chocolate, at the push of a button, using fresh ingredients. So every cup tastes just as good as the last one!

For further information please telephone 0870 600 2100 or visit www.mycoffee.uk.com.