Union Hand-Roasted Coffee

Union Hand-Roasted Coffee (formerly Union Coffee Roasters^[1]) is a privately owned British coffee roasting based in East London, United Kingdom. The company was founded in 2001 by Jeremy Torz and Steven Macatonia.^[2] Coffee House says the company "effectively bridges the definitions of 'independent'and 'mainstream'" as they work according to craft principles, but also sell their products in supermarkets.^[3]

History

Jeremy Torz and Stephen Macatonia from the UK initially learnt about coffee in San Francisco during the early 1990s when they worked at Peets Coffee.^[2][4][5] They found the Californian city to have a buzzing coffee scene, which was a stark contrast to the local coffee scene in the UK, which was at that time next to non-existent.

Before starting the business, Torz was an optician while Macatonia worked as an immunologist.^[6] Both of them however were inspired by the coffee roasting scene, and though they originally intended to stay in the United States for six months, they remained there for four years.During the four years they learned much about the local coffee community, and the skill of coffee roasting and production.

They returned to the UK in 1994 and decided to leave their day jobs and start a small coffee roasting business, Torz and Macatonia (taking the surnames of Jeremy and Steven respectively). Due to their lack of experience in the retail sector, they started a wholesale company.

In 1995, they became the main supplier for The Seattle Coffee Company, the first major coffee shop chain in the UK.^[5] Torz and Macatonia eventually merged with The Seattle Coffee Company in 1997 ^[7] which was then acquired by Starbucks in 1998.^[8][9][10]

After some time Jeremy and Steven left in 2000. In 2001, they founded private company Union Coffee Roasters and in 2007, it was re-branded to Union Hand – Roasted Coffee.^[11]

By 2005 the company was producing 11 different lines, four of which were special editions and seven of which were for sale in Sainsbury's, Asda, the Co-op and Somerfield.^[12]

References

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