An independent North Yorkshire coffee company has shipped beans to the Outer Hebrides, amid growth that has seen the company’s reach quietly expand.

After falling in love with coffee during a visit to Sumatra, David Beattie left a career in chemical engineering to launch Rounton Coffee, growing it into an award-winning supplier of speciality coffees from across the world.

Following a recent six-figure investment that has transformed Rounton Coffee’s production capabilities, the company is now roasting up to a ton of beans every day amid strong national demand for its responsibly sourced coffee.

And that has led to orders arriving from places the team never expected to reach.

“We are now shipping coffee to the Outer Hebrides, where we have a wholesale partner, and when I started the business in 2013, would have been unfathomable,” laughed Middlesbrough-born David.

“Our growth still feels a bit surreal, as we started life at farmers' markets simply as a way of sharing our love for really good quality, ethical coffee with people like us.

“We just wanted to share what we were passionate about, and we’ve been lucky that over the years, more and more people have also found a passion for quality coffee.”

Based inside an old granary building outside the village of East Rounton, near Northallerton, the small company currently packs around 2,150 bags of beans each week.

That’s been made possible, in part, due to recent investment in machinery, including a £150,000 commercial roaster – the Loring S35 Kestrel - which not only uses 80 per cent less energy than traditional devices but has also improved both the consistency and output at their village HQ.

But that growth has also enabled Rounton Coffee to give back more to the community.

That’s included major donations to the North Yorks Moors Trust, as well as sponsorship that’s helped schoolchildren in some of Teesside’s most deprived postcodes to connect with nature.

“A big part of why we do what we do is it gives us a platform to give back, be it in our community or our suppliers, and the more the business grows the more we can do that,” added David.

"In terms of our growth, I think lockdown was a game-changer for independent coffee companies. People found themselves at home and spending a bit more on higher quality products, and that really opened a lot of people’s eyes to the quality of coffee that was available outside of supermarkets.

“Since then, we’ve been fortunate that the coffee boom has only kept going. But what really matters is that, as a business, we can use coffee as a force for good.

“Our suppliers are paid fairly, and that really matters to us. Some international coffee brands have faced justified criticism for how they treat farmers and how suppliers are treated, and we want to play our small part in doing things differently.

“But we also want to improve lives closer to home. We are a small team who were all born and live in the area, so it matters to us that the business leaves a really positive footprint – and that it is something we can truly be proud of.”