There With You: Hackney Wick coffee roastery donates to key workers through coffee subscription service
Neil Coyle and Ricardo Rendon founded the coffee roastery in 2013 - they started working out of a literal shed in Ricardo's back garden. Picture: The Roasting Shed - Credit: The Roasting Shed
A coffee roastery in Hackney Wick has launched a subscription delivery service for coffee lovers in the area - and every person who signs up gets to gift a bag of coffee to a key worker or person in need.
The Roasting Shed, like other speciality coffee roasters and suppliers - and local businesses up and down the country - was forced to reinvent its business model overnight adapting to the drastic measures implemented by the government to slow the spread of Covid-19.
Owners Neil Coyle and Ricardo Rendon came up with the idea for their Kind Coffee Subscriptions after donating all their freshly roasted coffee to NHS staff when the lockdown began - so it didn’t go to waste. They wanted to find a way to continue roasting while supporting those in need.
Neil told the Gazette: “When we made our first drop to Homerton Hospital, the team told me that any tiny gesture helps boost morale and support from the community was now more important than ever. I knew there must be a win-win situation that would benefit both our business and the community at the same time.”
Customers can sign up to a weekly or fortnightly delivery and for every subscription The Roasting Shed will send off a bag of beans to NHS staff, a key worker or even a parent or older person self-isolating.
When orders are placed customers receive an email and are asked to enter the details of the person they’d like to donate a 250g bag of coffee to. If they can’t think of anyone the Roasting Shed will give the coffee to a health care worker on their behalf.
The roastery, which started life in Ricardo’s garden shed in 2013, continues to make regular deliveries to Homerton Hospital.
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“It’s becoming clearer each day that this crisis will continue for some time and if we can all be a little kinder to each other, it might make it a little easier to bear,” said Neil.
The Roasting Shed is located in Hackney Wick in the same building as Crate Brewery, Jarr Kombucha, and Silo.
Its beans are fully traceable and sourced through a responsibly-minded transparent supply chain.
To subscribe to The Roasting Shed’s Kind Coffee Subscriptions click here.
For the latest coronavirus news from Hackney and across London follow our live blog here, visit our corona virus page, or join our Facebook group here.
Or to find more groups, networks and organisations like this in Hackney providing support during the Coronavirus lockdown visit our There With You Essential List.