Cornwall LivingIssue #95
Tea temptation
We hear the Cornish Tea & Cornish Coffee Company story and discover how it came to be the brand it is today.
The Cornish Tea & Cornish Coffee story began when owner and founder, Duncan Bond, saw a gap in the market and decided to fill it with his own brand of Cornish tea. Now, Cornish Tea & Coffee products are sold all over the world, including over 2,000 farm shops and delicatessens as well as big names in the retail business – Tesco, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s, to name a few.
The business is very proudly a family affair, with three generations working in the company. “Funnily enough,” says Duncan,
“back in the early 1900s our family was supplying tea and coffee to hotels and restaurants – who would have thought we would be doing the same today!”
In regards to how the Cornish Tea story began, Duncan explains: “Back in 2012 my sister in law was looking for tea that they could serve in their restaurant in Looe, we got chatting about the tea available to them. The question was asked, ‘isn’t there a Cornish tea similar to Yorkshire Tea?’ I wrote Cornish Tea on my hand and went on to see if it was possible to produce a quality Cornish Tea that could compete with the big boys in the market place. Turns out it was.”
Launched in November 2012, Cornish Tea & Coffee provides buyers with high quality teas and coffees using 100% biodegradable and plastic free materials. The branding was inspired by Cornwall and represents a culmination of different viewpoints. However, the over-riding idea was the colour of the packaging; orange was a colour that set well with Cornwall and that no other brands used.
I ask Duncan where he sources his tea from. “All our tea is sourced from Kenya and Malawi,” he tells me. “These are the best places for quality and consistency in the world.” The tea is then blended, processed and distributed from The Cornish Tea Company’s base near Looe alongside the company’s carefully selected artisan coffee, launched in 2013 and sourced from Guatemala, Ethiopia, Brazil and Columbia.
Over the last eight years The Cornish Tea & Cornish Coffee Company has grown from an idea into a successful business, serving the world, cup by cup, with exceptional tea and coffee that’s sustainably sourced and packaged.
Discover More
Look out for more about the Cornish Tea & Cornish Coffee Company story in subsequent editions of the magazine.
THE CORNISH TEA & CORNISH COFFEE CO LTD
01503 264476
“back in the early 1900s our family was supplying tea and coffee to hotels and restaurants – who would have thought we would be doing the same today!”
