Matthew Algie facts for kids

Matthew Algie is a company that roasts coffee. It is owned by Tchibo Coffee. Their main office is in Glasgow, Scotland, in the United Kingdom.

The company sells its coffee to many places. These include coffee shops, restaurants, hotels, and other businesses. They also rent out coffee machines. A team of engineers helps keep these machines working. Matthew Algie also offers other coffee-related items. These are sold through their sister company, Espresso Warehouse. The company also teaches people how to make great coffee. These special courses are called SCA accredited barista training. They have training centers in London, Glasgow, and Dublin.

All About Matthew Algie Coffee

About 90% of the raw, unroasted coffee beans Matthew Algie uses come from Fairtrade groups. Fairtrade helps farmers get a fair price for their products. Matthew Algie has given millions of dollars to community projects through Fairtrade payments.

The rest of their coffee beans come from independent farmers. Matthew Algie works directly with these farmers. The company uses a traditional way of roasting coffee. It's called Probat drum roasting. They also use special software to help. Matthew Algie is known for using a very cold process called cryogenics. This helps them make their ground coffee.

Matthew Algie sells different types of coffee. They have coffee for filter machines and for espresso. Some of their espresso coffees have three special certifications. These are Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance, and Organic. They also have a "Freshly Roasted" espresso range. This coffee is promised to be delivered to customers within seven days of being roasted.

More Than Just Coffee

In 1997, Matthew Algie started a company called Espresso Warehouse. Its slogan was "Everything but the Coffee." This company was created to help new, independent coffee shops. Espresso Warehouse sells its products in the UK and Ireland. They also sell through other companies in Europe.

Espresso Warehouse sells many items for coffee shops. These include different kinds of tea, like loose leaf tea. They also sell hot chocolate, syrups, and biscuits. You can also find a wide range of tools for baristas. Baristas are people who make coffee drinks. They also sell other equipment for coffee bars.

Matthew Algie's History

Matthew Algie was born in 1814 in Greenock, Scotland. He passed away in 1906. He started as a grocer. He sold tea that came to Scotland on special ships called Clyde Clippers. In 1864, he officially started his business. It was called Matthew Algie. It focused on blending and selling tea to other businesses.

For about 80 years, the company sold tea and spices. This was mainly to shops in the Glasgow area. This included the time during two World Wars. In 1950, the company, then known as Algie's, started selling coffee. They also offered vending machine services. In 1974, "Algie's" began selling coffee machines. These were for offices, restaurants, and hotels. This helped people switch from instant coffee to freshly roasted and ground coffee.

Growing the Coffee Business

In the 1980s, the company grew very quickly. They started selling coffee all over the UK. They also added large coffee machines for catering businesses. In 1989, the company started offering its first espresso machine.

In 1995, the company's leader, David Williamson, visited Portland, Oregon. He was a descendant of Matthew Algie. When he returned, he changed the company. He wanted to help the "espresso revolution" grow in the UK. In 1997, Matthew Algie introduced the UK's first Fairtrade espresso beans. Then, in 2004, they launched the world's first "triple-certified" espresso. This meant it was Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance, and Organic. Sadly, David Williamson passed away unexpectedly in 2008 at age 42. A foundation was set up in his memory. It is called the David Williamson Rwanda Foundation.

In 2010, the company changed its brand look. This was their biggest rebranding effort at the time. In 2016, Matthew Algie was sold to Tchibo. The plan was to keep the Matthew Algie brand. Tchibo also hoped to expand it into other countries where they already sold coffee.