Delicious coffee. Positive Impact.
We are a quality-driven coffee roastery based in Margate, Kent. We exist to bring you delicious coffee experiences in a way that benefits producers and is kinder to our planet.
We believe that businesses can and should be forces for positive change and there is plenty to improve within the coffee industry. And that’s why the Curve brand and company culture is built on one idea:
Small Business. Big Impact.
Why? Because everything we do, every decision we make is about making things better for every person in the supply chain. From the producers we partner with, to our team, and finally our customers.
We strive to work in a way that allows us to produce excellent, seasonal coffees that protect livelihoods and the planet.
We may be small, but our methods mean we can have a positive impact in every aspect of our business.
Seasonal range of exceptional coffees that support equitable supply streams and prioritise growers.
.
Our story
How it all started? Out of excitement for delicious coffees.
Tereza and Jon first met working in a small coffee roastery in London. This was after several years working in various areas of the coffee industry. Tereza began her coffee journey as a part-time barista whilst studying and quickly fell down the rabbit hole. Becoming a barista trainer and later finding herself volunteering at a Brazilian coffee farm. Her true passion now lies in responsible coffee buying and sustainability across the supply chain. Jon was first introduced to speciality coffee in Sweden, working in a high-end coffee equipment store, surrounded by passionate coffee professionals driving the local speciality coffee scene. Eventually pursuing a career in roasting after moving back to the UK.
Several years later, when the opportunity came to purchase a second hand roaster, we decided it was time to start our own venture. We wanted to bring better coffee to Kent (Jon’s home county), better not only for drinkers but also producers and the planet. And Curve was born at the back of Margate cafe in the summer of 2016.
Our big ambition? To make coffee better for everyone.
Our job is to bring consistently great quality coffee and service to our customers whilst appropriately valuing and supporting the farmers and communities who grow is in the first place. Of course this is only possible to do in the long run if we look after our planet in the process and so we take great care to work in ways that minimise our impact on the environment both in our own production and packaging as well as our coffee sourcing.
Our approach
It’s all in the details. At every stage of the business we focus on little ways we can make things better.
Making things delicious and exciting
We are seasonally led, with a range of fresh crop speciality-grade coffee from various origins and with different flavour profiles. Our roasting style allows for a coffee's sweetness, vibrancy, body and flavour to shine. Rather than blending coffees we prefer to focus on refining our roasts to bring out the potential each coffee holds within and showcase the range of coffees whether they are regional group lots or individual producers' microlots.
As a roaster we take on a very privileged role within the coffee supply chain - standing between the producers who grow coffee as an organic agricultural product and those who enjoy preparing and drinking it as a beverage, be it professional baristas or home enthusiasts. Our goal within this role is not only to make the experience of baristas and consumers exciting and delicious but also to truly honour the work of coffee farmers. We want to responsibly share their inspiring stories and contribute to ensuring their equity within the supply streams.
Improving social equity and economic sustainability within our supply streams
This means dismantling the colonial power dynamics that still exist within the coffee supply chains, and treating producers as equal partners. We believe that we need to start by moving away from commodity market dictated prices (notoriously unstable, often unrelated to the real value of the product and at times falling below cost of production) and matching the coffee quality and associated production cost with adequate prices paid at farm level. For this we work closely with carefully selected and purpose-driven importer partners to build resilient supply chains that prioritise growers and improve their livelihoods. Together we need to ensure that coffee farming is not only a viable income source for the millions small-holder farmers currently responsible for most of the world’s coffee production but also an attractive and profitable prospect for younger generations.
Looking after our planet
When it comes to improving our environmental impact and carbon footprint, the first thing we need to pay attention to is our roasting plant and operation. Whilst it is currently not viable to use other fuel than gas for the volume we produce, we have purposefully invested in a state of the Loring Smart roasting machine which uses an air recirculation system and makes the use of fuel as efficient as possible. We are actively searching to find a suitable renewable biogas alternative to the propane we currently use as the fuel for roasting. All our packaging is currently made of post-consumer recycled plastic material which can be recycled in soft-plastic streams (Code 4) collected in all larger supermarkets. We have decided to use this rather than compostable materials due to the lack of commercial composting facilities available to the vast majority of our customers here in the UK.
Everything is a constant work in progress and we are always learning and working to improve our practices.
