How we started
Bolling Coffee Ltd was founded in November 1979, initially to supply the local catering market with freshly roasted coffee. As one of the very few roasters in the country at that time we were roasting during the day and delivering during the evening - it really was an all consuming passion for the founder - Clive Balmforth.
We recognised that being a roaster gave our customers the advantage of freshness and guaranteed quality.
We were the first company in the UK to import Rancilio traditional espresso machines and this lead to a friendship between Clive and Romano Rancilio (one of the founders) which ignited Clive's enthusiasm for great espresso and started our range of fantastic espresso beans - although they were packed in 5Lb bags in those days! |
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 | Business Growth
As the business grew, we became an established national supplier of coffee and equipment, including to the private label market.
Increasingly the market needed better equipment and, in 1996, we started to supply the Black & White bean to cup machine made by Thermoplan in Switzerland.
This lead to our development of some fantastic coffee blends, specifically suited to bean to cup systems and enabled us to serve the emerging high volume fresh coffee market nationally.
As we bacame one of the leading suppliers of bean to cup machines and coffee we moved to a purpose built Roastery in May 2000, within 18 months we had doubled our manufacturing and warehouse capacity. |
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The Speciality Market
As consumers became more interested in the provenance of their food, we started to cement relationships with some of our existing farmers and search for new, better, farms around the world. Initially this was to bring completely traceable coffees to the UK catering market but during these travels we were offered some amazing coffees for which we didnt have a market - caterers did not need the distinctive tastes offered by some of these unique small farms.
We had access to some fantastic products but needed a market. So in November 2006 Grumpy Mule Distinctive Coffee was born.
Grumpy Mule (sometimes known as Damian) aims to bring the best single origin coffees to high end, specialist, retailers and we have established a significant, and growing national customer base.
In 2009 we launched Grumpy Mule into the catering market with a unique offer that provides a complete solution to the caterer who needs a Traceable, Ethical, Sustainable and 100% Arabica distinctive coffee offer. |
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