A new coffee concept launching in Staffordshire is looking to create a community venue that benefits the coffee producing communities it buys from.
Bear Coffee Company will open in Uttoexter in late December or early January by Craig Bunting, a former marketing and branding executive, who plans to grow the brand both in the UK and internationally.
He told M&C he wants to achieve the level of professionalism of chain operators while remaining a local and independent outlet.
Bunting has spent more than 12 months developing the brand with the community to make something that will reignite the feeling of social community on the high street.
He said: ”I believe it’s important to be local and to connect with the community, our first store in Uttoxeter will always be home. However, opening stores in other locations and developing an authentic relationship with that community is important and how we hopefully intend to grow.”
All the coffee served at Bear will be single origin with an emphasis on provenance and the importance of the impact on the coffee producing communities.
“We also understand that many people in Uttoxeter might not care about the single origin coffee to that level – they just want a really great cup of coffee.”
On expansion plans, Bunting said: “There are various locations I would love to open in; after spending time in Australia and seeing the coffee culture and the role it plays in people’s work life balance I want to recreate that social feeling of the high street.”
He said he is interested in opening more Bear outlets in high street locations to give people a reason to visit the high street that they could not get at a retail park.
Expansion would be based on the success of the first site but over the coming years he wants to add sites around the UK and internationally in Australia.
Locations would be in towns with similar boutique and smaller independent stores that are in need of resurgence or areas with growing interest in quality stores.
