Shrewsbury coffee company enjoys significant growth

Having launched The Hatch coffee shop alongside Shrewsbury Station during the pandemic, a return to commuting and increased visitor numbers saw footfall more than double in the spring as remaining restrictions lifted.

This success continued and culminated in November with the team expanding its range of products available to buy direct from The Hatch.

Kev Burrows, Director at Iron & Fire, said: "During the pandemic, our direct-to-consumer subscription coffee business boomed. People desired quality coffee at home even if they couldn’t go out and this has remained strong since.

“Not only has the subscription business continued to flourish – it’s now three times the size it was before Covid – but interest in getting the best from a coffee has increased too.

"Visitors to The Hatch now ask for advice on the best machines and accessories to use at home which is why we decided to make our range of Sage coffee machines and peripherals available to buy on site.”

As a champion of the independent coffee shop, Iron & Fire supports its trade customers by supplying not only coffee, but also equipment, machine servicing, and barista training. This training is also available to consumers, but necessarily moved online during the pandemic. However, increased interest has led Iron & Fire to relaunch its training offer on site at its roastery facility in Shrewsbury.

Kev added: “A quality coffee machine doesn’t guarantee a quality coffee if you don’t use it properly. With more people making the decision to invest in these machines we’ve decided to re-open bookings for in-person training at our roastery. Interest is already strong and we’re looking forward to welcoming more visitors through the doors in 2023.”