Natalie Hodgkinson – Boss and Brew Academy.

Where did the inspiration for Boss and Brew come from?

Boss and Brew developed from my desire to get into the coffee industry. I started obsessing over coffee a few years ago, I just wanted to learn everything, from the type of beans to the end user. I was teaching maths at a high school and loved seeing the young people thrive and grow, so I was not ready to leave, but still researched and explored everything I could about coffee. My first coffee cart was handmade my myself and my uncle. I saved up every penny I could to purchase my first coffee machine and began pursuing opportunities. I planned to do weddings and events, although my first event was during International Women’s Day 2020, but then we went into lockdown. So, I pivoted and began delivering coffee to people’s homes and I really enjoyed that. However, lockdown gave me the opportunity to learn more about getting into the coffee industry.

How did you begin to incorporate opportunities for young people into your business model?

After lockdown, I began to see that the school system failed to accommodate all children and felt the urge to offer opportunities for young people to learn new skills and build confidence, so decided to combine my passion for coffee, young people and education. So armed with my skills in teaching, being able to make great coffee and the ability to engage young people, I realised that there was a gap in the social enterprise space to create something from scratch. I launched Boss and Brew, in summer 2021, Originally under the name Boleyn Barista. First, I launched a pilot by speaking with some community organisers in the Grangetown area, they allowed me to use the Grange Pavilion and the first session was very successful. Initially I identified the young people using my own networks, and through people like Ali Abdi who has access to many young people.

After the first pilot, we had six young people go into employment after the first session. We helped them create a CV and did some interviewing techniques with them. As a brand, we were trying to build our own networks with people in the coffee industry, so I was able to share employment vacancies. The pilot gave me the confidence to realise that the business model works. It was such a useful learning curve, as it has allowed us to develop further training, such as history and origin of coffee, as I think it is important to understand the circular economy of where we get our food and other things from, in order to acknowledge who is involved in the whole process.

We hear a lot about sustainability and the circular economy, but why is this information important in business?

I believe in supporting small businesses, whether it is someone local or the farmers in Kenya, there is a large network involved in what we get on our shelves and young people need to understand the chain involved as well as the impact on the environment. They are the future generations and learning more about theses things in real life, not just in the classroom, will encourage then to play an active part in supporting the circular economy growth. Understanding more about the history and origins of coffee, will also help young people to have a greater appreciation of the labourers that help to grow, harvest, process and roast the coffee. As a Barista, it is your responsibility to ensure the end result is successful and complete the circle to the customer, so I think it gives the barista a greater acknowledgement of the hard work that has gone into producing a great coffee. The coffee industry has become a culture, people connect over coffees, business deals are created and broken over coffee. Although coffee shops have exploded in the last 15 years in the UK, they have plateaued since 2020, so doing new things like this is important to keep the coffee industry thriving. We have to think about where our coffee comes from, small family run businesses rely on the income, so in some small way we are supporting communities in other countries.

'Young people need to understand the chain involved, as well as the impact on the environment'.

We do so much research that we can tell you the origin, the name of the farm, even the family name of the suppliers. I always say coffee is about people, in reality, it is just a drink but, if we look deeper, there are families who rely on the income. I read that 50% of coffee farmers live in poverty, but others are high grade coffee suppliers who have made a fortune, mainly due to selling in large qualities and having the machinery and capabilities do large deals with manufacturers. But I love the small farmers, even if the end price is a little more expensive as, ultimately, it is about equity. The other aspects of the training we offer are the practical skills and theory, such as brewing, steaming, serving and espresso extraction, which is a science, but it is also a fun part of the training, because that’s where they get to taste their work. We often have a lot of funny facial expressions during this part because if it is done wrong, it can even turn out very sweet or very bitter. A lot of the students enjoy learning the latte art, which is a skill. There are such things as latte art competitions, and we had the pleasure of hosting the first one in Wales, back in February.

Left to right: Community Organiser, Ali Abdi with students of Boss and Brew Academy alongside, Sian Ropaigéalach WMC, Diversity and Inclusion Officer.

How long does the training last? We run a two-day training workshop and an additional day where they can invite friends and family to come along and taste all their hard work. So far, we have worked with Cardiff Council, Into Work service, Cardiff Youth Service, EOTAS, and all the groups are always so much fun. There is so much talent and engagement from the young people, that can sometimes get overlooked. We also offer a four day course, covering food hygiene as well as the barista training. Eventually we want to roll out our 8-week course, which will allow us to build a sustainable rapport with the young people and be able to meet their need as individuals, helping them to up-skill. We have a lot of plans moving forward, such as, a co-working space and the Boss and Brew hangout. We love what we do and enjoy seeing the young people we work with, having a coffee in one hand and confidence in the other.

Coffee in one hand - Confidence in the other

Coffee Facts:

According to a report by the British Coffee Association in 2021, the coffee industry in the UK is worth £10.1 billion and employs over 210,000 people.

Here are some additional stats on the coffee industry in the UK: Consumption:

Over 95 million cups of coffee are consumed every day in the UK Coffee is the most popular drink in the UK after tap water 81% of UK adults drink coffee, with 62% of those drinking it every day Out of Home (OOH) Coffee Market:

The OOH coffee market in the UK is worth £8.9 billion and is expected to grow by 29% between 2019 and 2024.

There are over 25,000 coffee shops and cafes in the UK, with around 1,000 new ones opening every year.

The average price of a cup of coffee in a UK coffee shop is £2.44 Costa Coffee and Starbucks are the two largest coffee chains in the UK, with 2,655 and 1,003 stores respectively.

Retail Coffee Market:.

The retail coffee market in the UK is worth £1.2 billion and is expected to grow by 11% between 2019 and 2024.

Ground coffee is the most popular type of coffee sold in the retail market, accounting for 44% of sales Instant coffee is the second most popular type, accounting for 37% of sales The top three retail coffee brands in the UK by market share are Nescafe, Douwe Egberts, and Kenco.