01.05.2023
We as a society are now waking up to the importance of asking those more difficult questions. When we purchase items within our everyday, we want transparency around the supply chain and eco-credentials of what we are buying. We are seeking out a more personalised experience where we feel valued as a customer every time we make a purchase. We want to make a difference with our purchasing decisions, and there is no better way to do this than to support local business. And this goes for when we buy coffee & cake too!
It is estimated that UK independent coffee shops serve more than 10.5 million cups of coffee each week. With this shift towards the more ‘conscious consumer’, the eco-conscious independent coffee shop has never been so popular!
My First Light Bulb Moment That Sparked the Idea of Starting the White Feather Coffee Co…
In a nutshell, back in 2015 whilst enjoying weekends out and about with my husband, I was really fed up with going to big coffee shop chains, where your order was taken, you waited in the queue, it was slapped down, it was mediocre coffee, and there just wasn’t a whole lot of care around the experience. I knew there must be a better way, and this planted a seed that I could just not shake off.
Fast forward to today, The White Feather Coffee Co. is a small independent coffee shop chain currently based in the South West, UK. We offer top quality, local produce that is sourced from the surrounding communities, and is served directly to our customers on a daily basis. We pride ourselves on the way we do things here, ensuring there is a whole lot of heart and feeling wrapped up in everything we do.’
What Does The White Feather Coffee Co. Care About as a Business?
Here at The White Feather Coffee Co, we really care about our customers.
It’s not just about buying coffee or cake, or sausage rolls. We want everyone to come through the door and have an uplifting and friendly experience. At interview with all prospective White Feather staff members, one of the key things we talked about is their personal skills. Their ability to have conversations with customers, and make sure they make every customer feels welcome in the environment.
You know, a lot of our staff might be the first person someone sees in the morning. They might be the last person they see before they go home at night. We talk to our staff and use the analogy of when you go to the hairdressers. We want customers to be able to offload on someone who’s not massively invested in your day to day, but that cares, who is interested and wants to hear, and wants to be there for you. This is so valuable when it comes to supporting our customers in their everyday.
In relation to providing the best quality produce daily, we are sourcing only from the local area, supporting other small local businesses. Whilst at the same time impacting positively on our carbon footprint by ensuring that we’re not sourcing from warehouses that are in a different region.
So, by purchasing our produce from top quality local butchers and bakers for example, this positive impact can then also be enjoyed by our customer. They know that they’re doing something really meaningful for the local economy, for other local suppliers, and also for the environment.
When it comes to our eco impact as a business, we really do care about the environment. It’s so important in everything we do from; encouraging people to use keep cups, minimising our food waste, and looking at how we are using our coffee grounds after coffees have been made; to reducing our water consumption and reusing what we do use, for example to then water our plants. The reduce, reuse ethos is very much what we are continuously working on here at The White Feather Coffee Co.
A Little Bit About My Story as Founder of The White Feather Coffee Co.
So Hi! I am Holly, founder of The White Feather Coffee Co. I live in Bridgwater, Somerset which is where three of my coffee shops are based, with my partner Steve, and my two young children, Ruby and Kit.
I have been in business since 2016, and actually, The White Feather Coffee Co. became a limited company on the 5th January 2017. So we are now going into our seventh year of trading, which is really exciting. And yeah, it’s been a journey! We’ve been through quite a lot of changes, and a lot of challenges along the way. But we’ve come out the other side stronger, and with a far better business than we’ve ever had.
What Do I Enjoy Most About Being The Founder of The White Feather Coffee Co.?
I guess my favourite aspect of being the founder and owner of The White Feather Coffee Co. has to be the fact that we get to influence someone’s daily life.
We get to provide an uplifting and welcoming experience for each person that walks through our doors. So whether it’s just down to them walking out with a great coffee, and they go ‘oh my god that’s really good coffee!’ To them speaking to a member of staff and having a really meaningful conversation. Or maybe they just have a light hearted conversation that makes them go into their day feeling a bit more positive.
I was on site at Bath Station just last week, and had a really nice exchange with the customer. It means the world to me, seeing people really appreciate what we do and what we offer. I think the majority of people now really appreciate being able to get a quality coffee from an independent coffee shop, rather than one of the big chains. That’s what we’ve seen & heard time and time again. Positive feedback from customers who say, ’It’s great to see you here because I don’t want to go to you know what, down the other end of the platform… I want to come and buy my coffee from an independent.’
So welcome to The White Feather Coffee Co. It is so exciting to have you here, and really appreciate all of your support for our independent business. Please do check out our other blogs that share in more detail our story, how we champion our local supply chain, as well as delving deeper into our eco-credentials and more, enjoy!!
Holly x
Founder of The White Feather Coffee Co.
