In 1879 Joseph Pollard opened his first grocery shop on Sheffield’s West St. Over one hundred years and five generations later, Pollards Tea and Coffee has grown to be a thriving national business supplying its own cafés in Sheffield city centre as well as wholesale customers across the whole of the UK. Every day, the firm roasts enough coffee beans to make 130,000 cups of coffee.
In 2005 Pollards became the first food manufacturer licensed to use the Made in Sheffield Mark.
Says managing director Simon Bower:
“The business has developed tremendously in recent years and we’re very proud of our position at the leading edge of roasting technology.
“The Made in Sheffield brand is closely identified with quality so it made absolute business sense for us to join. We see the relationship as a partnership – we’re an ambassador for Sheffield just as much as the MIS team is out there promoting the interests of its members.”
Simon Bower says that belonging to Made in Sheffield also helps to define how and where the company positions itself in the marketplace. Pollards is unique in using a bespoke software package to monitor the roasting process and to ensure that its own quality criteria are met with every roast. It distinguishes itself from the mass market producers, only roasting to customer order and holding to its commitment that all coffee leaves the site within 72 hours of roasting. Simon Bower explains:
“In many ways we’re very like the city’s specialist steel and cutting blade manufacturers. We’ve defined our niche at the high-quality, non-commodity end of the market and being Made in Sheffield is a powerful part of that positioning.”
Ethical trading is also a strong strand at Pollards. Within its own workforce it actively encourages flexible working and 20% of its employees have a physical or learning disability. The firm works closely with the coffee plantations that supply it and endeavours to look after the pickers and planters while they are working and after they retire. It buys Fairtrade and Rainforest Alliance approved beans and in 2005 won the Coutts Family Business Prize for Philanthropy. For Simon Bower, running an ethical business is an integral part of making a product of which the firm can be proud.
He concludes: “We’re very pleased to belong to Made in Sheffield and to be helping to spread the word that Sheffield manufacturing is not only vibrant and dynamic – but increasingly diverse.”