Founded 30 years ago with a passion for coffee excellence, White Rose Coffee Roasters' head roaster Robert Cooper has extensive experience with commercial coffee equipment and catering supplies. Located in Halifax, West Yorkshire, they are proud to carry the Made in Yorkshire Mark, which promotes food and drink produced exclusively in Yorkshire.
Using a traditional drum roaster design manufactured by Toper Coffee Roasters in Turkey, the coffee beans are roasted by a gas flame under the drum and air flowing through the drum itself. Since 2017, White Rose has been roasting with a 5kg Toper, and in 2020, they installed a 30kg Toper affectionately referred to as Judith in memory of Robert's late mother).
To ensure freshness, they roast every day and bag the coffee immediately after it cools.
For Robert, coffee has always been part of his family, as his dad started Pennine Tea and Coffee Ltd over 30 years ago after working for Twinings Tea.
We have been in the coffee industry for so long that advancing to roasting was a natural progression for us. We are the UK agent for Toper Coffee Roasters, so we can also demonstrate live their roasters to prospective customers.
Transparent trading
As a result of their partnerships with coffee brokers, White Rose offers customers coffee grown all over the world that is traded through the Algrano network - direct contact with the plantation farmers so they can learn more about their coffee and processing methods and provide feedback on the quality of the coffee. The breakdown shows exactly how much the farmer receives, shipping costs and broker fees until it reaches Halifax - and they pay the farmers before the coffee leaves the plantation, so they can start working on the next harvest. To ensure quality supply in the future, coffee plantations must be kept sustainable - many younger generations are leaving their family plantations for more lucrative city work.
Over twenty single origins, along with six blends, sets us apart from other roasters. We offer more options than most - and we select them from a variety of brokers - although we prefer Algrano since we can directly interact with plantation owners, and of course they get to set the price for their hard work.
There are many origins of coffee to choose from, but Robert keeps going back to Brazilian coffee - which they roast from four different plantations and only drink from their White Rose Coffee Roasters branded mugs!
When it comes to brewing, I prefer the AeroPress or drip filter, and yes, I do drink a lot of coffee at home and at work!
It is important for Robert to get a break from drinking coffee and visiting cafes when visiting other cities, as he has found it can be disappointing if the quality isn't satisfactory.
Yorkshire pride
With the expansion of its offerings, White Rose aims to offer more people quality and choice and maintain that fresh roasted taste that is unique to an independent coffee roaster.
The best advice I can give to anyone just starting out in the coffee industry is to go bigger than the roaster you think is required. You may think that a smaller roaster will be fine for expected starting volumes, but quickly you may need more capacity.
As White Rose continues to grow, Robert is still able to find time to enjoy reading coffee books, including Scott Rao's 'The Coffee Roaster's Companion' and 'Coffee Roasting Best Practices' - both of which he also sells. With his family, he also enjoys walks in the park and the picturesque Yorkshire countryside during the weekends.
