About Us
Our vision is to put people and the environment before profit
Set up in 2011 in a bothy in Highland Perthshire, Glen Lyon Coffee Roasters has grown into a thriving online and wholesale business with a team of ten supplying speciality coffee to over 150 cafes, restaurants and delis throughout the UK. Proud to be B Corp certified, we source traceable, ethically produced coffee, pay fair prices and build direct, long term relationships with producers at origin.
We offer a welcoming and supportive work environment for our roastery café team in Aberfeldy, together with good rates of pay. Every year the team plants trees in the Scottish Highlands as part of our commitment to make our impact on the planet a positive one.
Early Days
Glen Lyon Coffee was set up by Fiona Grant in 2011 at the top of one of the most beautiful glens in the Scottish Highlands. She installed a five-kilo roaster in the bothy next to her house and started selling small batch roasts at local farmers markets. The first years were the hardest, with no staff and no heating in the bothy through the winter. The biggest challenge was getting lorries to deliver green coffee along 10 miles of single-track road, with several having to be regularly dug out of snow drifts!
In 2014 we moved the roastery lock, stock and barrel to Aberfeldy, a cool little town on the banks of the River Tay. Here we invested in a 12 kilo Probat roaster (which we still use today alongside our 25 kilo Probat) and employed our first team member to help roast and deliver barista training. The business has grown steadily and we are now a team of ten, supplying freshly roasted speciality coffee across Scotland and beyond.
Our roastery is a bright and airy space with plenty of room for two Probat roasting machines, a cupping lab, a retail and café area and outside decking for seating and events. We are open to the public for coffee, pastries, beans and merch Monday to Saturday from 9am to 4pm.
Coffee
Glen Lyon Coffee is dedicated to sourcing the finest speciality beans from around the world. To us this means that all of the coffees we buy are seasonal, traceable, and most of all delicious. We roast in small batches and check every batch for quality and consistency before sending it out. Final decisions on all the coffees we source and roast are made by our own in-house sensory professional and Q Grader.
We are proud of the fact that over 65% of the green coffee we purchased in 2022 was via direct trade and that 49% of all the coffee we roasted this year was from women-owned farms and producers.
People
Ethical green coffee sourcing is at the heart of our business. We are committed to nurturing direct, long-term relationships with small farms and co-operatives at origin, paying fair prices, championing producers and providing a route to market for quality coffee.
The coffee-producing Foresti family from the Sul de Minas region of Brazil are a great example of this sourcing approach. In 2019 we made a long-term commitment to buy coffee from their farm, called Fazenda do Lobo (The Wolf). One of the sons, Guilherme Foresti, wrote this feedback:
“You can’t imagine how happy my family and I are with the business we have and we look forward to repeating it annually. I would like to take this moment to say that coffee prices in Brazil have not been fair a while and it is difficult for us growers to be recognised for our hard work. Business like this brings financial security for us to face the difficulties and keep fighting annually to produce great coffees and, obviously, work with partners like you.”
Community
Glen Lyon Coffee is all about supporting our brilliant Highland community. Our roastery café is open Monday to Friday to provide a hub for our community to meet and catch up over a flat white by our wood-burning stove. The roastery also hosts a monthly Repair Café which is dedicated to repairing and mending everything from toy cars to electronics and furniture for free. We hold monthly free talks from noteworthy local residents—we’ve hosted authors, artists, and outdoor enthusiasts—as well as our popular Live at the Roastery series of intimate concerts.
In 2021 we set up a Coffee Academy through our sister charity Project Northern Lights which mentors school leavers from Breadalbane Academy through a programme of barista skills qualifications and work placements in cafes. Our aim is to support young people in our area into work in Scotland and beyond.
Environment
Every year we plant trees with Trees for Life in beautiful Glen Affric in Inverness-shire as well as closer to home on our local community land at Dun Coillich. Since 2018 the team has planted hundreds of native trees, including Scots Pine, Rowan and Grey Willow.
We also work hard to reduce our carbon footprint and use a company electric car for local deliveries and cafe visits when possible. In 2021 we put our first bank of solar panels on the roof of our roastery and in 2022 became the first speciality roaster in Scotland to import green coffee by sailboat.
Our Team
We’re based in a remote rural area of Scotland with limited work opportunities. We are proud to provide a relaxed and supportive work environment for our staff, pay the Living Wage or higher and offer job security with permanent contracts.
Our international team collectively have over 50 years of experience of working in the coffee industry with expertise in all aspects of the coffee supply chain including sourcing, sensory, Q grading, roasting, machinery and barista skills. When we’re not roasting, cupping or brewing you’ll most likely find us out in the hills and on the rivers of our beautiful Highland home.