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Mission Statement

Vision Statement

Glen Lyon Coffee is dedicated to putting people and the environment before profit. Our speciality coffees are 100% traceable and ethically sourced. We build direct, long term relationships with producers and trading partners throughout the supply train and pay the coffee farmers we work with significantly above Fairtrade prices.

We offer a welcoming and supportive work environment at our roastery in Aberfeldy, together with good rates of pay. Our Coffee Academy is dedicated to supporting school leavers into work in the coffee industry. Every year our team plants trees in the Highlands to offset our carbon footprint.

We are committed to zero waste and have led the way in Scotland with our compostable coffee packaging. We seek to run our business as a force for good and make our impact on the planet a positive one.

Ethical Sourcing

We support farmers and co-operatives in more than 12 countries around the world. We only buy seasonal, traceable speciality coffees that score a minimum of 80 out of 100 on an international scale for their flavours. These speciality arabica beans are typically shade grown at between 1200-2200m above sea level and hand-picked when ripe.

We work to form long-term, direct relationships with coffee producers and our export partners. We travel to meet our direct trade partners every year and are committed to paying a significant premium for all our green coffee. Please refer to our Green Coffee Sourcing statement for more details.

Glen Lyon Coffee Roasters lies at the heart of our local community. We share our space to host various community events throughout the year from blues and poetry nights to the monthly Aberfeldy Repair Café. We are proud of our Coffee Academy which offers free training and work experience to school leavers. Based in a remote, rural, low income area with limited job prospects and job security, we feel that young people in Highland Perthshire need as much support as possible with developing experience and skills for the working world.

Caf̩ work is often the first stepping stone for young people out of school and there is real demand in the hospitality industry for employees with good barista skills and experience. Beyond barista work this programme offers an introduction into the coffee industry which always has openings for young people in all aspects of the international supply chain Рfrom green coffee and sensory, to roasting, machinery and training.

Our mentoring programme to school leavers includes:

  • A half-day introduction to the world of coffee from farm to cup at Glen Lyon Coffee Roasters in Aberfeldy
  • Two internationally recognised courses by the Speciality Coffee Association (SCA): Introduction to coffee and Barista skills. These courses will be delivered by an SCA accredited teacher. Pupils who pass will receive a certificate to show to potential employers.
  • Voluntary work placement in one of a number of local partner cafes. As well as a chance to practice barista skills this will be an opportunity to cultivate softer customer service skills and gain invaluable experience in working as part of a team.
  • A final half day refresher at our roastery to cover all knowledge and skills gained over the previous three months. Students will leave the programme with the course certificates, hands-on experience and a personal reference from Glen Lyon Coffee and the partner café that they worked in.

The Coffee Academy is funded and administered by our sister charity Project Northern Lights, set up in 2011 to help young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. Glen Lyon Coffee is the partner business with the skills to help deliver the mentoring programme.

Charitable Causes

We donate a percentage of our profits to charitable causes every year including Trees For Life, Project Waterfall and The Circle NGO.

Environmental Responsibility

Glen Lyon Coffee is committed to tackling climate change. We carry out a carbon assessment of our business annually and offset this carbon debt by planting trees with Trees for Life in Glen Affric in Inverness-shire every autumn. To reduce our carbon footprint we have an electric company car for local deliveries and café visits. We have invested in an energy efficient espresso machine and plan to install an initial bank of solar panels on the roof of our roastery in 2022. We heat our roastery in the winter with a wood burning stove and have invested in wall insulation and double glazing.

Glen Lyon Coffee has been committed to zero waste ever since we started roasting coffee in 2011. Positive steps we have taken towards this goal include:

  • Pioneering the first 100% compostable one-kilo coffee bag in Scotland.
  • All our 250g bags of coffee are packaged in fully compostable bags (including the one way valve). These are TUV Austria Home Compost certified.
  • We post out all of our coffee in 100% recyclable FSC certified paper packaging.
  • All mixed recyclable waste is picked up twice a month from the roastery. Our compostable cups, lids and any reclaimed coffee bags are then industrially composted in Glenfarg.
  • We offer discounts on drinks to customers who bring their own reusables with them.
  • We have our own organic compost, mainly for ground coffee, at the roastery.
  • We send our long-dated coffee to FareShare, a charity that tackles hunger and food waste.
  • We recycle all our chaff as bedding for chickens.
  • We source our milk from a local dairy in glass bottles.
  • We use compostable parcel tape.
  • We source toilet and kitchen roll from a company that works to the highest environmental standards.