COMMERCIAL coffee supplier Matthew Algie has pledged further investment as it toasts a rise in profits and turnover.
Established in Glasgow in 1864, the coffee roaster was acquired by German's Tchibo Coffee Services last August and supplies the hospitality sectors in the UK and Ireland.
The latest financial results reveal its fortunes have increased despite "fierce competition" on the high street.
Increased demand for high quality coffee from restaurants, bars and universities is said to have helped push turnover up by 3.9 per cent to £37.4 million.
Retained profits are up from £2.2m to £2.8m, while operating profits have bubbled to £2.65m from £2.58m in 2015.
The company says this sustained growth is "a result of its strong emphasis on the quality of its products", as well as the investment in and development of ethical and sustainable supply chains.
With further growth predicted in the UK coffee shop market, the company now plans to invest further in the business.
Managing director Nick Snow said: "By helping our customers to stay one step ahead of the competition in terms of the quality of coffee they offer, we have once again been able to grow our overall share of the market.
“We will continue to invest behind the Matthew Algie business and we have bought a major new warehousing facility at our Glasgow site to cope with the expansion."
Last month Citigroup suggested that there may be only four to five years of structural growth left in the UK coffee market.
There were more than 22,000 coffee shops at the end of last year and, according to specialist researcher Allegra, consumers buy around 2.3 billion cups of the black stuff in stores like Britain's 1,970 branches of market leader Costa, 800 Starbucks outlets and 550 Caffe Nero sites.
Turnover in the sector is around £8.9 billion annually.
While acknowledging the standard of competition, Snow is confident Matthew Algie, which also offers barista training and menu development services, will continue to prosper.
He said: "Coffee outlets face fierce competition on the high street and as consumer expectations increase, so must the quality and standard of the coffee on offer. In today’s market differentiation is everything.
"As well as taste acting as a measure of quality, consumers see provenance, ethics and sustainability as important.
"Our ethical values are central to our business and we are proud to supply coffee to our customers that meets this level of expectation.
“Increasingly, coffee drinkers consider themselves coffee connoisseurs, so it is crucial coffee shops offer something that goes above and beyond."
He went on: "The growth over the last 12 months has been driven by a customer focused approach and as a result we have won new customers across multiple sectors and further strengthened our position in the market.
"Through contract catering our distribution has broken into some new areas including some major UK universities.
"On top of this the Espresso Warehouse brand and the added value support we offer customers, such as tailored branding, have continued to help grow our customers’ businesses.”
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