The brand story

Bewley’s is a much-loved, iconic Irish brand. With world-class coffee and tea expertise, it continues to serve and delight coffee and tea lovers all over Ireland and beyond.

The brand has a proud heritage dating back to 1835, when Charles Bewley landed an unprecedented cargo of 2,099 chests of tea directly from China to Dublin, signalling the end of the London East India Tea Company’s monopoly.

Bewley’s expanded into the coffee trade, first as merchants, then opening immensely popular cafes on Georges Street (1894), Westmoreland Street (1896) and Grafton Street (1927) in Dublin, which now serves one million customers every year.

Patrick Campbell acquired Bewley’s in 1986, forming Campbell Bewley Group and driving the expansion of the firm both in Ireland and the US. This established Bewley’s as the largest coffee and tea company in Ireland.

Product range

Building on a heritage of craftsmanship and expertise, the Bewley’s Master Coffee Roaster and Tea Blender travels the world to source the finest coffee beans and tea leaves.

The coffee beans are then carefully roasted to coax the perfect flavour from every bean before blending and packaging to retain the coffee’s wonderful freshness.

Bewley’s teas involve expert sourcing and skilled blending of fine teas.

The company supports its trade customers with award-winning customer service and best-in-class technical service and training.

The extensive range of Bewley’s products and services are all inspired by Bewley’s values of excellence, warmth and daring.

Innovation

Bewley’s has achieved many firsts:

• The first to roast coffee instore and the first to introduce latte art coffee

• The first, and still the largest, importer of Fairtrade coffee to Ireland

• The first to offer ‘bean to cup’ coffee in convenience stores

• The first Irish coffee company to develop business in the US and launch ‘high-caffeine coffee’ called Jet Black

• The first local brand to launch a capsule coffee offer.

Thanks to this focus on innovation, Bewley’s scooped top honours at the 2008 Guild of Fine Food Great Taste Awards in London, with six gold medals for its Explore and Café Blend coffees and new tea blends. Its espresso coffee capsule won a two-star Gold Medal in the espresso coffee category.

Marketing and promotion

Bewley’s is a brand with a rich and colourful history. It’s the market leader in the ‘Roast and Ground Coffee’ category, and recent research shows it’s the ‘most trusted’ coffee brand. Equally important, it’s the ‘most recognised’ Roast & Ground coffee brand in Ireland.

In 2008, Bewley’s unveiled a new visual identity to drive further growth in its core consumer and foodservice markets. This refreshed identity is a contemporary expression of the famous Bewley’s script, coupled with the ‘flourish’ pattern, inspired by the Harry Clarke windows in Bewley’s Grafton Street, highlighting the brand’s craftsmanship, warmth and style.

For autumn 2008, Bewley’s is collaborating with designer Orla Kiely to create a stylish limited-edition Gold Blend tea caddy, with Kiely’s instantly recognisable Scribble Stem pattern. It will be available from Avoca, Grafton Street and all leading supermarkets from November 2008.