An interview with… Sanctuary coffee

We spoke with Marcus from Sanctuary Coffee, a coffee roaster that donates £1 from every bag sold to animal sanctuaries and shelters across the UK.

Read below to find out more about their purpose, expansion plans and the coffee in our box.

RiSE: When did you first start Sanctuary coffee, and what gave you the idea that roasting coffee could help animals across the UK?

Sanctuary Coffee as an idea actually started in 2019 whilst Marcus was working as the Head of Coffee for a London-based social enterprise roastery - we planned and planned for over two years to make sure when we launched we could be as helpful to the sanctuaries as possible.

The idea initially arose when we met our rescue greyhound, Dionne. We learnt quite a lot about rescue centres, how they operate and, sadly, how little money they operate with which often leaves the folks who run the sanctuaries in personal financial peril. We wanted to make sure that no person brave enough to run a sanctuary would find themselves living on the verge of poverty to keep their animals safe and happy.

RISE: What’s the best part of your job, and do you get to spend any time with the animals at the sanctuaries? 

Our favourite part of the job is donation day! Every month we donate our profits to our selected sanctuaries and it fills our hearts knowing that our business keeps the animals fed, sheltered and well looked after.

We do get to see the sanctuaries! Our sanctuaries can be found in Watford, Kent, Hersham, Brighton and Tregaron - make sure to pop over and say hello!

RISE: What’s on the horizon for Sanctuary coffee, this year and next?

Over the next 6-months we will be residing at IKEA’s first microstore in Hammersmith with the Atelier100 Creatives. This residency aims to give a platform for London brands with sustainability at the heart of what they do. We’ll be serving up our latest and greatest single origins along with our fave plant m*lks until 2023.

RISE: What are your future plans for the business?

We hope to open up our very first cafe in the coming 18 months where we will champion all things plant-based and source our ingredients with seasonality and locality in mind.

Long term, our end goal is to open up our very own sanctuary and use the land to roast our coffee, educate baristas and create a community space to enjoy and learn about the animals we hope to look after.

RISE: Finally, what makes this RiSE exclusive coffee (La Soledad,a washed coffee from Mexico) so special? 

La Soledad has been sourced by a very ambitious globally based start up, EthicHub. These guys are ace. They use their platform to connect growers to roasters and channel their profits back into helping coffee growers. The coffee itself is the product of careful roasting and attentive learning.