Description
Cafédirect is a British Fairtrade coffee company founded in 1991 by Oxfam, Traidcraft, Equal Exchange and Twin Trading, with two coffee producers on its board and a certified B Corp since 2018.
Cafédirect Plc became a public company in 2004, but its shares aren’t listed on a stock exchange: they are traded through the JP Jenkins platform. In 2023 it bought Bewley’s UK and the Grumpy Mule brand. Its own progress report says it has invested more than £31 million in farmers since 1991, paid 141 % of the Living Income Reference Price in 2025 and works with farmer cooperatives for 28 years on average. Its target is net zero by 2040. In the B Corp directory its latest score is 123.9, against a median of 50.9 for ordinary businesses that take the assessment.
The range covers whole-bean and ground coffee, espresso, decaf and instant, much of it organic with the Soil Association mark. On the website (checked in November 2026), 200 g of Machu Picchu ground coffee costs £6.00, 1 kg of House Espresso beans £24.00 and 100 g of Machu Picchu instant £6.60. The online shop delivers only to UK addresses, free over £25 and £2.95 below, and the coffee is also sold in supermarkets.
Strengths
- It was set up by Oxfam and three fair-trade organisations, and coffee growers sit on the board of the company.
- Its products carry the Fairtrade mark and its B Corp score of 123.9 is well above the median for businesses that take the assessment.
- It publishes yearly progress reports with figures on what growers are paid against the living income reference price.
Weaknesses
- The 141 % living income figure and the £31 million total come from Cafédirect’s own reports, not from an independent audit.
- The online shop delivers only to the UK, and orders under £25 pay £2.95 for postage.
- Its B Corp score has fallen from 126.2 at an earlier assessment to 123.9 at the latest one.
Who it is for
Coffee drinkers in the UK who buy beans, ground or instant coffee in the supermarket or online and want a Fairtrade brand whose growers have a say in the company.