Historic Torquay business, Costa Rica Plantation Company is celebrating as its new owner Peter Blake revealed plans to build on its 60 years of coffee roasting on the Riviera.
An historic Torquay business is celebrating as its new owner Peter Blake revealed plans to build on its 60 years of coffee roasting on the Riviera.
Peter Blake, who recently took over Costa Rica Plantation Co from previous owner Beau Neilson, has moved to the English Riviera from Shropshire and is planning to settle in the area. He is keen to maintain the fine traditions and expertise of the company whilst modernising and expanding the business.
Peter said, “The Costa Rica Plantation Co has been trading from the same premises in Abbey Road for over 60 years and two employees, professional roasters Paul Bell and Gary Ireland have 40 years sterling service between them. I want to build on these fine traditions and work towards a much wider understanding locally of the greatly superior taste of freshly roasted coffee and its powerful potential to attract customers and keep them coming back. I’ve also brought in a coffee technician and great character, Roger Keys, who really knows and loves his coffee and is superb at passing on that passion to others.”
When Costa Rica Plantation Co started 60 years ago, it was importing beans exclusively from Costa Rica but the company now selects a range of the very best beans from around the globe, expertly roasting them on-site, then immediately packing and delivering the coffee when the flavour is still at its peak. New additions include Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance and Organic products from single estates around the globe.
Peter continued, “The English Riviera has been developing quite a reputation for locally produced food and drink, and coffee has the potential to make a huge difference to customer satisfaction. We will be launching a range of new brands that are infinitely more delicious than coffee products coming in from Europe which are often roasted months before and stale. We do not hold any stock, preferring to await orders before preparing and packing. All our coffee will be delivered absolutely fresh where and when the customer wants it – friendly, expert service and really good value is paramount.”
Celebrated local chef Richard Hunt from Torquay’s Grand Hotel joined Peter Blake to watch the roasting process this week and commented, “This is a brilliant local operation that has terrific plans for the future and with interest in freshly roasted coffee of all kinds riding high at the moment, this is a great asset to the English Riviera’s foodie credentials.”
Peter continued, “One of the unique features of the business is the ability to roast and blend an individual product that becomes in effect the customers’ own ‘house’ speciality. Indeed we hold more than 60 closely guarded customer recipes.”
Peter Blake is currently building a local team of professionals including web design, accounting, barista training and promotional experts and more news is expected very soon. Beau Neilson, who owned the company for 28 years said, “I’m delighted to support Peter as he develops the business. I’d also like to thank all my customers for their business over the years. This is a fresh start at an exciting time for a wonderfully historic local business.”
Costa Rica Plantation Co Ltd
49 Abbey Road
Torquay
TQ2 5NQ
Tel: 01803 293 331
