07 January
A decent conversation with Extract Coffee Roasters.
This Bristol-based roastery goes beyond just making delicious coffee; they’re passionate about making a real difference. You’ll even spot them using decent Hot Cups in their London and Manchester barista training spaces. Read on to discover the fantastic initiatives Extract are driving within their business and how they’re giving back to the communities they care about.
Would you mind sharing how Extract started and came to be what it is today?
The idea of roasting coffee and turning it into a business started in 2007, in a garden shed in Dave's (one of our founders) back garden along with Marc, Samantha and Lee (our other three founders). A year later, a coffee cart was bought so coffee could be served at the bottom of Park Street, Bristol, earning some super fans along the way.
By 2009, we had outgrown the shed and upgraded to a nearby chicken shed to be able to keep up with the volume we were roasting. As the business grew, it became clear that our first roaster James (yes, all our roasters have names) wasn’t enough.
That’s when we found Betty, a 1955 vintage roaster who needed some TLC and restoration. Once Betty was back in action, we were able to increase production, and in 2011 our first House espresso, Original, was born. It’s still roasted today and remains a customer favourite.
With Betty thriving and hard at work, it was time to find her a friend. In 2012, Bertha, a decommissioned roaster in Bosnia, was shipped over and slowly brought back to life. In 2013, we moved into our current Bristol roastery, giving us the space to grow and scale production. After four years of renovation, Bertha joined Betty in 2016, running even more efficiently than when she was new.
In 2020, we welcomed a lifelong friend of the business, Duncan, on board as our Managing Director. With his extensive hospitality experience and sale knowledge, Duncan has helped steer Extract into its next chapter staying true to our values while strengthening our brand positioning and commercial direction.
Since this point we’ve gained two training & education spaces in London & Manchester, grown our team to include some of the industry's most talented baristas and coffee professionals including SCA judges and winners of speciality coffee competitions.
We love that you use decent packaging! Why did you choose us?
In 2025, we became B Corp certified, a huge milestone for Extract. Our mission has always been to Make Coffee Better. Better for growers, communities, and customers. It’s not enough to just have good beans in the hopper. Sometimes, it’s everything else around the coffee that matters most.
Partnering with Decent, a standout B Corp business, striving to leave this world a little better than we found it, felt like a natural fit.
What does sustainability mean to you, and how do you promote sustainability at Extract?
Our mission is simple: Make Coffee Better.
We want to make coffee better for the planet, communities, and growers. At Extract, we believe that different beats best. We aren’t just roasting coffee; we are raising the bar for what coffee can be and the impact it can have.
We believe that profit should have a purpose. We support several local and national community partners as part of our Grounds Up charity, through volunteering, mentorship and fundraising. When you buy our coffee, you’re helping people in our communities and yours.
Sustainability also means long-term relationships with growers, build on a quality-pays ethos. For over a decade, we’ve shared knowledge and grown alongside farmers, we’re now proud to call friends.
And it’s not just about sourcing ethically; it’s also about operating ethically here in the UK too. This means recycling coffee waste into biofuels, reducing emissions, salvaging old roasters from scrap and a move to 100% compostable paper cups with Decent!
It’s the care and dedication to every aspect which makes our coffee taste better.
If you could have coffee with anyone, past or present, who would it be and why?
I’d have to say David Attenborough; he’s an absolute international treasure. He’s got a huge amount of knowledge and passion, I think he would be so interesting to sit and chat to, hearing all about his adventures.
We know that community is a big part of Extract. Do you have any projects or initiatives that you are particularly proud of?
Our Inner Strength community espresso is always a big highlight in the calendar for us. Launching every year in the autumn, this is our limited-edition winter espresso, with £1 per kg sold going directly back to our Grounds Up charity partners.
It’s our caffeinated fist bump to all the community projects we support. Whether that’s barista training for Hotel School, supporting with machinery at The Long Table, fundraising for Empire Fighting Chance or offering our time and support for Beyond Food. We have supported people impacted by homelessness in London, vulnerable groups in the Cotswolds and young people from deprived communities across the Southwest and Wales.
We support our community partners all year round, but Inner Strength feels like a real moment to shine a light on the incredible work they do. It’s also an opportunity for all our retail and wholesale customers to play a part in supporting them through purchasing a bag, it’s one big team effort!
Anything in the pipeline that we should keep an eye on in 2026?
Keep your eyes peeled for a few new products in 2026. We want everyone to be able to enjoy high quality speciality coffee wherever they go, and we’ve got just the thing!
A big thanks to Chloe and the rest of the team at Extract for sharing your story with us, and for everything you to for the coffee community. Find more of Extract here.
