Why We Are Different

Our Roots.

We started Grey Seal Coffee Roasters during 2012, in a farmyard in Glandford, a small village on the North Norfolk coast, just outside Blakeney.

Our mission from the beginning was to bring the "third wave of coffee" to Norfolk and our wider region, the recognition that coffee beans are not just a commodity but a truly exotic fruit that deserves the recognition seen by wine and cheese enthusiasts. Specialty coffee is an art, and a science, and these beans take so much more work and skill than they get credit for.

So who are Grey Seal? A couple of brothers, a dad, and an amazing crew. Named after the UK's largest Grey Seal colony, a few miles from our roastery, we are Norfolk's leading and largest specialty coffee roasters. We ethically source our green coffee, our raw material, from the world's leading coffee growing regions. We light roast our coffee to bring out its full flavour and potential. We sell our freshly roasted coffee beans to wholesale customers across the UK, and to the public.

We head out on origin trips to visit the farmers in their country of origin so that we better understand our coffees and where they are grown. We regularly participate in coffee festivals around the world (New York, Stockholm, Dublin, Amsterdam, Gothenburg, London, Milan, Venice, Berlin, and counting) to create new friendships, build our skills and bring knowledge back to what we do everyday - make great coffee for you.

We've been the most awarded coffee roasters in the Great Taste Awards. Not just specialty, but all coffee roasters. These coffee beans have won the prestigious "EDP Food and Drink Awards" "Made in Norfolk Award" sponsored by "Kettle Chips" in recognition of our impact on the Norfolk food and drink scene. Our bags have featured in publications as diverse as "The Telegraph", "Marie Claire" and "Wired" magazine . The Sunday Times voted us one of the "Top 20" places in the UK for coffee. Not bad for a couple of coffee shops in tiny North Norfolk!

Our roastery is in Glandford (a stones throw, or caffeine fueled walk, from Blakeney). Visitors are always welcome. In the same farmyard we have our vegetarian/vegan cafe and restaurant Art Cafe (art-cafe.org), our coffee training centre, the coffee shop, and two bakeries in converted shipping containers (one for our cakes and one for our bread). We also have coffee shops - Sheringham (in the 'old town' in a beautiful fisherman's cottage); and Cromer (in a grade 2 listed old wine store that looks like an underground car park crossed with a wallpaper magazine article) so you can get your flat white on or a couple bags whenever you like. We are open every day of the year (except Christmas Day). Cyclists, muddy boots and dogs are welcome. Anybody looking for coffee grounds for their allotment can swing by too.

What does the future hold. We plan to produce our first cookery book this autumn; and hold some serious parties for customers and friends in our roastery; we will be offering wood fired pizzas in Glandford on Friday nights; and we plan to continuing doing what we do, making our customers feel as welcome as we possibly can, and serving them great coffee!