One of Wales’ leading coffee roasteries has quadrupled its online sales during the lockdown period.
Coaltown Coffee, based in Ammanford saw sales with its 275 wholesale customers stop virtually overnight with the introduction of lockdown in March.
However, the company, which has two cafes in Ammanford and was about to open two more before the pandemic hit, has seen a huge spike in its online sales thanks to a quick response in enhancing its digital presence.
Coaltown Coffee roasts and packs its coffee at its roastery in the hometown of founder Scott James.
Fast tracking its plans to redevelop its web shop, which was due to happen later this year anyway, Coaltown Coffee has reported a 582% rise in sales in April 2020 based on the same month the previous year.
The roastery, which up until lockdown derived the majority of its sales from the wholesale market, accelerated the overhaul of its online retail platform into the space of a week.
The company has seen an average of 160 orders a day during lockdown, a 220% increase on average daily orders before coronavirus.
Mr James said: “Our online presence was established, but we never anticipated the level of traffic increase we saw during this lockdown phase. It’s been hugely encouraging to see how quickly we’ve been able to respond to this as a business, as well as the new market of customers we’ve attracted.
"We’ve adapted our business aims for 2020, in what should have been the year we opened two further sites, to redirecting our focus towards providing customers good quality coffee that can be enjoyed at home.”
This week Mr Scott reopened his two coffee shops in Ammanford for takeaways.
The Drinks Cluster, funded by the Welsh Government, is the body that represents Wales’ alcohol and soft drinks producers.
Mark Grant, associate director at Levercliff who leads the Drinks Cluster, said: “Coaltown are a prime example of a business here in Wales that has faced the challenges of lockdown head on and moved rapidly to ensure it can still make a success of this time.
"Thanks to streamlining their digital presence efficiently, the company have unlocked new custom and seen their sales soar. Clearly consumers are keen to get their hands on great coffee, even during lockdown.”
