Grind

What Grind does

Grind Coffee Roasters Limited is a London-headquartered specialty coffee company founded in 2011 by David Abrahamovitch and Kaz James. The company operates an integrated omnichannel business spanning 14+ owned cafés, restaurants, and cocktail bars across London (with additional sites in Manchester and Dubai Airport), direct-to-consumer e-commerce with a recurring subscription model shipping to the UK, EU, and US, grocery retail through Waitrose, B2B commercial coffee through the GrindPro machine programme, and exclusive enterprise supply contracts with British Airways (premium cabins and lounges globally) and Soho House & Co. worldwide.

The core product portfolio centres on home-compostable Nespresso-compatible coffee pods — the UK's first certified home-compostable pods, manufactured from PHA biopolymer with an oxygen barrier for freshness — supported by Grind One and Grind Two pod machines built in partnership with Sjöstrand of Stockholm, whole-bean and ground coffee, craft instant coffee (launched October 2025), and ready-to-drink iced coffee cans acquired through the 2023 Bottleshot Coffee acquisition. Coffee is roasted at an in-house London roastery (20+ staff roasting hundreds of tonnes annually) under Q Grader Howard Gill, with direct-trade sourcing from farms in Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Colombia, Brazil, Rwanda, Ethiopia, and India at above-Fairtrade pricing. Sustainability and brand credentials include B Corp certification (2024), the Better Coffee Foundation ocean-plastic-recovery initiative, and "Brand of the Year" at The Grocer's Gold Awards (2025).

Revenue is generated through six primary streams: (1) D2C e-commerce with subscription pricing offering 15% off the third delivery, free Grind tin, and free shipping; (2) café and restaurant operations including food, beverage, cocktails, and private-hire events; (3) grocery retail one-time sales; (4) GrindPro hardware sales and leases to workplaces, health clubs, hotels, and lounges, with ongoing coffee supply; (5) airline and hospitality supply contracts (notably British Airways' ~12 million coffees per year across 200+ destinations); and (6) accessories including milk frothers, French presses, reusable cups, and machines. The customer base spans individual at-home coffee enthusiasts, café and restaurant guests, commercial B2B clients, premium airline passengers, and private members' clubs, with Grind Rewards loyalty (1 point per £1 spent) linking channels.

Name

Grind

Legal name

Grind Coffee Roasters Limited

Website

https://grind.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Grind is a London-founded specialty coffee company operating 14+ cafés, a D2C subscription e-commerce business, grocery retail, B2B commercial machines, and exclusive enterprise supply to British Airways and Soho House worldwide, anchored by the UK's first certified home-compostable coffee pods.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Specialty Coffee

NAICS

Coffee and Tea Manufacturing (31192), Coffee and Tea Manufacturing (311920), Beverage Manufacturing (3121)

SIC

Beverages (2080), Retail-Eating Places (5812), Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810)

akta.pro primary industry

Specialty Coffee Shops (Single-Origin, Third-Wave) (THAFADAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Coffee Roasters with Cafe (Roastery Cafes) (THAFADAE), Single-Serve Coffee (Pods, Capsules) (CRADAHAH), Coffee (Roasted, Ground, Whole Bean) (CRADAHAG)

Keywords

• Specialty coffee products
• Home coffee subscription
• Commercial coffee machines
• Ready-to-drink coffee
• Specialty coffee roastery

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Direct-to-Consumer E-commerce: Online sales through grind.co.uk including one-time purchases and subscription deliveries of coffee pods, ground coffee, whole beans, and accessories. Subscription model with recurring revenue, offering 15% off third delivery, free tin, and free shipping.
2. Café & Restaurant Operations: 14+ café and restaurant locations across London plus Manchester. Revenue from food, beverages, cocktails, and private hire events. Cafés operate as coffee shops by day and cocktail bars by night.
3. Grocery Retail: Coffee beans, pods, and iced coffee cans available in major UK grocers including Waitrose. Ready-to-drink iced coffee cans following Bottleshot acquisition.
4. GrindPro B2B Commercial: Commercial coffee machines (GrindPro and GrindPro+) sold or leased to workplaces, health clubs, hotels, and airport lounges. Machine sales and lease revenue plus ongoing coffee supply.
5. Airline & Hospitality Supply: Exclusive coffee supplier to British Airways for all premium cabins and lounges. Serves 12 million coffees annually. Also exclusive global supplier to Soho House & Co.
6. Coffee Accessories: Sale of proprietary accessories including reusable coffee cups, French Press, milk frother, and machines. Accessories complement core coffee offerings.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion4 records

Distribution channels8 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Grind is a London-based specialty coffee company that roasts, packages and distributes speciality-grade coffee products (home-compostable pods, beans, ground coffee, craft instant, ready-to-drink iced coffee) direct-to-consumer and through grocery retail, while also operating cafés, restaurants and cocktail bars and running a B2B commercial coffee machine programme (GrindPro/GrindPro+) plus exclusive supply partnerships with British Airways and Soho House & Co. The core proposition combines ethically sourced coffee, the UK's first certified home-compostable pods, and a multi-channel presence spanning home, café, workplace and travel.

Product overview

Grind is a London-based specialty coffee company operating a multi-channel business spanning cafés, restaurants, cocktail bars, retail (online/grocery), and B2B operations. The core product portfolio centers on home-compostable Nespresso® compatible coffee pods (UK's first certified home-compostable pods), complemented by the Grind One pod machine, commercial GrindPro/GrindPro+ machines for workplaces, craft instant coffee, ready-to-drink iced coffee cans (via Bottleshot acquisition), and bean & ground coffee. The ecosystem includes a subscription service with letterbox-friendly deliveries, the Grind Rewards loyalty program, and the Grind at Work B2B program. Coffee accessories include milk frothers, French presses, and reusable cups. The company sources from farms in Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Colombia, Brazil, Rwanda, Ethiopia, and India, with sustainability credentials including B Corp certification and home-compostable packaging.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• GrindPro: Grind's commercial coffee programme for modern businesses, offering premium fully automated coffee machines for workplaces, health clubs, airport lounges, and hotels.
• Better Coffee Foundation®
• Grind Rewards

Products and services

• Home-Compostable Coffee Pods UK's first certified home-compostable coffee pods made from plant-based PHA biopolymer. Compatible with original-style Nespresso machines and Grind's own pod machines, available in 19 blends including House, Dark, Light, Long, Extra Dark, Decaf, and flavoured options. Sold in 10-pod, 30-pod, 60-pod and 100-pod packs.
• Grind One Pod Machine Nespresso-compatible coffee pod machine with polished stainless steel design, aeroplane-style toggle switches, 19 bars of pressure, 1.2L removable water tank and programmable dosing. Built in partnership with Sjöstrand in Stockholm; comes with a one-year warranty and free London repairs.
• GrindPro Commercial Coffee Machine

Quantifiable outcome

• 12 million coffees served annually to British Airways passengers
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability2 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core and minor.

• British AirwaysflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 26 March 2026Exclusive worldwide contract to supply all British Airways premium cabin and lounge coffee. Grind designed a bespoke coffee blend with Brazilian Arabica beans specifically formulated to retain flavour at 35,000ft altitude, co-created with BA's Master of Wine Tim Jackson. Serves approximately 12 million coffees annually across 200+ destinations, replacing incumbent Union Coffee.
• One RetailcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 December 2025Partnership with One Retail for first standalone travel café at Waterloo station. New café serves coffee, cocktails, and food to commuters starting December 15, 2025.
• Bottleshot CoffeecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 March 2023Acquisition of UK ready-to-drink coffee manufacturer for $17.1 million (£15m investment round). Led to integration of Bottleshot's team into Grind and relaunch of canned coffee under Grind brand, expanding into RTD coffee market.
• Ocean Co.coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Partnership for ocean-bound plastic recovery. In 2023 and 2024 combined, recovered 120,000kg of plastic (approximately 85.6 million pods' worth). Grind recovers plastic equivalent for every pod, can, and cup sold.
• CleanHubcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Initial plastic recovery partnership before Ocean Co. collaboration. Funded recovery of plastic in Kerala, South West India through education, recycling incentives, beach cleanups, and improved recycling infrastructure.
• Soho House & Co.coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Exclusive global coffee supplier to international hotel group and private members club chain. Grind provides coffee to all Soho House locations worldwide.
• OatlyminorGTM or Marketing PartnerStrategic brand partnership with Swedish oat milk company; aligned sustainability values and target demographic.
• BrewdogminorGTM or Marketing PartnerStrategic brand partnership with Scottish craft brewer; Grind at Brewdog Waterloo is a franchise location.
• SjöstrandcoreOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing PartnerPartnership with Stockholm-based Sjöstrand for manufacturing Grind One and Grind Two coffee pod machines, plus Grind Milk Frother. Machines designed to Grind specifications with stainless steel durability focus.

Scale indicators13 records

Recent moves22 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Workshop Coffee: London specialty coffee roaster with cafés and a strong DTC subscription business. Direct competitor in the London specialty café and at-home coffee subscription space.
• Allpress Espresso: Specialty coffee roaster operating cafés and B2B wholesale globally with strong UK presence. Closely comparable roastery + café + wholesale hybrid business model.
• Pact Coffee: UK specialty coffee subscription and wholesale business with comparable online subscription, B2B office coffee, and direct trade sourcing model. Most direct competitor on the at-home specialty pod/coffee subscription side of Grind's business.
• Origin Coffee: UK specialty coffee roaster supplying restaurants, hotels, and offices; direct trade sourcing and B Corp credentials closely mirror Grind's positioning and channels.
• Caravan Coffee: London-based specialty coffee roaster with cafés, wholesale supply, and DTC coffee offering. Comparable hybrid roastery/café/wholesale model with strong London brand overlap.
• WatchHouse: UK specialty third-wave coffee shop operator with own roastery, retail café locations, and DTC product sales including coffee pods. Directly comparable on the roastery-café-retail hybrid model Grind operates.
• Notes Coffee: UK specialty coffee company operating cafés in London alongside a Nespresso-compatible pod range — directly competes with Grind on both the café and home pod fronts.

Broad incumbents

• Nespresso: Nestlé-owned global coffee pod incumbent. Defines the category that Grind competes in with its Nespresso-compatible home-compostable pods; controls the installed machine base and has vastly larger scale and marketing.
• Lavazza: Italian coffee major with a broad pod, bean, and foodservice portfolio. A scaled European competitor that competes on pods (Espresso Point, A Modo Mio) and in airline/hospitality supply where Grind has enterprise wins.
• Costa Coffee: UK's largest coffee chain (owned by Coca-Cola), with grocery packaged coffee and pod products. Establishes the mass-market benchmark Grind competes against in UK cafés and grocery.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks3 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/Grind
• Instagraminstagram.com/grind
• TikToktiktok.com/@grind
• Xx.com/grind
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/shoreditch-grind

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds5 records

Investors2 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A1 record

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Grind