The Elephant House
The Elephant House is a privately-held gourmet tea and coffee shop founded in 1995, operating in Edinburgh's historic city center with 11-50 staff serving walk-in retail customers.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1995
- HeadquartersEdinburgh, United Kingdom
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What The Elephant House does
The Elephant House is a privately-held gourmet tea and coffee retailer founded in 1995, operating from a single location in the heart of historic Edinburgh, United Kingdom. The firm employs between 11 and 50 staff, a headcount band consistent with a small-to-mid-sized independent café operation, possibly including a small satellite or seasonal workforce. The business model appears to be traditional walk-in retail food and beverage service, with no publicly disclosed pricing, digital ordering channels, e-commerce site, mobile app, loyalty program, or delivery integration referenced in the source data. The firm's own website (elephanthouse.biz) displayed only a loading/verification placeholder at the time of data capture, indicating either limited or unmaintained digital infrastructure, and no social media profiles, partnerships, certifications, or supplier relationships are documented.
No further product, technology, customer segmentation, or go-to-market detail is available in the input set. There is no information on revenue mix (food vs. beverage, retail vs. wholesale), pricing structure, customer demographics, or competitive positioning beyond the generic "gourmet" descriptor. The absence of disclosed data — combined with the placeholder website — constrains any deeper inference about unit economics, customer mix, or operating model, and any investment-grade conclusion would require primary diligence.
The Elephant House firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- The Elephant House
- Website
- https://elephanthouse.biz
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1995
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- The Elephant House is a privately-held gourmet tea and coffee shop founded in 1995, operating in Edinburgh's historic city center with 11-50 staff serving walk-in retail customers.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
The Elephant House industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Coffee Shop / Café
- NAICS
- Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars (722515)
- SIC
- Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810), Retail-Eating Places (5812)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Tea Rooms & Tea Cafes (THAFADAF)
Keywords
Where The Elephant House is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Edinburgh
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Markets served
The Elephant House business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales
The Elephant House product offering
Product offeringCore offering
The Elephant House is a gourmet tea and coffee shop based in Edinburgh, United Kingdom, serving specialty hot beverages and accompanying light food items to walk-in customers from a single physical location in the heart of historic Edinburgh. The business operates as a traditional café-style retail outlet focused on beverage service and casual hospitality.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Gourmet Coffee Service
- Specialty Tea Service
- Light Food Service
Companies that use The Elephant House
Customer profileIdeal customer profiles1 record
The Elephant House technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
The Elephant House competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Patisserie Valerie: UK cafe-patisserie chain serving coffee, tea, and sweet food in sit-in settings. Closely comparable business model of cafe beverages plus light food, although larger multi-site footprint and stronger brand.
- Söderberg: Scandinavian-style bakery and cafe group with multiple Edinburgh locations. Direct peer offering coffee plus food in a sit-in cafe format with similar design-led positioning.
- Fortitude Coffee: Edinburgh-based independent specialty coffee roaster and cafe. Direct peer operating in the same specialty coffee category within the Edinburgh indie scene.
- Artisan Roast: Edinburgh-based independent specialty coffee roaster and cafe. Direct peer as an Edinburgh indie competing for the same specialty coffee customer in the local market.
- Brew Lab Edinburgh: Independent Edinburgh specialty coffee bar focused on quality single-origin espresso. Direct competitor for the specialty coffee occasion in the same city.
- Black Medicine Coffee Co. Independent Edinburgh specialty coffee shop. Direct peer competing for the same specialty coffee customer base in the Edinburgh market.
Broad incumbents
- Caffè Nero: UK-founded specialty coffee chain with deep presence on Edinburgh high streets. Comparable as a direct competitor for coffee-forward customer occasions, though at much larger scale and with broader food menu.
- Starbucks: Global coffee chain with Edinburgh city-centre stores. Comparable as a competing cafe format for everyday coffee occasions, though with mass-market positioning versus a gourmet indie.
- Costa Coffee: UK's largest coffee chain (now Coca-Cola owned) with extensive Edinburgh footprint. Comparable as a coffee-shop competitor for the same everyday and commuter beverage occasion, though more mass-market and lower-priced.
Regional players
- Valvona & Crolla: Long-established Edinburgh Italian delicatessen and cafe. Comparable as a heritage Edinburgh food-and-drink venue with premium positioning and tourist footfall, though centred on Italian food rather than tea/coffee specialism.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat2 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights5 records
Customer concentration
The Elephant House social profiles
Digital presenceThe Elephant House financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
The Elephant House leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
The Elephant House funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
The Elephant House M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about The Elephant House
What does The Elephant House do?
The Elephant House is a gourmet tea and coffee shop based in Edinburgh, United Kingdom, serving specialty hot beverages and accompanying light food items to walk-in customers from a single physical location in the heart of historic Edinburgh. The business operates as a traditional café-style retail outlet focused on beverage service and casual hospitality.
When was The Elephant House founded?
The Elephant House was founded in 1995. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is The Elephant House based?
The Elephant House is headquartered in Edinburgh, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
Who are The Elephant House's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Patisserie Valerie, Söderberg, Fortitude Coffee, Artisan Roast, Brew Lab Edinburgh and Black Medicine Coffee Co.. Broad incumbents are Caffè Nero, Starbucks and Costa Coffee. Valvona & Crolla is listed as a regional player.
Does The Elephant House have an API?
No public API is recorded for The Elephant House.
What industry is The Elephant House in?
The Elephant House's product category is Coffee Shop / Café. Its primary akta.pro industry code is THAFADAF, Tea Rooms & Tea Cafes. Its NAICS code is 722515 and its SIC code is 5810.