Behind the scenes of Cannock artisan coffee roasting company and cafe that started as hobby

His dedication to crafting the perfect cup naturally progressed to roasting his own beans. “It started as a hobby and it just escalated. I was struggling to find speciality coffee in my local area without travelling to Birmingham or other cities.

“There was a lot of enthusiasm about coffee but there wasn’t really a hub for people in the area,” explains Jake, who lives in Huntington, Cannock.

He decided the answer was to start his own artisan roasting company and in 2019 founded Crown & Canvas Coffee Co.

And in December Jake opened the doors of his first coffee shop, providing a community hub where people can come together to enjoy good coffee and conversation.

The business sources speciality coffees from farms all over the world and roasts the beans to order for customers.

To begin with, the 30-year-old focussed solely on the wholesale market but then Covid hit and demand dropped.

“Covid flipped everything on its head and we needed to switch to selling directly to the public. Within 48 hours, we had our website ready for retail and we were offering massive discounts to entice people in.

“We came out of Covid far better for it because we had a sustainable business and when wholesale demand came back, we were ready. It’s helped us to be a lot more flexible,” explains Jake.