Most of us have a close relationship with our favourite hot beverage. Whether you cannot get out of bed without your morning coffee, crave a cuppa during your tea break, or look forward to curling up with a mug of cocoa in the evening, these drinks are a part of our daily lives.

But how often do you consider the ingredients and their origins? People are increasingly choosing more ethical and sustainable tea, coffee, and cocoa suppliers, and the Fairtrade organic drinks industry is thriving.

Red Box Coffee, one of Create’s tenants, has been sourcing and supplying sustainable ingredients for their wholesale hot drinks business right here in Edinburgh since 2015. The small but dedicated team at Red Box is committed to being as ethical and sustainable as they possibly can. We caught up with Chris from Red Box Coffee to learn a bit more about the business and what drives it.

Red Box has a growing base of wholesale and direct customers who come to them to buy coffee beans, ground coffee, a fantastic selection of loose-leaf teas and infusions, hot chocolate, and even their own range of coffee-infused artisan chocolate bars, made in collaboration with Quirky Chocolate, here at Create!

Not only do they supply the ingredients needed to create delicious drinks, but their wholesale customers can also buy a range of top-quality equipment like grinders and expresso machines to ensure they are delivering the perfect serve to their customers every time!

But what makes Red Box Coffee really exceptional is their dedication to sourcing top-quality ingredients. Chris says “It is extremely important for us. Where we source our beans to make fantastic, consistent coffee each and every time. They have all been chosen due to their taste and where they would sit with our customers’ needs.”

And the dedication to quality and taste has paid off. Red Box products have won a number of awards, including an impressive 16 Great Taste Award stars! Having tasted some of their produce, we can confirm it tastes amazing.

According to Chris, the most popular coffee for customers who like a more traditional-tasting cuppa is the Classico Dark Roast coffee. it’s smooth with a wee bit of punch to it. Some of their wide selection of teas, which get a lot of love from customers, include the Scottish Raspberry and Lavender, Hibiscus, Apple and Rose, and Scottish Heather and Vanilla.

Hand in hand with the commitment to quality and taste is the Red Box team’s dedication to sustainability. They work hard to ensure that all of their products create positive environmental and social benefits for the producers, meaning that their customers can enjoy their cuppa with peace of mind. Red Box firmly believes that great coffee doesn’t have to cost the Earth!

Michaela, the Operations and Office Manager, Katerinka, the Warehouse Operative, and Chris, the Head of Wholesale make up the team. Because they are a small team, all of their roles are completely flexible, which is one of the things Chris appreciates about their organisation.

Red Box sells their products to individuals and businesses through their online store, and they occasionally attend markets and fairs, allowing more people to sample their range of hot drinks. Their business customers come from all over the UK, and they include cafes, restaurants, and hotels, and it is clear from the testimonials on their website that they are pleased with the service.

Chris enjoys the flexibility of his job at Red Box Coffee because it allows him to meet new people and, of course, test out new products. Looking ahead, they have been soliciting customer feedback to help guide new product development, and they hope to expand the business so that even more people can enjoy high-quality, sustainable teas and coffees!

If you live in Edinburgh, Glasgow or Dunfermline and want to try Red Box drinks, you can do so at Cobbs Cafes or Red Box Cafe in Marchmont – find your nearest cafe here.

We are extremely fortunate to have this environmentally conscious small business as a tenant at Create (not to mention that we occasionally get to try the tea and coffee!).

When we asked Chris about his thoughts on being a tenant here, he said that the rent levels are important to them, as well as the flexibility to expand and, (of course) the lovely landlords and other tenants!

We were excited to see their recent collaboration with Quirky Chocolate, and we hope to see more tenant collaborations in the near future.