Redemption Roasters
With a roastery inside HMP The Mount, Redemption Roasters is the world’s first coffee company operating behind bars.
Why set up shop in a prison? It’s all to do with Redemption Roasters’ social impact.
People leaving prison are 50% more likely to reoffend if they aren’t equipped with skills and training. And the UK has one of the worst reoffending rates in Europe. Redemption Roasters is using coffee to change that.
They run a network of barista academies in justice sector institutions across the country. By passing on roastery and barista knowledge – everything from coffee history to fixing machinery – Redemption Roasters tap into the potential of ex-offenders and open up opportunities for them on release.
They even connect people who have completed the training programme with jobs, both in their own cafes (they know their graduates are great hires, after all) and at other companies in the hospitality industry.
For graduates of the programme, the training and employment adds up to an easier time reintegrating back into society and less chance of reoffending.
Oh, and the coffee tastes amazing too. The quality of Redemption Roasters ethically sourced beans is on par with fellow speciality roasters in London. The difference is their coffee also helps people who are often left behind change their lives for the better.
Ted Rosner and Max Dubiel were running a small coffee wholesale business together when they received an invitation from the Ministry of Justice to teach barista skills in a prison.
Leading this training showed them the potential positive impact a prison-based coffee roastery and barista academy could have. So, they pivoted their company to become Redemption Roasters.
Their formula of speciality coffee and prison-based training quickly proved popular and is now running in prisons up and down the UK.
Founded By
Ted Rosner and Max Dubiel
