Founded in 1840, Bewley's is Ireland's leading coffee and tea company and has been perfecting the craft of tea and coffee making for many generations.
Bewley's humble beginnings began in a little shop on Sycamore Alley in Dublin, Ireland, to eventually moving to the home and heart of the brand, their Grafton Street Café. Today their teas are blended and their coffees are roasted in their state-of-the-art Bewley’s production facility in Dublin.
The IrishCentral Box is proud to partner with Bewley's Tea to bring a taste of Ireland straight to the door of our subscribers.
The legendary Bewley's Grafton Street Café in Dublin
History of Bewley’s Tea
In 1835, Samuel Bewley and his son Charles dared to break the East India Company's monopoly by importing 2,099 chests of tea on board the clipper ship, The Hellas was the first ship chartered directly from Canton in China to Dublin. At this time, Ireland had yet to develop its famous thirst for tea. The stakes were high and both men were faced with ruin if the tea could not be sold. Thankfully the venture turned out to be more successful than either could possibly have imagined, changing the taste of a nation and making Bewley's a household name in Ireland.
Following on from their origins in the tea trade, Bewley's was then officially founded in 1840 and expanded into coffee and the operation of coffee shops. Most notably being their legendary Grafton Street Café, which was opened by Ernest Bewley in 1927. The rest as they say is history, but it is still history in the making as they continue every day to enthuse and delight tea and coffee lovers all over Ireland and further afield.
The Bewley's logo is famous across the globe
Bewley's Tea Products
In addition to their award-winning range of black teas, a wide selection of specialty teas in both loose and pyramid tea bags are available. Their fresh coffee blends and single-origin coffees are all Fairtrade and roasted in Dublin, to suit the varying tastes of today's sophisticated coffee consumer. They also carry a range of Fairtrade Coffee Capsules, Instant Coffee, and Hot Chocolate lines.
Monitoring new trends within the hot beverage industry is essential to Bewley’s. In 2018 the company rebranded its complete retail range and moved all fresh coffee lines to Fairtrade Coffee. Alongside this, they found that coffee capsules were the fastest-growing product within the coffee industry. Innovation is key and in 2019 Bewley's launched new coffee capsules. but with the difference in making them fully compostable for industrial waste and also biodegradable, so kinder to the environment too.
Bewley's Afternoon Tea is a firm favorite for many Irish people
How has the current pandemic impacted Bewley's?
With social distancing restrictions and the limitations that this placed for onsite barista training, Bewley's launched a new customer training website called: Bewley’s Connect. The site allows customers access to videos and information that help them with their day to day running of their beverage business. The videos available show customers how to clean their barista coffee machines, how to steam milk, and even how to pour latte art. Just one example of how Bewley's business adapted to the industry changes within the pandemic.
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Over 4,000 hotels, restaurants, and cafés in Ireland proudly serve Bewley's tea and coffee. Their award-winning products can also be found in most supermarkets and convenience stores around Ireland.
In the United States, their teas and coffees can be purchased in numerous independent grocery, Wegmans and retail stores, as well as online at BewleyUSARetail.com.
