ABOUT US
We’re Kiss the Hippo, London‘s most innovative and sustainable specialty coffee company. We roast organic, planet-friendly coffee at our state-of-the-art roastery in London, then send it out to discerning coffee drinkers across the UK and beyond.
We opened our roastery in 2018, and from day one it’s been a hub of sustainable innovation. Since then, we won the UK Barista Championships twice which is a humble reflection of our perfectionist ethos. Kiss the Hippo's ultimate aim is to be regarded as the superior coffee brand of its era.
OUR ETHICALLY-SOURCED COFFEE
Before the coffee even arrives in the UK, we’re already ensuring it meets our exacting standards of quality and transparency. That’s why we source ethically, opt for organic certified coffee, and build strong relationships with coffee farmers worldwide – paying at least 50% above the Fair Trade price.
Of course, we still put flavour at the forefront of everything we do. That’s why our coffee experts travel far and wide in search of bold beans and exciting origins, which we bring home and roast with our trademark panache – not to mention our Loring Smart Roaster, the world’s most environmentally-friendly coffee roaster.
Once each coffee is carefully roasted to preserve its individual flavour identity, it’s quality checked by our certified Q Graders, then either sealed in special bags, packed carefully into our compostable coffee pods, or served up to our loyal guests at one of our London cafés.
OUR AWARD-WINNING APPROACH
At our cafés, our baristas are as passionate as they are highly-trained – that’s why they’ve now won the UK Barista Championships three years running, and why they’ve got the skills to run our SCA Certified Premier Training Campus where aspiring baristas from far and wide come to learn how it’s done.
First and foremost, we’re devoted to creating the ultimate coffee experience. That’s why we put so much thought into our research, sourcing, tasting and quality checking, to ensure that the coffee in our coffee pods tastes just as good as the coffee we serve in our cafés.
We like to think that the quality of our coffee shows in the company we keep. After all, we’re proud members of such esteemed organisations as the Speciality Coffee Association, Coffee Roasters’ Guild, the Barista Guild and the Alliance for Coffee Excellence.
OUR INNOVATIVE INITIATIVES FOR THE PLANET
Our initial partnership with On A Mission was the #KissTheHippoForest, where we decided that for every single pod subscription, we’d plant a tree in On A Mission’s ecoforestry project in Nepal. The project was — and still is — a resounding success, and our pods were nominated for an Amazon Innovation Award for our efforts. But we still wanted to go further.
Now, we work with On A Mission on a number of exciting reforestation projects all over the planet, for the planet. That means you’ll find our trees everywhere from Colombia to Madagascar, Zambia to California. Yep, the #KissTheHippoForest has gone global.
It also means we can proudly say that we’re a genuinely carbon negative company. That means, by choosing Kiss the Hippo, you’re helping save the planet – one cup of coffee at a time.