Velo Coffee Roasters has hooked a major bulk export order destined for Malaysia, and says its sales have jumped by 40% in the six months of lockdown.

Owner Rob Horgan (pictured) said the shipment is the Cork company's first bulk export order. "We’ve had a very busy six months and this is the icing on the cake. 

“Our website sales have increased dramatically and to date we have shipped to 19 countries and growing.  We are doing in a day now what we might have sold in a month last year, and our retail sales with Aldi have grown and grown.”

Velo was one of the winners in the first ‘Grow With Aldi’ competition in 2018, securing a one-year listing with the supermarket chain. This began in January 2019 and Velo has since had the listing extended, the result being an expansion of the numbers at Velo to 11 employees. 

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Horgan commented: “We believe we offer something truly unique and are thankful to Aldi for giving us the opportunity to share it.  The expansion now of our retail reach to Asia is an exciting development and we aim to explore other markets.”

He added that Velo had visited a number of green bean merchants before selecting their preferred supplier based on the quality, provenance and traceability of their bean and their passion for great coffee. 

“If we don’t start with the best raw materials, we can’t provide you with the best coffee, and we are delighted that we are sharing our locally hand-roasted coffee on shelves nationwide and internationally.”

Pic: Clare Keogh