The bead shop cafe why we're working with our favourite suppliers
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by Hana Glover
For those of you that have visited The bead shop café you may have spotted that we’re working with our favourite suppliers. Hi it’s Hana, in our previous blog post announcing our new café I talked about how this has long been a dream of mine. Today I want to explain how we’ve chosen our café suppliers.
I’ve loved tea & coffee for almost as long as I’ve loved beads! Which has meant I’ve visited a few cafes and tried a lot of different drinks. Like with the beads we sell; ethics, environmental impact and quality are paramount. We focus on the tastiest products from some of the best local independent businesses.
I first met Jen of The Split-screen Coffee Company in 2019. We had both won a business award & travelled together to the awards ceremony in London. Since then we’ve become good friends & I’ve enjoyed helping Jen out at events, serving coffee from her Splitscreen VW van. This is made even better by getting to drink the most delicious coffee whilst I’m training! It was during these I realised how much I enjoy the art of making coffee. At the start of this year, when we realised we needed to doing something different to survive the aftershock of Covid, the cafe idea was rekindled. I knew straight away that I’d like to work with Jen to make it happen.
For those that don’t drink tea & coffee (who I don’t understand!) I wanted to make sure we have some equally interesting and tasty options. Square Root Soda are an exciting craft soda (always known as pop round here) company. We stock all 4 of their current can flavours made using British sugar and real fruit juices.
I’ve been enjoying taking a walk up Derby Road to the bright yellow Tough Mary’s Bakehouse to pick up treats for many years now. They make the best croissants and chocolate cobs (pain au chocolat to most people; 4 year old Leah’s description of them as a cob with chocolate in the middle has kind of stuck!) in Nottingham. The only downside is there isn’t always enough time to make it to the bakery before they sell out, so we thought we’d help out with this by stocking them! They also make an incredible vegan croissant and pastries. Look out for some of their specials on our counter too!
We’ve had several requests for traditional cakes too so we also have delicious cakes from Sugarberry Cake Studio in Sneinton Market. Fran makes the most incredible cakes (she supplied The Bead Shops 20th birthday cake) in a huge range of flavours. They are so much more than just a bakery though, with a focus on sharing the positive effects of baking on mental health. Sugarberry Cake Studio is a Community Interest Company (CIC) with a commitment to social inclusion, well being and mental health.
Last but not least I’m excited to announce we’ll be serving Bird & Blend Tea – woohoo! I was a latecomer to the Bird & Blend tea party, I’d known about them for a while (due to Steph & Emma being big fans) but never tried their tea.
I spoke at a retail conference at NTU in 2019 where Krisi from Bird & Blend was also a speaker. Her talk was inspirational and I instantly wanted to know more and see what all the hype was about! I also found out when I met her that she went to school with my brother and used to buy lots of beads from us! Since then I’ve become a bit of an addict and I enjoy trying their seasonal special flavours. I particularly love their rooibos teas with Baby Egg & Fairytale of New York my favourites. We’ve really enjoyed our previous collaborations with Bird & Blend. Last Christmas we designed exclusive tea charm kits for their indie market place. We also add their delicious teas to our kits so you can craft with a cuppa. I’m excited that we can now continue this in our cafe.
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