One of Wales鈥 leading聽coffee聽roasteries has quadrupled its online sales during the lockdown period.
Coaltown聽Coffee, based in Ammanford聽 saw sales with its 275 wholesale customers stop virtually overnight with the introduction of lockdown in March.
However, the company, which has two cafes in Ammanford and was about to open two more before the pandemic hit, has seen a huge spike in its online sales thanks to a quick response in enhancing its digital presence.
Coaltown聽Coffee聽roasts and packs its聽coffee聽at its roastery in the hometown of founder Scott James.
Fast tracking its plans to redevelop its web聽shop, which was due to happen later this year anyway, Coaltown聽Coffee聽has reported a聽582% rise in sales in April 2020 based on the same month the previous year.
The roastery, which up until lockdown derived the majority of its sales from the wholesale market, accelerated the overhaul of its online retail platform into the space of a week.
聽The company has seen an average of 160 orders a day during lockdown, a 220% increase on average daily orders before coronavirus.
Mr James said: 鈥淥ur online presence was established, but we never anticipated the level of traffic increase we saw during this lockdown phase. It鈥檚 been hugely encouraging to see how quickly we鈥檝e been able to respond to this as a business, as well as the new market of customers we鈥檝e attracted.
"We鈥檝e adapted our business aims for 2020, in what should have been the year we opened two further sites, to redirecting our focus towards providing customers good quality聽coffee聽that can be enjoyed at home.鈥
This week Mr Scott reopened his two coffee shops in Ammanford for takeaways.
The Drinks Cluster, funded by the Welsh Government, is the body that聽represents Wales鈥 alcohol and soft drinks producers.
聽Mark Grant, associate director at Levercliff who leads the Drinks Cluster, said: 鈥淐oaltown are a prime example of a business here in Wales that has faced the challenges of lockdown head on and moved rapidly to ensure it can still make a success of this time.
"Thanks to streamlining their digital presence efficiently, the company have unlocked new custom and seen their sales soar. Clearly consumers are keen to get their hands on great聽coffee, even during lockdown.鈥澛
