Founded in 2017, 51 Degrees North Coffee Company started out as an idea that Justin Duerden had when a seed was planted in his mind. Having been involved in environmental and wildlife conservation for many years, it was a chance occurrence when Justin and his wife Cheryl met on their work and travels, a lovely American-Columbian couple who owned a coffee plantation in Columbia. Buzzing from their in-depth conversations and pour over coffee tasting session, Justin soon realised his passion for coffee could go way further than just sipping a good cup.
"Yearning to learn more about the coffee industry and how to appreciate speciality coffees, I started my foray into understanding what it takes to make a great cup of coffee. It was through this discovery that I decided to start 51 Degrees North Coffee Company; 51°00’00.0000” North being the GPS coordinates over the River Torridge where the concept originated, just a stone’s throw away from where we were living back then."
Today, the speciality coffee van is a star attraction outside Tesco in Braunton, and since July 2020 a speciality coffee shop round the corner was added. The aim is to serve award-winning, great quality, consistently-made speciality coffee with expertly-extracted coffee beans roasted in the South West, locally sourced organic fresh farm milk, supporting sustainable coffee plantations and direct trade, and working with local producers and suppliers as much as possible.