Bakers + Baristas has selected Miko Coffee as its strategic coffee partner under a five-year agreement.
The deal sees the Belgian coffee brand deliver a fully integrated beverage solution across the bakery and coffee chain’s estate of 62 locations throughout the UK and Ireland.
Bakers + Baristas said the move reflects its commitment to continually enhancing its coffee offer. The business, which is owned by Irish investment firm Causeway Capital and merged with café and cake brand Patisserie Valerie since 2020, serves around 4 million cups of coffee every year. This makes consistency, quality, and operational reliability fundamental to the customer experience, it noted.
The companies have been collaborating for the past 18 months, beginning with the supply of Shott flavoured syrups. Miko is now providing Bakers + Baristas with premium coffee, traditional espresso equipment, barista training, technical support, menu development, bespoke branding, quality assurance and dedicated account management.
The nationwide rollout was completed in just eight weeks, including the installation of 43 Rancilio Invicta 3-group traditional espresso machines and three 2-group machines, alongside the likes of Eureka Helios 65 and 75 grinders, Eureka Mignon grinders for decaffeinated coffee, Magrini blenders with cold foam jugs, Eureka automatic tampers, and Marco hot water boilers. Estate-wide beverage production is supported by Miko’s UK network of 30 field engineers, a dedicated workshop, and service planning team.
Training is said to have been essential to the rollout with Miko implementing its ‘Train the Champion’ programme to equip key team members at each location with the skills and knowledge to maintain consistently high standards. The programme is supported by ongoing quality audits, refresher training and operational reviews, ensuring quality continues to evolve across the estate.
Puro Fairtrade Organic Coffee, meanwhile, has been selected for its premium quality and responsible sourcing credentials. Grown by smallholder farmers in Peru, Honduras and Ethiopia, the Fairtrade-certified coffee is sourced through a partnership with the World Land Trust which supports projects that protect threatened habitats and promote sustainable land management. Bakers + Baristas has also introduced Portioli decaffeinated coffee, roasted by a family business in Milan.
“Coffee has always been at the heart of Bakers + Baristas, so we knew that if we were going to change it, we had to do it properly,” commented Vikesh Patel, group managing director at Bakers + Baristas. “This was not about switching to a different blend, it was about taking a step back and looking at the whole coffee experience, from the farms where our beans are grown right through to the moment a customer takes that first sip.”
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