Australian coffee company Green Cauldron plans to invest £12.5m in a chain of 50 ’boutique’ coffee shops in the UK, which use coffee beans from the company’s farm in Byron Bay and serve cakes and pastries made by local bakers.

Fifty outlets are planned over the next five years, with the first opened in Liverpool earlier this month. The company also plans to expand by wholesaling its Australian coffee beans to independent coffee shops. Beans are shipped from Australia and roasted in the UK.

The shops’ food range will be limited to Australian products, such as Byron Bay Cookies and Wallaby Bars, and cakes and pastries made by small local producers. The Liverpool store sources Danishes and croissants from Coultons Bakery and cakes from Dafna’s Cheesecake factory.

The roll-out is being spearheaded by former Coca-Cola and Higher Education marketing executive Beverley Seymour, who saw the potential for launching the brand in the UK when travelling in Australia. In its home country, Green Cauldron supplies independents with its coffee, but does not have its own chain.

"The coffee scene in Australia is very different to in the UK, People take their coffee very seriously and there are lots of independent coffee shops, which lead the way. We aim to bring that ethos to the UK," she said. "Unlike the big chains, we know exactly where our coffee is from and how it was produced because the shops will be supplied by our own farm in Australia."

Funds for the roll out will be generated by the shops and the wholesale business as they grow in the UK with northern cities including Liverpool, Manchester and Leeds prime locations for sites.