July 22, 2013 1.40 pm This story is over 128 months old

Lincoln’s littlest coffee shop goes big with deliveries

Coffee to your door: Lincoln’s smallest coffee bar is expanding its business with coffee deliveries to city centre businesses and homes.
Chris Jones (17) from Little Espresso Co delivers the hot brew to your office. He delivered coffee for The Lincolnite team in 8 minutes on Monday morning.

Lincoln’s smallest coffee bar is expanding its business with coffee deliveries to city centre businesses and homes.

People can order Little Espresso Company‘s hot and cold beverages and food online, and have it delivered for free within 15 minutes.

The drinks are delivered on shop branded bicycles, and carried in temperature consistent anti-spill boxes.

So far, the coffee bar is the only drinks retailer in the city and even region to offer a free coffee delivery service.

Little Espresso Co owner, Adam Lowiss, said: “It’s something that I had planned as a student, as I disliked the queues in coffee bars (despite being an incredibly patient person). The waiting and the ridiculous prices annoyed me.

“So I had thought an online system would always be simpler then visiting a shop. I opened the Little Espresso Co over a year ago, with the idea of using a small shop to sell the best coffee.

“If I kept the costs of the shop down, then the price of the product could be low.

“As soon as I realised that the good people of Lincoln would rather buy a better quality coffee at a lower price (rather then visit a chain store) I knew it was time to start to bring about the delivery service.”

Lincoln’s smallest coffee bar on Silver Street.

Lincoln’s smallest coffee bar on Silver Street.

The idea to deliver on bikes helped the shop not only maintain its “quirky nature” and independent vibe, but also offered a low carbon emission alternative to traditional delivery methods.

At present, the bar will deliver to a radius of around half a mile, to test how well the coffee will maintain its quality.

However, the shop will soon expand the delivery radius to businesses up to one mile away from its premises on Silver Street.

Adam explained how the service works: “Orders are primarily taken via the website. Once the customer has chosen their food and drink, they are asked to give some details to help us find them and given a run down of what they have ordered.

“The order is completed through Paypal or cash/debit card on delivery. If people are not comfortable with this or they fall outside of the catchment area, they can give us a call and we will do all we can.

“We receive the order in an email. The drinks and food are made up and quickly packaged so as not to lose temperature and quality.

“They are popped in the bike basket and we include a few bits that might be needed (bags of sugar and stirrers).

“The customer receives the order within 15 mins of placing it. We have thought out this process so the drinks will arrive to you better then if you went to another coffee bar for a takeaway.”

The delivery service runs from 9.30am – 2.30pm, Monday to Friday, and Saturday, 9.30am – 2pm. If you are outside the delivery area, or have questions, call the shop on 07908 135414.