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11 ethical coffee roasters

Image of coffee beans and grounds

11 ethical coffee roasters in Britain

We love coffee as much as you do so we’ve compiled this list of Britain’s browse-worthy ethical roasteries. The following roasters have made our list for they all sell direct to the public, many offer coffee subscriptions, and all take their environmental and sustainability responsibilities seriously. They also practise fair or direct‑trade and do their best to support the all-important coffee bean growers themselves. Brew on, baristas…

1. Pure Roasters Coffee, Glasgow

This ethical speciality roaster is based in Glasgow. They source sustainable beans and offer flexible subscription deliveries across the UK.

☕ Website: pureroasters.com 
☕Instagram/X: @pureroasters 

Coffee beans

2. Dear Green Coffee Roasters, Glasgow

This Glasgow roastery is B-Corp certified. A direct‑trade roaster, they source responsibly and reinvest in grower communities. Dear Green offers single‑origin and organic blends online, both to  trade and to the lucky public.
 
☕ Website: deargreencoffee.com
☕ Instagram: @deargreen

Coffee beans spilling from paper bag

3. Blue Coffee Box

Blue Coffee Box offers a letterbox‑friendly ethical coffee subscription, spotlighting small-holder growers worldwide. This is the choice for adventurous drinkers seeking traceability and variety.

☕ Website: bluecoffeebox.com
☕ Instagram: @bluecoffeebox

4. Mont58 Coffee, London

Mont58 is an award‑winning South‑East London roaster specialising in fair‑trade Arabica and compostable packaging. Their subscription service offers excellent value. 

☕ Website: mont58coffee.com
☕ Instagram: @mont58coffee

5. Origin Coffee Roasters, Yorkshire

This B -Corp certified Yorkshire roastery runs along very sustainable lines, with traceable beans and a strong online subscription programme. You’ve heard of Yorkshire Tea, give Yorkshire Coffee a whirl with Origin.

☕ Website: origincoffee.co.uk
☕ Instagram: @origincoffeeroasters

Coffee machine handles with coffee beans, grounds, and frothed milk

6. Coaltown Coffee Roasters, Wales

This South‑Wales B-Corp has transparent direct‑trade sourcing, award‑winning beans and equipment, and a UK‑wide subscription service. We also found Coaltown Coffee served at many of the excellent independent cafés and coffee shops we loved in Wales. 

☕ Website: coaltowncoffee.co.uk
☕ Instagram: @coaltowncoffee

7. Black Mountain Roast, Hay-on-Wye

This foot‑o‑the-mountains roaster in Hay‑on‑Wye offers bi‑weekly or monthly coffee subscriptions. Their award-winning blends come in compostable bags. Waste not, want not, drink more coffee! 

☕ Website: blackmountainroast.com
☕ Instagram: @blackmountainroast

Creamy coffee with beans and coffee grounds around

8. Wrexham Bean Co, Wrexham

A North‑Wales speciality roaster that celebrates local art and plants a tree per subscription purchased. Not just a pretty coffee! For those seeking a coffee subscription, it offers weekly to monthly delivery.

☕ Website: wrexhambean.com 
☕ Instagram: @wrexhambean

9. Pact Coffee, London

This London‑based B-Corp has been a pioneer of direct‑trade specialty subscriptions since 2012. Pact offers a roast‑to‑door service and beans that come bedecked with great‑taste awards.

☕ Website: pactcoffee.com
☕ Instagram: @pactcoffee

Unorthodox Roasters, Kinross, image of barrista

10. Unorthodox Roasters, Kinross

A firm favourite in this home office (and as pictured above), Unorthodox Roasters feature in our independent café guide, The Extra Mile Guide: Alternatives to Motorway Services. They also happen to roast their own beans and offer a coffee subscription (which reminds us, it really is time to order some more).

☕ Website: www.unorthodoxroasters.co.uk
☕ Instagram: @unorthodoxroasters

11. Union Hand-Roasted Coffee, East London

This East‑London craft roastery was founded in 2001. Union offers its CoffeeClub subscription, sells in supermarkets, and maintains great artisan values throughout the process. Taste the craft in every cup with Union. 

☕ Website: unionroasted.com
☕ Instagram: @unionroasted

Making you want to drink better coffee?

Try a new coffee subscription from one of the suggestions above, or get your own copy of The Extra Mile: Delicious Alternatives to Motorway Services to keep in your glovebox. Packed with almost 300 ideas for local, just-off-the-junctions places to eat and drink, the guide also bursts with independent cafés and coffee shops, whose baristas are just waiting to create you a delicious cup using fresh and locally roasted beans. Happy re-caffeinating and book browsing…

SHOP BOOKS
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The passion behind our Farm Shop Guide

Girl with dreadlocks reading The Farm Shop Guide

Introducing: The Farm Shop Guide

Eleanor Weeks-Bell is the compiler of 2024’s Amazon bestseller, The Farm Shop Guide (a book featured in Waitrose Weekend, Times Weekend and more). Here’s her introduction to The Farm Shop Guide, to give you a feel for what it and we at Extra Mile Books are all about. Ele, over to you…

“Why buy flavourless, pre-packaged food that has been shipped thousands of miles when you can get the most deliciously fresh and toothsome produce direct from the field down the road? Starting in Scotland and running from North to South and West to East – to end in Kent, the fertile garden of England – this guide is a celebration of Britain’s growers and producers and their farm shops, cafés, and restaurants.

Family-run farms and more

You’ll find everything from traditional rustic barns to contemporary vending machines, run by all types of people from experienced farming families who have lovingly tilled the soils for generations, to community-owned or charity-led farms that provide opportunities for people to learn new skills and to improve their wellbeing. There are over 1,500 farm shops in Britain and this first edition of The Farm Shop Guide features over 160 of our favourites.

From rural to urban settings and from small and quirky to large and established places, this book reflects the fantastic diversity of Britain’s farms and farm shops. Read on to discover specialists of all varieties of vegetables, fruits, meats, fish, honey, cider, wine, and flowers, and the wonderful cafés, restaurants, and delis where you can sample this bounty in situ.

From children’s play parks to PYO

You’ll unearth memorable places with wildlife trails, pick-your-own (PYO) fields, children’s play parks, and animal petting farms, plus farms that run their own events, courses, and workshops. As well as reducing food miles, many of the farms you’re about to meet are fully invested in protecting and the natural environment through regenerative and nature-friendly farming.

There are farms that are planting hectares of hedgerows, wildflower meadows, and trees; raising rare breeds to the highest welfare standards; working to organic principles; reducing their energy use through wind and solar power and other measures; and those earning certification from bodies such as Pasture for Life, RSPB Fair to Nature, and the Soil Association.

While researching this book we’ve come to know and love some incredible farmers and producers. Working all hours, their resilience keeps them ploughing on in the face of increased costs, staff shortages, capricious weather systems, and the stranglehold of supermarkets on the farming community. These people are all passionate about growing good food well and championing the very best in seasonal local produce.

Connect with where your food comes from

By visiting the places in this guide, you are supporting these committed custodians of our land while benefiting from eating delicious, nutritious fresh food. You’ll feel more connected to where your food comes from…and can even top up the wellbeing tank by spending time in nature or petting a baby goat! We hope this book inspires and accompanies you on many new adventures across farm and field.”

Eleanor Weeks-Bell, Compiler of The Farm Shop Guide

Sound like your kind of book?

If our ethos resonates with you, we have a sneaking suspicion that you might enjoy The Farm Shop Guide, or its sibling books The Coastal Café Guide (which does what it says on the tin) or The Extra Mile: Delicious Alternatives to Motorway Services. Hit the image or button below to browse our current guides, and do let us know if you find any favourites that we’ve yet to stumble upon.




Browse guides here

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The energy behind our Coastal Café Guide

Hand holding The Coastal Café Guide in a living room.

Introducing: The Coastal Café Guide

Kerry O’Neill is the writer of 2024’s Amazon bestseller, The Coastal Café Guide (a book featured in The Scotsman, Times Weekend and more). Here’s her welcome to the book, to give you a feel for what it and we at Extra Mile Books are all about. Kerry, over to you…

(c) Red Zeppelin, drone shot of the English south coast with cliffs and speedboat

“The coast represents many things to many people. Some head to the coast purely to relax or for fun, holidays, escapes, surfs, swims, and sunbathing. Others go to be uplifted, inspired, and buoyed by the mental health and well-being benefits of being in, near, and on the ocean. Whatever your motivation, you’ll need to eat while there. This guide is a counter-clockwise journey around Britain. It starts in the South West (where we at Printslinger/ Extra Mile Books are based) then heads east and up to Scotland, returning via rugged West Wales.

Food with a view and beach eats

This first edition has around 150 cafés, restaurants, seafood shacks, horsebox pop-ups, beach cabins, bars, and pubs that we hope you’ll enjoy visiting. Often small and independently run, each place is ready to keep your salty self fed and watered while at the coast. If it is food with a view you seek, in many cases: you got it. Love them? Great! Prefer other spots? Tell us for next time. We’ve had some epic experiences while researching this book.

What’s more impressive is the resilience of Britain’s small coastal café owners. Battling the same challenges as the rest of us, they manage to keep that beachy flag flying in the face of increased food costs, difficulties finding staff, and the famously fickle British weather. By visiting the places in this new guide, you are supporting the people that work so hard to make your day memorable, with their splashes of local colour and tasty regional specialities.

May this book be your companion on many foodie and coastal adventures.

Kerry O’Neill

Writer of The Coastal Café Guide and publisher at Extra Mile Books, from Printslinger.

Sound like your kind of book?

If our ethos resonates with you, we have a sneaking suspicion that you might enjoy The Coastal Café Guide, or its sibling books The Farm Shop Guide (which does what it says on the tin) or The Extra Mile: Delicious Alternatives to Motorway Services. Hit the image or button below to browse our current guides, and do let us know if you find any favourite coastal cafés that we’ve yet to stumble upon.

Browse guides here
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The Joy of Getting Slightly Lost

Fingers pointing at a map on a table

The lost joy of getting slightly lost: why paper guides still matter

We’ve all been there, following the blue dot on a phone–screen, eyes down, marching toward the next café, viewpoint, or farm shop with barely a glance at what’s around us. Efficient? Maybe. But satisfying? Not always. In a world of digital maps and algorithm-driven reviews, we’ve lost something quietly magical: the joy of getting slightly lost. 

The beauty of the detour

One of the best things about slow travel – especially along Britain’s coast or countryside – is its unpredictability. The winding lane that wasn’t on the route? It might lead to a family-run café with the best crab sandwich you’ve ever had. That missed turnoff? You could stumble across a beach no App has reviewed (yet).  Paper guides – the kind you can hold in your hands, scribble notes in, and spill coffee on – invite this kind of discovery. They don’t demand your attention. They suggest, rather than dictate. And they leave space for chance. 

Road sign options

Screens don’t make memories

Phones are useful. We won’t deny that. But they tend to flatten the experience: screen glow, search results, star ratings. You arrive knowing exactly what to expect because you’ve seen it all in advance: the buildings, the meals, the platters, the views.  

With a paper guide, you arrive hoping for something, often finding more than you bargained for. There’s been no hype, no amped expectation, no Instagram filters. This allows you to discover the place as it truly is, so you’ll meet real people, producers and farmers, often selling their own homemade food for your enjoyment. This isn’t sat-navigation: it’s adventure.  

Why we still make printed guides

At a time when almost everything is online, we deliberately make real guides: designed to be enjoyed offline. They are beautiful, colourful, high calibre books: carbon-neutral print products made with vegetable inks and using certified paper from carefully managed forests.

They don’t need signal. They have no batteries to die, no pop-ups to annoy, no notifications to cause you stress. Just pages packed with handpicked, characterful places, some of which we’ve got very lost trying to find.  

We believe there’s something grounding about unfolding a map or drifting through a guidebook, circling a café, ear-marking a page, or flipping through pages over breakfast to plan your next stop. It’s a type of travel that invites you to stay present… and sometimes to go off course. 

So go on. Get a little lost

Next time you hit the road, leave the SatNav off for a while. Let your finger trace a route across a page. Embrace the scenic way. Look out for high points, viewpoints, nature reserves, picnic bench signs, car parks atop cliffs. And if you take a wrong turn or it takes ten minutes longer than planned, don’t panic; that’s where the best stories often begin. 

Gift a guidebook today

Our printed guides, The Extra Mile, The Farm Shop Guide, and The Coastal Café Guide, are packed with brilliant places that are worth getting slightly lost for. They are also ideal gifts, especially for people who prefer the real world to the digital one, or who prefer books to screens.

‘You can’t wrap an app’ as we like to say, but you can gift a lovely guidebook, ready to create countless foodie memories for your recipient as they follow their tummies and noses around Britain in search of good, honest, local food, with a little bit of adventure thrown in.

Explore Extra Mile Books’ full collection of guides below.   

Books made for adventure
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Why Farm Shops Are the Future of Ethical Eating

Image of the bread and bakery section at Weetons

Why Farm Shops are the future of ethical eating

In an age where supermarket aisles are crammed with plastic packaging and mystery meat, more and more people are asking: Where does my food come from, and what impact does it have? 

Enter the modern British farm shop: a haven for ethical eaters, local food lovers, and sustainability-conscious shoppers. Once thought of as quaint countryside stops, farm shops today are pioneering a new kind of food culture: one rooted in transparency, taste, and doing better by people and planet. Farm-to-fork is something that producers strive to offer, and visitors love to experience. Here’s why farm shops are leading the charge for a more ethical way to eat. (Image above (c) Weetons.)

1. You know where your food comes from

Unlike supermarket supply chains that stretch around the globe, many farm shops sell food grown, reared, or made right on site or by producers they know personally. Whether it’s grass-fed beef from the next field or honey from a neighbour’s hives, there’s a story behind every product. That means fewer food miles, fresher produce, and a direct connection between farmer and eater. There are some truly delicious farm-to-fork experiences to be enjoyed. 

2. Support regenerative and sustainable farming

Many independent farms and their farm shops are champions of sustainable farming and regenerative agriculture, namely a way of farming that restores soil health, promotes biodiversity, and works with nature rather than against it. By shopping at these outlets, you’re helping to fund regenerative farming that builds a better food system, rather than depleting it. Image below (c) Westerton Farm.

A woman in a field with fresh crops at Westerton Farm

3. Champion small-scale and artisan producers

Farm shops are more likely than supermarkets to stock products made in small batches, which have been crafted by local artisans or by family-run producers. Whether it’s hand-churned butter, heritage apples, or traditionally made cheddar, these products preserve skills, regional flavours, and rural jobs.

4. Reduce waste and packaging

Looking to shop with less plastic? Many farm shops offer refill stations, loose produce, and minimal packaging, especially compared to supermarkets. You’re more likely to find recyclable or compostable containers, and often reusable options, too. 

5. Keep money in the local economy

Ethical eating isn’t just about the environment, it’s about people. When you spend money at a farm shop, more of it stays in the community. You’re supporting local livelihoods, helping rural businesses thrive, and keeping Britain’s independent food culture alive. image below (c) Ben’s Farm Shop, Staverton.

Image of girl with fresh produce (c) Ben's Farm Shop

6. Seasonal, responsible choices, without the 'greenwashing'

Ethical eating is about more than buzzwords. Farm shops typically stock what’s truly in season, helping you eat in tune with nature’s rhythms… and without the air-freighted strawberries in January. It’s simpler, more honest, and (spoiler) tastes better too. 

Ready to eat more ethically?

The Farm Shop Guide is your road-trip companion to some of the most ethical, delicious, and independently run food stops across Britain, from award-winning farm shops at regenerative farms to delis, cheesemongers, bakeries, honey farms, and more. 

Wherever you’re heading, there’s a better bite waiting nearby: one that supports the land, the farmers, and the future. 

Order your copy of The Farm Shop Guide today.  

Shop guidebooks
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Beyond the Big Chains

Betty Berkins cafe, an independent cafe in The Extra Mile

Why independent motorway stops-offs matter

When you’re halfway through a long drive and your stomach starts to rumble, the default is often a motorway service station: convenient, predictable, and usually forgettable. But what if there were a better way to break your journey? One that supported local communities, served better food, and added character to your trip? 

Welcome to The Extra Mile: a curated guide to delicious, independent places to eat near UK motorway and main-road junctions. We believe that taking the scenic (and tasty) detour is about more than just what’s on your plate; it’s also about whom and what you support along the way.

Image above (c) Betty Berkins

The trouble with chain services

Let’s face it: the average motorway service station is hardly known for its individuality and charm. From lukewarm fries to overpriced coffee, chain-dominated services tend to serve up convenience somewhat at the cost of character. 

Many service stations are owned by a handful of large operators, meaning that their profits leave the local area and sometimes the country, even though the services themselves may be located in the heart of Britain’s rural communities. 

Why do independent food stops matter?

Fries on a table

1. Better food, made with care

Independent cafés, bakeries, and farm shops near motorways often use fresh, local ingredients. Many make everything from scratch, from sourdough toasties to homemade cakes and seasonal soups. 

2. They support local economies

When you stop at a family-run café or regional farm shop, you’re keeping money in the local community. That means more local jobs, stronger rural economies, flourishing local food and drinks producers, and thriving high streets. 

(Certain services brands, i.e. the Westmorland company’s Gloucester, Tebay, and Cairn Lodge services, act in a way that is more akin to independently run pit-stops, and are notable exceptions to the general rule of motorway services’ profits leaving the area. Each of the Westmorland trio supports hundreds of local farmers and food producers by stocking and introducing their goods to their millions of annual visitors.) 

3. A more memorable journey

Nobody reminisces about that generic burger they grabbed at the services just off Junction 18 that time. But taking a one mile detour to stop at a converted barn café or a friendly farm shop with goats and garden tables? That becomes part of the story. 

4. Lower your travel footprint

Many of the places featured in The Extra Mile: Delicious Alternatives to Motorway Services keep their eyes sharply on their carbon footprint and sustainability efforts. They buy local produce to reduce food miles, offer EV chargers, or work hard to reduce their packaging use. 

Taking the detour is easier than you think

All the venues in The Extra Mile are within 15 minutes of a motorway or main A-road junction (most are a lot closer or within a few minutes). This means better food without a major diversion, plus the satisfaction of skipping limp chips and queues in sterile food halls. 

From artisan bakeries off the M5 to coastal cafés just beyond the A30, there’s a better alternative waiting just off your route. 

Find your next ‘new favourite’ food stop

The Extra Mile: Delicious Alternatives to Motorway Services is your glovebox guide to over 275 independent, welcoming venues across Britain, including cafés, pubs, farm shops, and delis that are well worth a small detour. 

If you’re ready to swap the service station sandwich for something made with love, order your copy of The Extra Mile and discover the tastier side of travel. Extra Mile Books now also publishes The Farm Shop Guide and The Coastal Café Guide, so you can branch out and continue enjoying adventures in local food from the heart of rural Britain to the salty edges of our island.  

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Eye-Opening ‘Ultra-Processed Food’ and Sugar Films

Food Inc. 2: back for seconds. The documentary image featuring a cow with a barcode.

10 food films to make you think twice...

We produce books about cafés and farm shops to help you eat fresh, local food while travelling. Our guides aren’t purely about supporting local businesses though: ultra-processed and sugar-rich foods are bad news for our own health, and that of society at large (and getting larger). 

Check out our top ten eye-opening films and documentaries below about the global food and sugar industry. You’ll probably want to buy our book, The Farm Shop Guide, instantly, to bring more unadulterated, farm-fresh goodness into your lives, so find some handy links at the bottom. Let’s start with the most recent film first…

1. Food, Inc. 2 (2024)

A sequel to the acclaimed 2008 film, this documentary delves into how ultra-processed foods dominate modern diets, highlighting their manipulation by the food industry and the decline of fresh, whole foods. 

Food Inc. 2: back for seconds. The documentary image featuring a cow with a barcode.

2. Ultra-Processed: How Food Tech Consumed the American Diet (2024)

This CBS documentary explores how ultra-processed foods have infiltrated American diets, linking them to chronic diseases and questioning our reliance on convenience. The UK trails behind The States in terms of food habits but the pattern is clear and we’re heading in a similar direction. Forewarned is fore-armed…

3. Ultra-Processed Food: A Recipe for Ill Health? (2024)

An investigative documentary examining the chemicals in ultra-processed foods and the weak regulations allowing their widespread use, raising concerns about health impacts. Watch it here on Daily Motion.  

4. What Are We Feeding Our Kids? (2021)

Dr. Chris van Tulleken’s month-long diet of ultra-processed foods leads to alarming health effects, highlighting the dangers of these convenient but harmful products. Watch it now on Daily Motion. 

5. Eating Our Way to Extinction (2021)

Narrated by Kate Winslet, this film exposes the devastating impact of industrial meat production on the planet and advocates for more sustainable dietary choices. Watch it here. 

Eating our Way to Extinction film image

6. That Sugar Film (2014)

This eye-opening documentary follows Damon Gameau as he consumes a high-sugar diet of ‘healthy’ processed foods (including the everyday Australian’s amount of sugar each week). It reveals the harmful effects of hidden sugars on the body, alongside the shockingly short amount of time it takes for the negative effects to kick in. 

7. Super Size Me (2004)

In this ground-breaking documentary, filmmaker Morgan Spurlock embarks on a 30-day experiment consuming only McDonald’s food. The film highlights the drastic effects of fast food on physical and mental health. It sparked widespread discussions about nutrition and the fast-food industry. A ‘Supersize Me 2’ is also now out, see next…  Find ways to watch it here. 

8. Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken! (2017)

A follow-up to the original, Spurlock investigates the fast-food industry’s marketing tactics by opening his own chicken restaurant. The film exposes how terms like ‘free-range’ and ‘natural’ can be misleading, while revealing the complexities behind food labelling and consumer perception.  Find info on IMDB here. 

9. Fed Up (2014)

Narrated by Katie Couric, this documentary examines the role of sugar in the obesity epidemic, particularly among children. It critiques the food industry’s influence on dietary guidelines and the government’s failure to regulate sugar consumption effectively. Watch the trailer here on YouTube.

Fed Up film image

10. Sugar Coated (2015)

This Canadian film delves into the sugar industry’s history of down-playing health risks associated with sugar consumption. It draws parallels to tactics used by the tobacco industry, shedding light on corporate influence over public health narratives. Find more info here on IMDb. 

Depressing, right? Here's an antidote...

These films may make you angry with the industry or with government, or determined to do better for yourself (or both in equal measures). While we can’t arrive at your house to cook you sugar-free, health-first meals every day, we can definitely help you find farm-fresh, local, lower-food-miles food to help you make a start on eating seasonally and more healthily. 

Check out our three best-selling foodie guidebooks below, with The Farm Shop Guide being the best suited to spring-boarding your diet in a healthier direction. Good luck and bon appetit.  

SHOP BOOKS
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WIN COFFEE GROUNDS FOR A YEAR

Unorthodox Roasters, Kinross, image of barrista

Win coffee: delivered to your door for a year!

Would you like to wake up and smell the coffee not once, not twice but monthly for a whole year? Join Printslinger’s mailing list from 11th – 18th December 2023 for your chance to win one pouch of coffee grounds per month for a whole year (Jan-Dec 2024) from Scotland’s inimitable Unorthodox Roasters. This is an excellent treat-to-self or we can provide a lovely virtual voucher so you can give this as a gift this Christmas. How to win friends and caffeinate people…

To enter, join our coffee-fuelled newsletter community here. Find out more about Unorthodox Roasters of Kinross (and this offer’s Ts and Cs), below.  

Subscribe to enter

Unorthodox Roasters in The Extra Mile​

Unorthodox Roasters joined The Extra Mile for our new 2023 edition. One of their founders and chief roasters, Chris, is so happy with being in our guidebook that he’s made an over-the-top-generous offer to supply one of you with free coffee for a year. This is excellent news and we’re going to pretend that we don’t work here so that we can enter ourselves: sssh, don’t tell him.

Interior of Unorthodox Roasters

This is what our 2023 café guide ,The Extra Mile (an online ‘Bestseller’ and ‘Most Gifted’ in its category) has to say about Unorthodox Roasters. 

Everything about Unorthodox Roasters is just that: unorthodox. Their beans are roasted and named with humour; each chat with the friendly baristas spirals off in an entertaining direction; and their flavours are punchy and bold.

Chris and Neil started roasting beans at home while saving up to launch their first place. Their Kinross roastery and café is fun, with bronze and bare bulbs against blue and white walls. You’ll be greeted by a V60 brew bar and manual espresso machine: every stage of the process has gravitas here (though it’s all served without pretension and with a smile). Grab and go or settle in for brunch or some home-baking with your expertly crafted drink.

Their best-selling beans are the single origin Wee Stoater, with notes of chocolate, hazelnut and caramel. Other treats include beetroot hot choc; experimental lattes (‘Chai Harder’), and an ethical tea range. Browse the coffee-lovers’ kits and take some pouches of beans to enjoy at home.

If you like who we feature and how we phrase things, why not check the guide out for yourself? It makes a great gift for anyone who drives a lot and likes to eat well. You can buy it at many of the venues featured in the book (such as Unorthodox Roasters if you’re passing) or you can order direct from us here. Get in quick if it’s meant as a gift for 2024. 

Like Unorthodox Roasters on Facebook here. 
Follow Unorthodox Roasters on Instagram.
Buy their Single Origin coffee for delivery.                 

Draw Terms and Conditions

  • One entry per person.
  • One name will be chosen at random from those who sign up to join our Mailing List between 11th and 18th December 2023 to win this prize. 
  • First name, last name and a correct email address must be included in order to be entered into the draw. 
  • The winner will be contacted via email on 19th Dec. Two attempts at contact will be made within 14 days. If no response with the further information required is received by the original winner within 14 days of the second attempt, we reserve the right to redraw and to contact another person, drawn at random, to receive this coffee subscription. The original winner will forfeit their right to this prize and no alternative prize will be available or offered. 
  • The winner will allow for the prize, or the first instalment thereof, to be delivered by end January 2024.
  • The winner must provide Printslinger Ltd. with their full name and postal address, to be passed on to Unorthodox Roasters, for them to correctly deliver the coffee.
  • Unorthodox Roasters will supply the coffee(s) of their choice which will depend on availability and other factors. 
  • Unorthodox Roasters reserve the right to deliver the total weight of coffee in larger packages (i.e. 500g+) if agreed with the winner, to reduce packaging. 
  • This competition is only open to mainland UK-based entrants. 
  • The prize, of 12 x 250g coffee pouches (or the equivalent weight in different weight pouches), includes free delivery to one mainland UK address. A postal surcharge may apply to some Highlands, Islands and other non-standard UK addresses. 
  • The winner’s first name, last name and town/ city of residence, for example Kerry O’Neill from Bristol, may be used across our online and offline channels to publicise the competition once finished.
  • Further opportunities for the winner to participate in Social Media promotion following their win may be offered; participation is totally optional. 
  • This competition is being run by Printslinger Ltd., with a prize provided by Unorthodox Roasters.
  • With any questions, please contact The Extra Mile via email. 
  • Printslinger Ltd accepts no liability for any damage, loss, injury, or disappointment suffered by any entrants as a result of participating in the competition or being selected for a prize.
  • You agree that any personal information that you provide when entering the competition will be used by Printslinger Ltd for the purposes of administering the competition and for the other purposes as specified in our Privacy Policy.
  • Printslinger Ltd reserves the right, at any time and without prior notice, to cancel the competition or amend these terms and conditions.

Buy The Extra Mile guide today

Visit The Extra Mile Guide’s online shop to buy your own edition of the guide today (or buy a few to give away – it makes a great gift for your foodie friends). 

The Extra Mile edition 4 cover
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WHY LOCAL FOOD MATTERS

Garden-fresh seasonal vegetables

At the Extra Mile, we’re firm proponents of local food. We crow about it at every opportunity. You’ll see it plastered throughout the book. But why?  

Industrial scale farming and huge supermarket supply chains have served us well in feeding the growing population, but it has come at a cost. The quest for cheaper food has meant the increased use of fertilizers, pesticides, energy, land and water. As a result, our global food system is the primary driver of biodiversity loss and a major driver of climate change, accounting for around 30% of total human-produced emissions.  

Local food is the antithesis of this form of production. It’s produce grown within a short distance of where it’s consumed (although there’s no formal legal definition). Here are some of the benefits. 

Salad heads growing in raised beds

Buying locally grown food encourages small scale, nature-sensitive farming… 

…and shifts away from harmful industrial monocropping. The impact on bees is just one well-documented example of the harm monocropping can wreak on nature. By contrast, farming in harmony with the local microclimate can have a restorative effect on the soils and wildlife.  

Smaller scale local food production - allotments from above

It supports local farming businesses and gives back to the community 

Money spent with growers and neighbouring cafes and restaurants keeps money close to home, instead of going to faceless national businesses. That develops agriculture and hospitality in the area and keeps communities and economies thriving. The New Economics Foundation estimated that for every £1 spent in the local food network, £3.70 is generated in social, economic and environmental value. Food festivals (such as the eatFestival shown in the two images below) are a great way to discover some of your very local producers. 

(c) eat:Festivals. People browsing local food stall at an eat:festival

It has lower food miles  

In the UK we import around half of our food. Buying local means crops don’t have far to go once they’ve been harvested. Without the need to drive crops long distances between where they’re grown and consumed, the carbon footprint shrinks, reducing the impact of your lunch. 

Woman trading at the EAT Festival holding a wrap

It’s tastier and more nutritious 

Crops can only be grown in accordance with the prevailing weather, which means local food is largely seasonal. Produce that ripens or matures naturally is served fresh, which means it’s tastier and more nutritious than food that is picked early (or out of season) and ripened artificially on its journey to shops.  

If shopping locally, choosing food that hasn’t travelled far, and supporting smaller-scale and often independent food businesses is what gets you out of bed of a morning, dip into The Extra Mile. The guidebook is packed with small local cafés and offers viable alternatives to monotonous, motorway service station food, and disappointing forecourt food. Browse our Venue Finder here or buy the most up-to-date version of the guidebook for your own glovebox or that of a friend today at The Extra Mile’s online bookshop. 

Bowl of freshly-picked tomatoes
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MEET THE OWNERS: WRIGHT’S FOOD

Simon Wright and Maryann (c) Wrights Food Emporium

We asked Simon and Maryann at the wonderfully named Wright’s Food Emporium (find them here on The Extra Mile venue finder), to tell us where the idea for their business came from, and what keeps them going. Here’s what they said…

“Wright’s came from an idea to open a ‘village’ shop with a small cafe serving good coffee, sandwiches, cake. The name is our surname and Emporium seemed the right word: place of trade.  

We started in a different location but after a year this didn’t work out and we were a bit stumped about where to go next. We came to look at the building in Llanarthne which was huge, filthy and very dilapidated but did have some lovely features like the floors and windows. We saw the potential and, with the help of a few good friends, were able to get the funding together to buy it. It had a good feeling about it and having historically been a coaching inn, felt welcoming.

Freshly baked bread at Wright's Food Emporium

Some people thought we were crazy as it’s very rural but luckily it has worked out and become a destination of its own for many people. 

We wanted to use local produce as much as possible and cook as much as we could from scratch; bread first thing in the morning, cakes daily, soups, stews, pies and so on. We use local meat, vegetables and cheeses and try to keep everything seasonal.

Wright's Food Emporium fresh food display

I have been working in hospitality for the past 30 years running restaurants locally and coming from a family with an interest in food and farming. 

We use local suppliers for as much as possible and are happy to try anything new and local, luckily for us suppliers seek us out. During the pandemic rather than closing as was the norm we stayed open to supply our local customers and support our suppliers who were losing most of their markets and customers, creating a click-and-collect service which proved very popular. 

We use recyclable and compostable packaging as much as possible; we supply pies etc in enamel dishes which customers return for us to reuse; and we use a wood pellet boiler and stove for most of our heating and hot water needs.  

I enjoy working with our loyal staff and having such great customers, many of whom have followed us from business to business over the last 30 years. Hearing positive comments about our food, shop and ambience is very rewarding. 

Fresh vibrant veg at Wright's Food Emporium

Costs are rising at a frightening speed and increased energy costs are now hitting us so we fear that the next year is going to be very challenging . 

We take pride in being welcoming to all at Wright’s and are happy that our customers feel part of our business. You can call in just for a coffee or a loaf of bread or stay for hours chatting to friends and enjoying the hospitality. We only sell food we enjoy ourselves: wine and spirits from suppliers we admire; pottery and crafts from local makers as much as we can; homewares we find useful; and ingredients from Italy and Spain we can’t live without. We are happy to stop for a chat and give advice when required on food or anything else we can help with .

Ideal road trip? Driving through a rural area of Wales, Scotland or France, as we did in September up in the mountains of the Ardêche. It was so beautiful, quiet and peaceful. Time away is very precious when you are in the hospitality trade. 

My ideal car snack is definitely a packet of crisps, ideally olive oil and salted !”

Simon Wright and Maryann (c) Wrights Food Emporium
Wright's branded tomato 'catsup' at Wright's Food Emporium, Wales

Thank you Simon and Maryann for sharing your Meet the Owners story with us here at The Extra Mile, we’re thrilled to feature your friendly stop-off point in our guide.

If you’re keen to support the hard-working foodie hubs that are at the heart of their local communities, use our Venue Finder to seek out great stops on your next trip or buy the most up-to-date edition of the guidebook here. The new edition will be out in spring 2023, and we can’t wait to see Wright’s in amongst our fabulously foodie pages. 

Produce at Wright's Food Emporium
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CATCH THE UK’S BEST AUTUMN COLOURS

Woman enjoying falling autumn leaves

Are you a leaf peeper?

Europe is beginning to catch on to the North American hobby of leaf peeping, a term used to describe trips dedicated to the seeking out of blazing autumnal colours. The Japanese call it momijigari which means maple viewing, more specifically, but the quest for colourful leaves is the same. Who hasn’t gaped in wonder at the golds and russet reds of the UK’s woodlands as the seasons change? What better reason for an autumnal exploration? Here are some of the UK’s best leaf peeping spots. 

An autumnal picture of Gibside, National Trust

Gibside, Tyne and Wear Designed for its stunning views and now a National Trust property, Gibside (pictured above), at the edge of the Derwent Valley near Gateshead, is heaven for leaf chasers with 720-acres of beckoning woodland. Download one of four walking routes through the landscaped parkland to maximise your stop. (Image (c) National Trust)

Wintour’s Leap, Gloucestershire

Enjoy the sylvan colours of the Forest of Dean blazing around the horse-shoe sweep of the river Wye from the unique vantage point of Wintour’s Leap, just to the north of Chepstow (pictured below). It’s also a popular climbing spot, if any adventurers have their ropes and harness in the boot. Visit Dean Wye has lots of great ideas for activities in and around the region. (Image (c) Visit Dean Wye.)

Wintour's Leap image (c) Visit Dean Wye https://www.visitdeanwye.co.uk/

Llanwrst, Wales
Is there a more iconic image of autumn in Wales than the Tu Hwnt I’r Bont tea room (pictured below)? We don’t think so. Make this Virginia-creeper clad cottage part of your autumn road trip to see it in its full, fiery glory.

(Image (c) Tu Hwnt I’r Bont.)  

 
Tu Hwnt i’r Bont in Llanrwst

Glen Affric, Scotland

Sometimes touted as Scotland’s most beautiful glen (though it’s a hard-fought crown), Glen Affric’s woodland and moorland come alive in autumn as the leaves change colour. With a 10-mile circular walking circuit, prepare to enjoy them from every angle.

(Image (c) Visit Scotland.)

Stourhead, Wiltshire
Famous for its spectacular hues in autumn, the National Trust’s Stourhead property is decadent in its autumn splendour (pictured below). Enjoy this quintessential view across the lake towards the Pantheon to see the colours in reflected glory.
(Image (c) National Trust)

Stourhead, image courtesy The National Trust

The Extra Mile glovebox guidebook brims with excellent eating choices, designed to take motorists just off the main roads and into the lovely communities and locally run foodie businesses hidden around each corner. This autumn, escape the monotony of the Services and the bland forecourt food at A road garages around the country. Use The Extra Mile book or online map to eat more memorably. To buy a copy for yourself, or as a gift for a favourite, frequent-travelling friend, visit our online shop today.

The Extra Mile from Glovebox Guides (ed. 3)
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IT’S A HARD JOB, BUT…

Image of Farm Shop sign

Laura Collacott, writer of the first three editions of The Extra Mile, is back on the road in June 2022. She’ll be making a cameo appearance in the new edition of the book (due out in spring 2023), as she’s seeking out memorable new venues in the North East for the fourth edition of our essential glovebox guide to good food on the move. Laura found a moment to reveal the reality of life on the road. It’s a hard job, but somebody’s got to do it after all…

View of the North York Moors
Laura’s view over the North York Moors this week

“Ah, the joy of being a food writer. We know what you’re thinking. Meandering from café to farm shop, chatting idly to the good people behind them, languorously tucking in to gargantuan sandwiches, feasting on slabs of cake and scratching farm pigs behind the ear. Gently fattening.  

If only.  

In truth, finding the good cakes and best breakfasts involves a lot more legwork. It starts with poring over maps and trawling the internet for places that look promising, followed by long days on the road zipping from place to place and diverting to follow tip-offs from locals or the glimpse of a promising signboard. Many of the places we visit don’t make the cut for various reasons – too greasy, too bland, too unfriendly; simply not special enough.  

But for those that are – special enough – those that we wouldn’t hesitate to recommend to a friend, we set to work. We speak to the owners to find out why they set it up, and their food ethos; to staff to find out how it runs and where the ingredients come from. We talk to customers to find out what they like best about the place and what their favourite dishes are. We explore the shelves and inspect the menu, tasting mouthfuls where we can and taking extensive notes. Then we’re off again, on the hunt for the next. 

Far from eating cream teas in every stop (we’d be the size of houses if we did), this is a life of hastily eaten pastries and scotch eggs on the hoof. A life of broken snatches of Radio Four shows and disgraceful crumb- and paper-strewn cars.  

Sometimes there are long, dispiriting stretches where nowhere fits the bill. But when you do stumble across a fantastic place, where the welcome is all wide smiles and the owners are foodies who can name the farmers who supply the eggs and salad leaves…it makes the empty miles melt away. 

And then there are the views. The sweeping, moorland vistas or emerald hilltops that you just can’t see from the motorway. The countryside traffic jams caused by a string of ducklings crossing the road and the little-known towns that surprise you with their vibrance. That’s when we’re sure it really is worth going the extra mile.”  

Order The Extra Mile book now

The updated third edition of The Extra Mile is being prepared for print now and will be back in the shops around mid to late July 2022. We’re updating everyone’s opening hours so that you don’t turn up for a slap up feed when a cafe is closed, and we’ve removed those places that are no longer open. Order from our Shop today and your book will arrive and may even still be hot – or at the very least a little bit lukewarm – off the actual press. If you order it elsewhere online, it will likely be people’s older stock of the 2019 edition so our top tip to ensure you get the 2022 reprint with up-to-date intel is, buy directly from us.

NEW edition coming in 2023

Laura and our other similarly discerning roving reporters are on the road in 2022, seeking out more great finds to feature in the fourth, spring 2023 edition of the book. Subscribe to our newsletter (scroll down the homepage to enter your email) and keep an eye on our social media channels for news of its release. Don’t forget to let us know if you discover any terrific eateries while on your travels this year. We’d love to feature their local characters and flavours in our new collection of independent cafes, pubs, restaurants, farm shops, ice-cream parlours and attractions across the land.