If you’ve never been to jail, then it’s almost impossible to imagine what a prison sentence can do to someone’s life. While many countries have reformed their justice systems and removed prison terms for many lesser offences, western countries still suffer from overcrowded prisons, slow courts and very poor rehabilitation programs for former inmates. Now, imagine for a second, that you’re serving a prison term in the United Kingdom and a specialty coffee roaster sets up operations inside your facility. What sounds like the plotline from a fictional novel is in fact a reality.
Redemption Roasters, a formidable and exemplary specialty coffee business operating in Britain, was founded in 2015 after the Ministry of Justice approached seasoned coffee entrepreneurs Max Dubiel and Ted Rosner with a proposal. It asked them if they could start a roastery inside one of its prisons, HMYOI Aylesbury. The idea was simple. Worried about skyhigh reoffending rates for prisoners leaving its jails, the Ministry was looking for ways to offer current inmates a way towards a stable life after their release. Redemption was thus tasked with setting up a roastery and running educational training programs that would equip inmates with the skills and knowledge to facilitate a smoother transition back towards a normal life.
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In the years since, Redemption Roasters has grown substantially, opening a total of ten coffee shops in London, setting up a barista academy at HMP Springhill and in March of 2020, moving its roastery to a bigger space inside HMP The Mount. All of Redemption’s work with current and former inmates as well as its entire coffee sourcing policy and overall impact can be read in its annual social impact report, which offers a lot of super interesting insights into a world that is largely out of sight for the general public. What struck me in particular were the figures about prison life. The report says that 49% of prisoners spend up to 22h per day in their cells. If you thought being in lockdown during Covid was bad, then imagine spending months or years in tiny rooms, which are often in poor condition.
While Redemption’s program is only available to a very small number of prisoners in the UK, which is predicted to reach 93.200 by 2024, it is a step in the right direction. Currently around 20% of its workforce is made up of graduates from its program and it is proven that reoffending rates are significantly lower for people who exit the prison system with a stable job and have access to case workers who can help with the reintegration to society. The current average of reoffending in the UK is 40% versus just 4% for those who come through Redemption’s programs.
The first time, I came across Redemption was at the London Coffee Festival in 2016 where Max and Ted had a stand and I ended up chatting with them for a while. I didn’t quite grasp the significance of their mission and how they would, over time, help nearly 200 inmates start a new career in hospitality after their releases. I also really like the brand’s aesthetic and its mission to have just as much impact at origin than in the UK. Its coffees are testament to this.
I’m really excited to have Redemption Roasters as part of the upcoming August 2024 Coffeevine box and to share this unique story with our customers around the world. When I visited Redemption in London a little while back, I cupped its candidate coffees together with head roaster Dominic Scott who I consequently interviewed for a short video that is soon going live on Instagram. The coffee that Redemption will roast for The Coffeevine is our first-ever honey-processed Red Bourbon from Burundi. This coffee is from the Izuba cooperative that Redemption has been working with for a few years now and which is also one of the few mills in Burundi that has a license to process honeys. As a result, this coffee is super sweet, a bit tart and really exciting.
To receive this excellent coffee along with our other European picks from Sanctuary Coffee and Conscious Coffee, order our your box from our shop now.
Pre-orders close on 15.08.2024 / Ships globally on 20.08.2024
