Opening A Coffee Roastery in the Algarve: An Interview with Rhian Gainsborough

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Written by / Last updated on September 21, 2024

In 2020, Rhian moved to the Algarve from London. Having visited coffee plantations all over the world, he was keen to bring a new flavour of coffee to Portugal and soon began experimenting with roasting beans at home. Fast forward to today, and he’s now running Clifftop Coffee, a roastery which supplies businesses across the Algarve.

Rhian was kind enough to share how he was able to start this business in Portugal.

James: What made you decide to move to Portugal?
Rhian: I moved to Portugal in June 2020, my partner and I started dating at the beginning of the Pandemic, she had been over here for a year before and I invited me to come out and I never went back!
James: And what made you pick the Algarve?
Rhian:
I kind of ended up here by virtue of who I started to date, but loved the pace of life, being by the sea and healthier lifestyle I could lead versus the bustle of London.
James: Was it easy to move to Portugal?
Rhian:
It was relatively easy to move here, fortunately we got our paperwork sorted in a post-Brexit grace period.
James: Can you tell us how Clifftop Coffee came to be?
Rhian:
Well, I love good coffee and had spent a year traveling in South America and visited a bunch of coffee farms, then ended up here and really struggled to find any decent coffee in the supermarket or shops. So in the midst of the lockdown, with plenty of free time on my hands, I bought a box of green coffee and started roasting it on a popcorn making machine. Enjoyed mixed results but found the whole process deeply satisfying. So I took the plunge and bought a small roaster. I had a market stall in Lagos and a couple of cafes found me and the business started to grow from there.
James: That sounds intriguing. Can you elaborate on these four cups?
Rhian:
Of course. The first was in Peru, sitting under a tin roof on a tiny coffee farm in the Humantay Mountains. After an exhausting 8-hour hike, our host prepared the sweetest, nuttiest coffee I’d ever tasted. It was a life-changing experience.


James: Wow, that sounds incredible. What about the other cups?
Rhian:
The second was in Colombia’s Zona Cafetera, where I visited coffee farms and sampled an incredible diversity of coffees. The third was in Vietnam – a sickly sweet delicious street coffee with condensed milk. And the fourth was actually in Portugal, where I moved and found myself disappointed with the local coffee. That’s when I decided to start roasting my own beans.
James: What is it that you don’t like about Portuguese coffee?
Rhian:
I don’t have anything against Portuguese coffee per say, but when I moved to the Algarve the majority of cafes were serving commercial coffee that was roasted super dark and usually served with UHT milk and heaps of sugar on the side, for obvious reasons, to mask the true flavour! Fast forward 5 years and there are lots of independent coffee roasters and cafes doing a wonderful job of promoting the variety of delicious coffees in the world. In short, there’s more to coffee than Delta!
James: So that’s what led to Clifftop Coffee. How did you go from roasting for yourself to starting a business?
Rhian:
It started small. During the lockdown, I took an online course to expand my coffee knowledge. Then I imported 20 kilos of beans and started sharing my blends with friends. The feedback was very positive, and I saw a local demand for my coffee creations. That led me to start a stall at Vivo Mercado in Lagos.
James: How complicated was it to set up a business like this?
Rhian:
I had a small existential crisis getting my fiscal number. My address was copied from a UK Driving Licence that had an old UK address in. Finanças would only let me change my address by sending a passcode to my old address, which i had not lived in for ten years! I had to send a postcard to my old address pleading for help! Several weeks later i got contacted by a young German, with my passcode! After that it was plain sailing!
I got through several accountants before finding one who could actually help me! My current accountant has been a breath of fresh air but is actually located in Porto!

James: What’s it like being a small business owner in Portugal?
Rhian:
So I would say it’s been pretty easy all things considered, finding a good accountant has been key and operating within the simplified tax regime has been massively helpful. It’s definitely bureaucratic and slightly old school, everything is receipt and paperwork oriented and slow, but my advice to anyone would be don’t let it put you off, find a good accountant to worry about that for you and focus on growing your business.
James: Can you tell us about your roasting process?
Rhian:
Sourcing good quality green coffee to roast is really important. It’s impossible to make bad coffee taste good no matter your roasting skills. With good quality green coffee at hand, the job of the roaster is to tease out the attributes of that particular coffee. The roaster factors in the altitude the coffee was grown, the processing and if the coffee will be drank via espresso or filter. You then build a roast profile to match. You’re controlling temperature and air flow to hit a certain roast duration and get the very best out of the bean. You’ll then try the final product and adjust if needed on latter roasts.

James: How do you source your coffee beans?
Rhian:
I work with green bean importers who source seasonally from various regions, including many of the farms I visited during my travels. It’s important to me that the supply chain is traceable and that the farmers are respected for their environmental practices. Many of the coffees are organic and Rainforest Alliance-certified.
James: How do you ensure sustainability in your business?
Rhian:
All the coffees we source are traceable back to a farm, the farms we choose have good environmental practices, less pesticides, growing multiple crops on the same farm to improve soil quality, Fair trade or better prices for the farmers and Rainforest Alliance Certified.
I use reusable tubs for all of my wholesale coffee orders, so there is zero waste and I roast on an electric roaster too.
James: Lastly, I understand you have had a baby since moving here? What’s it like raising a child in the Algarve?
Rhian:
Finding a nursery place was difficult but it’s a wonderful place for a child, untold beaches and space to play and explore, and lots of kids activities/clubs in Lagos too.

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