Redemption Roasters has operated a coffee roastery at HMP The Mount since March 2020 | Photo credit: Redemption Roasters

UK-based Redemption Roasters is seeking a new coffee roastery site after its contract with Hertfordshire’s HMP The Mount was unexpectedly ‘terminated’. 
 

Launched in 2016 by Max Dubiel and Ted Rosner, Redemption Roasters works to rehabilitate prisoners and prison leavers through barista skills, coffee roasting, production and logistics training. The specialty coffee roaster and cafè chain has operated a coffee roastery at HMP The Mount since March 2020 but will now need to find a new site by February 2025. 

Redemption Roasters told World Coffee Portal that its coffee roasting operations will move to commercial premises outside of prison if a new site is not found. However, the social enterprise’s prison and community barista academies will be unaffected by any roastery move.

“HMP The Mount unfortunately terminated its contract with Redemption Roasters without engaging in meaningful negotiations concerning a new one. This decision is inconsistent with the principles of the new Prisons Minister, James Timpson, and his vision for a justice system rooted in rehabilitation and opportunity,” Redemption Roasters said in a statement. 
 

HM Prison Service revoked Redemption Roasters’ contract after the specialty coffee roaster queried a proposed quadrupling of its fees in July 2024. HM Prison Service said the move was part of a wider review of commercial partnerships at HMS The Mount. 

Redemption Roasters added that it was seeking dialogue with new Labour Prisons Minister James Timpson, who was appointed on 5 July 2024. Timpson is a former chair of the Employers Forum for Reducing Re-offending (EFFRR) and Prison Reform Trust. 

Prison overcrowding in England and Wales has become a huge political issue, with The Prison Governors’ Association (PGA) warning that the system is at breaking point. 

‘Britain has long had a prison-overcrowding issue, with the prison population of 87,505 at the start of May, against an official capacity at 88,985. Breaking the cycle of reoffending is key to reducing these numbers,’ Redemption Roasters said in a LinkedIn post in July 2024. 

Redemption Roasters currently operates 11 coffee shops across London and is planning to open a further 16 sites in the UK capital by 2026. Prison leavers currently make up 23% of the company’s retail workforce. 

In April 2024, the social enterprise closed a £2.7m ($3.3m) investment round to fund outlet expansion, scale its prisoner rehabilitation programme and expand its wholesale business, which currently includes blue chip clients KPMG, Meta and Amazon.