Nice guys, Jason and Cate, started it all back in 2001 in Petone, Wellington, following their passion for coffee roasting and nutritional eats and Ripe remains 100% Aotearoa/New Zealand owned and operated.

We roast on a Swadlo 30kg drum roaster that was repurposed in house by Jason 10 years ago and continues to pump out our five espresso blends daily using Artisan graphing software with a multi probe set up. When selecting new coffees, checking out a new roast profile or as the name says – when you need to produce a smaller batch at the time, we use our small batch roasters – the Huky 500 T,  the Kaffelogic Home Roaster or our 5kg Joper. Additionally, we installed a 70kg Sivetz Hot Air Roaster to add to the collection in 2021. So let’s just say, our head roaster Faye keeps herself busy roasting and cupping every single day. 

Ripe Coffee is relationship coffee

Without the farmers, producers, suppliers, staff and customers that have developed over the last 20 years we would not be where we are today. These relationships drive quality and innovation in every aspect of our operations; it’s our traceable green coffee bean selection, cupping of every roast, detailed barista training programs, quality espresso equipment, consistent wholesale coffee supply and our passionate team that bring a quality cup to the table. 

All our coffee can be traced back to each producer, farm or washing station. Some coffees we work with might have a label such as organic, fairtrade or rainforest alliance, others may not. It’s more important for us to know the story behind each origin than the label they may carry — quality and sustainability comes in different shapes and forms.

Nice coffee, nice guys — it’s what we do and who we are