Coffee company acquires Bandon distributor

Java say IBC an opportunity to develop all-Ireland approach

Grace O'Shaughnessy, managing director of Java Republic.

One of Ireland’s largest coffee roasters, Java Republic, has acquired its exclusive South-West distributor, Bandon-based The Island Beverage Company (IBC).

The Java group's managing director, Grace O'Shaughnessy, said the  acquisition of IBC is an opportunity for an "all-Ireland approach". 

"It allows us, as a team of people, to get really close to our customers on the ground, and to utilise the skills and the expertise that are in the Cork and the south region," Ms O'Shaughnessy said. 

The management and employees of IBC will be joining Java Republic at a time when many businesses are in a Covid-19-induced "limbo", as Ms O'Shaughnessy said. But while the pandemic might have changed how we consume  coffee, consumers still want their hit. 

"We're seeing opportunities in areas that traditionally we wouldn't have played a large part in, such as online sales and e-commerce," she said, adding that the company is  developing its online presence to "follow the consumer". 

"What we have seen, since March and April onwards, is that people are looking for premium products," Ms O'Shaughnessy said.  "They're looking for something of quality that they can reward themselves with."

"Places they would have had their normal coffee fix every day: They're missing that. Online, now, we're seeing the opportunity to provide something to our customers who want that quality offering at home."

As we enter into the Christmas period, she anticipates this area of the business will grow, with people buying gifts, "be it coffee or coffee-brewing equipment". 

"We're in what we're in for the next number of months at the very least," she said. "Therefore, we need to be agile and adapt very quickly to the market needs, in order to be where our customers are when they're looking for us."