Moon Roast comes out of a family of tea and coffee brokers. Francis Bradshaw’s great-grandfather, Richard Goodwin Bradshaw, swapped the family pub in London for tea in the late 1800s to become a taster and then a broker at Wilson Smithett, and Francis’s father, Haydon, worked as a tea and coffee broker before helping develop Gold Blend at Nestlé. In 2012 Francis bought a Probat roaster, put it in a small barn at home and roasted at night after work.

In 2017 Moon Roast moved into a purpose-built roastery in converted Grade II listed outbuildings on Chilton Manor Farm in Chilton Candover, near Alresford. More roasters followed, among them a Loring bought through the Leader Programme. The roasting today runs on a Loring S35 and a Probat P25, with Dan, the first employee, and Meaks alternating weeks on the roasters, and Jimbo on quality control. The team numbers ten, and Moon Roast is SALSA accredited and announced its B Corp certification in September 2026.

The roastery has a kiosk serving takeaway coffee and selling beans and home brewing kit, and barista training rooms used for latte art and home espresso courses, workshops and roastery tours. Moon Roast wants specialty coffee to be easy to enjoy at home, outdoors or at work, and it also supplies cafés and offices.

Partner cafés

Coffee on the shelf

Photograph: Moon Roast