Trading Post opened its first coffee house in the Lanes in January 2017, as an open-view roastery, coffee bar and eatery. It opened with a classic, fully renovated and fully manual roaster in the room, bringing the sights, sounds and smells of a traditional roastery into the café. A second coffee house followed in the North Laine, then a third in Lewes, again with a roastery on view.

By 2026 Trading Post had ten coffee houses across Sussex. Six are in Brighton: the original in the Lanes, two in the North Laine (one of them The Roastery, with retail coffee on the shelves), one between Brighton and Hove, a takeaway counter in Churchill Square and a café at Brighton station. The others are in Lewes, Chichester, Worthing and Horsham. Coffee is still roasted live in five of them, while the main roasting has moved to a dedicated roastery on the outskirts of Brighton, which is also the training hub for wholesale customers. Most of the coffee houses serve brunch, welcome dogs and can be hired for private events with no hire fee.

The family-run business has been certified carbon neutral since 2025, works with the Rainforest Alliance and the Soil Association, and delivers by e-bike. The signature blends include Black Pearl, its Brighton blend of five origins roasted separately, and Mono Loco, a Latin American blend; the Grand Espresso and Green Monkey blends contain Robusta. Alongside them sit single origins with named producers, such as an anaerobic washed lot from the Loma Ocotitlán community in Oaxaca and a mango co-ferment from Rodrigo Sanchez Valencia in Huila.

Coffee on the shelf

Photograph: Trading Post Coffee Roasters