A Matter of Concrete, or A.M.O.C., roasts in one of the old warehouses of the Van Nelle Factory in Rotterdam. The factory, built in the 1920s with concrete as its main material, was once the largest coffee roastery in Europe and is now a UNESCO World Heritage site. Van Nelle roasted its last bean there in 1995, after 65 years, and A.M.O.C. brought roasting back to the building 26 years later. The roastery runs a Loring S35 Kestrel, with a Sovda colour sorter, a quality-control space and a tasting room, on CO2-neutral gas and renewable electricity.

Its founder, Rob, decided to work in coffee during an internship in Copenhagen in 2012, when a barista remembered his order. He went on to podium finishes at national Brewers Cup, barista, latte art and AeroPress championships, won Coffee Masters London in 2019, and was a head roaster for eight years before starting A.M.O.C. in 2021.

Every coffee is chosen at blind cuppings and is traceable to its farm, and most are bought directly from the farmer or the processing station. The range is split between classic profiles and uncommon ones, a category for exclusive lots, rare varieties and unusual origins. A Mono/Rare series takes in Liberica, Laurina and a Cup of Excellence gesha from Honduras; Eugenioides sits in the Apex range. The Colombian Rosado /060 was the competition coffee for the first Sibarist × A.M.O.C. Cup in Rotterdam. Coffee comes in a reusable PET jar, a vacuum-packed refill or a kilo bag. The shop also sells brewing equipment, and A.M.O.C. supplies cafés, restaurants and bars around the world.

Coffee on the shelf

Photograph: A Matter of Concrete