Award winning speciality coffee business joins food network at East Neuk estate

Vandyke Bros’ new home is at Balcormo on Balcaskie Estate which gives it a larger production area as well as a space that can be used for wholesale barista training with customers, meetings and coffee tastings. The longer-term plan for the space is to use it to host open days and consumer oriented courses in coffee.

The company, founded by managing director Tony Vandyke, started out in the Highland town of Cromarty, where Tony moved to from Australia in 2014. The name, Vandyke Bros, was taken from his father’s business, which ran from the 1920s to the 1950s. Tony’s dad was a successful carpenter, builder and architect who created a thriving business having invented a prefabricated building system that transformed postwar urban development in Australia.

He established his coffee business in 2016 and now has three members of staff. The move will allow the company to expand into the central belt, working more closely with hospitality businesses as well as consolidating its direct to consumer sales. It also allows it join the existing community of food and drink producers based at Balcaskie and grow its consumer sales by taking advantage of the monthly markets at Bowhouse, which is also based on Balcaskie Estate.

The Vandyke Bros have won several awards for their coffee, including Great Taste Awards for the last three years and the prestigious three-star award. They are also now a ‘Great Taste Producer’.

Balcaskie Estate covers 4500 acres of organic and regeneratively farmed land. It is home to a growing community of producers, which works to transform local ingredients into artisan food and drink including those at Bowhouse.

The list includes Butchery at Bowhouse: which sells a range of grass-fed, organic Balcaskie Estate beef, lamb, pork and mutton, alongside other local game; Stocks Events: a luxury catering business with a cookshop and demo kitchen, they provide a wide range of services for both private clients and occasions, with a focus on local produce and seasonality.; Angry Kulture: vegan fermented Korean style kimchi made in one of the courtyard units; Scotland the Bread: an innovative mill producing wholemeal organic flours and grains grown on Balcaskie Estate; Baern Café; East Neuk Market Garden; Futtle Brewery and Keeping the Plot: which grows and sells home-grown fresh flowers and bouquets.