rind–the London founded speciality coffee brand–will now serve their unique blend of roasts across British Airways’ premium cabins and lounges to more than 200 destinations worldwide. From today, millions of customers can enjoy a cup of craft coffee at 35,000ft, carefully balanced for the perfect taste at altitude, and available exclusively to the airline.
A brand-new, bespoke coffee blend, is now available to enjoy in the airline’s premium cabins, including Club Europe (short-haul business class) and Club World (long-haul business class), whilst customers in First can enjoy an espresso-based coffee, made to their liking with a choice of house blend or decaffeinated Grind pods.
The partnership doesn’t stop in the air. Grind’s dark roast house blend is already rolling out across British Airways’ UK lounges, with a phased launch across the airline’s global lounges by May. Meaning customers can now enjoy the full bean-to-gate experience — from lounge, to seat, to somewhere a few thousand miles away.
Last year alone, more than 90 tonnes of coffee was served on board British Airways flights and in its lounges, making it one of the most popular drinks enjoyed by customers. Combining London provenance, premium quality and B-Corp certified expertise, Grind’s “Crafted for Altitude” blend is specifically engineered to maintain sweetness and complexity at 35,000ft.
This partnership is part of the airline’s ongoing multi-million-pound investment in its drinks portfolio; and builds on two great years of serving Grind coffee on British Airways’ Euro Traveller short-haul flights.
The High Life Café range by Grind remains a popular choice with customers in Euro Traveller and available to purchase on board; including a Flat White, Long Black, Decaf Black and Grind’s ready-to-drink Iced Caramel Latte Can.
THE PERFECT BLEND
Co-created by Tim Jackson, British Airways’ Master of Wine who oversees the airline’s full complimentary drinks portfolio, and Grind’s Head of Coffee, Howard Gill, the blend has been carefully created from an equal trio of Brazilian estates, the smoky blend delivers a rich, full-bodied flavour in every cup. Using specialty-grade Arabica beans, it offers a smooth, dark-roasted cup with notes of caramel, hazelnut and toasted pecan that provide great flavour.
Tim Jackson, British Airways’ Master of Wine, said: “We’re proud to be the first airline to serve Grind in the skies, bringing this Shoreditch-born favourite to millions of customers travelling to more than 200 destinations worldwide. “The dark roast blends have been carefully selected to suit every stage of the journey, whether that’s providing a welcome caffeine boost while working in our lounges, awakening the senses in the air or offering a comforting cup ahead of landing. It’s another step in championing British quality, and we hope our customers enjoy having a brew next time they travel with us.”
David Abrahamovitch, founder and CEO of Grind, said: “We are incredibly proud to extend our partnership with British Airways, an iconic British brand that represents the very best of British quality and service – values that are deeply important to us as a fellow London-born, British brand. For Grind to go from a single café in Shoreditch to the premium coffee partner for British Airways globally in a little over a decade is a huge moment for our team. We’ve had an incredible two years onboard European flights already, and we hope that British Airways passengers in lounges and on board long haul flights will love the new blends we have created just as much.”
