Building a premium brand in Sheffield with the help of branded packaging

On Sharrow Vale Road, just up the hill from the babbling Porter Brook, opposite a school, and the local post office, lies Porter Bakery . Where the after-school cookies absolutely pop off.

We caught up with the founder Ben Mitchell to talk about how he’s building a successful community coffee shop and bakehouse experience in Sheffield.

Hey Ben! Do you want to start by explaining how you got into the world of hospitality?

Hey Jack! Well after school I did what most kids do and jumped on a plane to Australia indefinitely. During my time in Melbourne and Sydney I got to work in quite a few coffee shops. One thing I noticed out there was the importance of having a good relationship with the roaster. We’d visit them, they’d come to us, and the training around coffee was massive. That really stuck with me, and I was keen to build on it if I ever did my own thing. So when it came to setting up Porter, I wanted that to be a core part of what we do. We work closely with our roaster, Cuppers Choice , who are great at training their wholesale clients, and we regularly send our team to them to learn more.

I believe that having a good knowledge of the product helps to build a better sales culture for the customer. If people can naturally talk about what they’re making, you’re gonna sell more.

So you landed back in the UK and decided to build Porter. What was the vision when you started?

What I’ve always wanted is to do really good specialty coffee, really good baked goods, and create a classic coffee shop experience. Something familiar, comfortable, and timeless. That was partly a business decision too, because I'm absolutely shocking at social media! Creating something classic meant we could focus on doing the things we’re great at, without having to constantly keep up with the latest thing. And I think that reflects in the community we’ve built. The people who come through the door are looking for a nice chat, an inviting place to sit, and a really f***ing good flat white.

You’ve built a brand that feels very timeless and classic. How did you land on a visual identity to match that?

One thing I’ve been really focused on is building a brand that feels premium. We’re working with a head baker that has some unbelievable experience, and we’re going to be entering some competitions too. If the product is that good, it should be accompanied by packaging that feels premium too. Designing the packaging for Porter was a great experience. My sister is a graphic designer, so we got to do that over Christmas together. It was really fun and it means you have broader conversations about your values and what you want the brand to represent. Those conversations were really important to have.

A huge thank you to Ben for taking the time to chat with us. Porter is a specialty coffee shop and bakery on Sharrow Vale Road in Sheffield, with a second site in Bakewell. Please go check them out on Instagram and give them a follow!

What can independent coffee shops learn from Porter?

1. Train your staff to talk about what they sell.

Ben makes sure his team has opportunities to learn where the coffee comes from and how it’s made. If your staff understand the product, they can talk about it naturally, and that helps them sell more. A simple first step is to make sure your staff have opportunities to learn more from your roasters and suppliers.

2. Branded packaging makes your business feel premium.

At Porter they understand that branded packaging helps them create a more premium experience for their customers. In our experience working with independent cafés and bakeries, that premium experience does two jobs. It gives your customers a reason to come back, and it makes price rises easier to justify when the time comes.