A COLD brewing business near York has broken into the US market and launched a new soft drink in a shift towards vegan products.

Fitch Brew Co, in Easingwold, makes cold-brew coffees and teas in cans, and is growing its presence in the convenience market, launching into the US in 2020.

Run by Andy Deeley and Emily Fitch-Deeley, Fitch has also created a Nitro Cold Brew Coffee Oat Latte in a slimline nitro widget can.

Fitch’s Oat Latte uses certified British Gluten Free Oats alongside its cold brew coffee, and the nitro widget creates a creamy latte. With no added sugar and just 42 calories it is well positioned for the health and wellness category.

Andy said the US side was going well. "We are selling in 70 venues across America. That was something we had been working on for about 12 months and were ready to launch in April but Covid put it back to August/ September. We have lots of work to do but it is a great opportunity and it is such an exciting market of growth. We are selling in Kuwait and we will be launching into another market in February."

Reflecting on the Covid-19 pandemic, he added: "There were challenging times with suppliers because of closures so there were setbacks but we have had the US launch which helped mitigate the downside in the UK so we definitely saw a drop-off from our traditional channels like restaurants, hotels, bars and service stations.

"But that accelerated different parts of our business," he added, and predicts that the next two to three years will be the 'real growth stage of the business'.

The couple who also had a baby daughter in 2020 ran a crowd-funding appeal to help kick-start their business in 2017, and raised £150,000 in just 29 hours.

Their range now includes Cold Brew Coffee, Nitro Cold Brew Coffee, as well as ready-to-drink sparkling cold-brew teas: Rosehip, Hibiscus & Elderflower and Chamomile & Ginger.

Its products are stocked in hundreds of venues around the UK from independent to national chains.