About Us

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Owned and run by local residents of 20 years, we are a local specialty coffee shop based in Herne Hill and Tulse Hill with locally made light breakfast, lunch snacks and cakes. Come check us out!

Or, if you're heading to town pop in to our recently opened cafe at 2a St James's Market, just off Piccadilly Circus!

Zero Zero

Introducing our new house espresso - a delicious, single origin bean that’s helping break the cycle of poverty for smallholder farmers in Colombia.

Speciality Coffee & Sustainability

The Problem?

• 60% of coffee is produced on ~12.5 million smallholder farms

• 44% of those farmers live in impoverished conditions

• 22% of those farmers live in extreme poverty

Sustainability at Perks & White

When you buy a cup of coffee from us we want you to know it’s contributed to a better outcome for the environment, our team, our suppliers and our community.

Our purpose & values

We are an independent local specialty coffee company that builds positive long-lasting relationships with our customers, our people, our local communities, our suppliers and business partners. We minimise our impact on the environment.

Our purpose

Our purpose is to be part of the local community, bringing a little bit of joy by serving the finest coffee in a welcoming environment as sustainably as possible.

Our values

Be kind, have fun, listen and communicate

Lead by example, do what we say we will

Build relationships that last by being trustworthy, accountable and genuine

Always improve, explore and innovate

For everyone

 Zero Zero

Introducing our new house espresso - a delicious, single origin bean that’s helping break the cycle of poverty for smallholder farmers in Colombia.

Tasting Notes

The roast profile of Zero Zero builds on the natural characteristics of the coffee to give a wonderfully balanced classic espresso flavour with a slight edge: notes of milk chocolate make up the body of the flavour, with a marmalade sweetness and a light savoury roast almond finish.

Our Commitment to Supporting Farmers

Twenty three producers from the Risaralda region of Colombia have contributed so far to Zero Zero. They received on average 59% above market price for their beans.

Our two-year commitment to buy 7 tonnes (around 300,000 coffees) means we are able to support coffee growers in the Risaralda region for two years. Through Volcano Coffee Works, Raw Material and Red Associations we’re guaranteeing that farmers who supply us will be able to sell their coffee at a good price next year.

Why Zero Zero

Zero Zero highlights the idea of a “reset,” and marks the beginning of a wonderful partnership with Raw Material and the Red Associations through our existing friends at Volcano Coffee Works.

What we loved most about the idea of working with the Red Associations, is that they invest in the long-term future of smallholder coffee-farming communities. With their three areas of focus being, creating consistency in large lots to promote stability in community incomes, shifting the power dynamic for women, and reducing environmental damage from agricultural practices.

All of this means we get the best quality coffee, and the farmers get a sustainable livelihood

The Solution

The best solution to this is to provide a system where farmers are able to consistently sell their coffee for a fair rate, and this is exactly what Red Associations does.

Their primary focus is creating systems to ensure consistency of large lots at a community level. This in turn enables reliable, stable and improved household incomes for smallholder farmers. There are many factors which contribute to this, but some of the key projects initiatives Red Associations has undertaken in Colombia are:

• Setting up cupping labs, and focusing training towards women in the community

• Building and joining community associations, as well as investing in infrastructure and training to improve quality.

• Placing QC staff and equipment at parchment buying points to improve consistency.

• Consulting wet mill operators and producers in-person on best practices.

All of these things are essential in order to be able to make the best use of the most important resource which Red Associations provides; a place for producers to consistently sell coffee and with prices based on what coffee costs to produce and what roasters are willing to pay. Without this coffee producers are often stuck with no option other than to sell their crop below the cost of production, which can lead to an unbreakable cycle of debt.

By continuing to invest in, and returning to communities year after year, Red Associations offers a way for smallholder farmers to get the best possible return for their crop, break out of a difficult situation and operate sustainable and successful coffee farms.

Our Sustainability Story

When you buy a cup of coffee from us we want you to know it’s contributed to a better outcome for the environment, our team, our suppliers and our community.

Dickon White and Jason Perks co-founded Perks & White in 2013 from a love of coffee, and a desire to build a business and brand that lives it’s ethos. At the heart of everything we do is sustainability. We strive for great relationships with our customers, suppliers, our team, our community and always look to minimise our impact on the environment. Jason brings 25 years of expertise advising businesses on sustainability to his work at Perks & White, and has been enjoying putting into practice what he preaches to others. 

“For me a sustainable business must look after people and the planet, while making a profit. That means thinking about our impacts and relationships in everything we do. For example we seek local suppliers that we can work with for the long term, and pay them fairly and promptly. And we’ve always tried to reduce our footprint where we can. We were early adopters of 100% compostable cups made from sugar cane waste and we recycle all our coffee grinds - cycling it up to the Rosendale Allotments or giving it to UpCirlce © where it is recycled into beauty products that we sell.

We’re small and can always do better, so our work will never be done, but I’m really proud that after a year of planning we got Zero Zero into your cup of coffee“ Dickon loves all things coffee, and visits all sites daily to get his fix - most days more than once. He has an incredible story to tell about why he got into coffee, and he’s working on sharing it with you all in the near future.

Our Team

We’re big advocates for investing time into the personal development of the people who work with us. We’ve recently revamped our in-house training, which means our team has the opportunity to refine their skills, and progress through the stages from Trainee Barista right up to a Cafe Manager. The training currently running ranges from full technical coffee making, through to customer service, and management, and marketing courses.

By providing both external, and in-house training we’re able to offer an engaged workplace that’s built on the concept of learning more and earning more which leads to a strong team that feel empowered and look out for each other, and give our customers the best experience.

Our community and suppliers

Having founders that have lived in the area for over 20 years means that we’re part of the community, with a focus on sourcing from, and maintaining long-standing relationships with local suppliers, such as Flippin’ Nells found at the Sunday City Country Farmers Market in Herne Hill, and Bread Bread - just down the road in Half Moon Lane. We’re also currently a collection hub for Herne Hill Forums Computers for Schools initiative that recycle laptops.

Our existing team are people who live, and/or have grown up in the community and we often choose to recruit people who are local to the area - this draws a nice parallel as we’re able to share common ground with our customers who are only a short walk away themselves.

However, we can’t forget that it’s in this very community that Perks & White started through our incredible long-term relationship with Kurt (Founder), and the whole team at Volcano Coffee Works! Eight years and counting...

Zero Zero builds on this ethos, by working with our local supplier Volcano to benefit smallholder suppliers and their communities in Colombia.

Keeping it Local

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Our coffee is roasted locally by Volcano Coffee Works in West Norwood who are 100% independent. The beans we use are directly sourced — this ensures even better prices than fair trade, and means a direct relationship between Volcano and the farmers. We have been working with the nice team over at Volcano since our opening in 2014.

We use The Estate Dairy as our suppliers of milk. A collective of young passionate individuals who produce high quality, sustainably farmed milk and cream. Their 500 acre herd is based in the Chew Valley, the heart of the Bristol countryside. We loved their ethos at The Estate Dairy and their dedication to creating excellent, barista quality milk.

We source our tea selection from Nemi Teas who provide employment to refugees, giving them local work experience and job readiness skills to enter the UK workforce and integrate into broader society.

Our food is lovingly created by local artisans - St John Bakery, Food By Toby, Bread Bread to name a few.

Get in touch

Have a question about our service?
Drop us a line through the form provided.

Looking to join the Perks & White team? Email us direct at jobs@perksandwhite.com