About Us

Square Orange Foods Ltd was set up in May 2008 by two friends, and work colleagues. Chris Tarling & Mark Porteous. They met in 2001 when Mark was appointed Financial Controller of Rathbones Bakeries in Stockton and Chris was his immediate line manager as Rathbones Bakeries Group Accountant.

In November 2004 Chris was appointed General Manager of Boaters Coffee Company Ltd, after their acquisition by Julian Graves and his love affair with Coffee (and tea) began. Immediately tasked by his new employers to create a range of products to rival that of Whittard of Chelsea. He had to learn quickly about the world of flavoured coffee, master the art of tea, whilst developing new ranges of teas, coffees and Hot Chocolates that met the needs of a vibrant young brand.

In January 2007 Boaters needed a full time accountant to take some of the strain off Chris’s shoulders and he immediately turned to his close friend Mark for help. He needed someone who he could trust and leave alone to look after the finances and to make sure the IT functions of a growing company kept pace with the business, Mark fitted the bill perfectly.

Everything was going along swimmingly until the parent company (Julian Graves) had a need to refinance in November 2007. Boaters reporting structure changed and they became the direct responsibility of Whittard of Chelsea. Chris & Mark tried on several occasions to buy Boaters Coffee Company and this, coupled with a disagreement about the future of the business with Whittards senior management team, saw them unceremoniously removed from their posts in May 2008 and left to contemplate the future.  

That future was SQUARE and ORANGE!!

Initially concentrating on Speciality Coffee and the Bistro Tea Stick they set off into the wide world of business full of hope and enthusiasm whilst using their accounting skills to subcontract and keep an income coming into the family households. In December 2008 Whittard of Chelsea and Boaters Coffee Company went into administration and another (failed) bid to acquire Boaters Coffee Company from their new owners in January 2009 was made.

In February 2009 the new owners of Boaters decided to liquidate the brand and the phones started to ring. Businesses desperate to continue with the same quality and variety of products supplied by Boaters Coffee turned to the people they could trust and who they knew would be able to provide the innovation and creativity the flavoured coffee market had lost. Quickly converting Marks garage into a small, fully compliant production area the first batch of flavoured coffee was produced on Monday 9th February 2009, 5 kgs of Irish Cream, quickly followed by 5kgs of French Vanilla and Rich Hazelnut – Chris and Mark were back in the flavoured coffee business.

Knowing the market and knowing the need to produce a sustainable catchy, instantly recognisable brand, and (being accountants) knowing  the cost of doing that, Chris and Mark knew that Square Orange Foods was not the name for the brand and more importantly they lacked the capital required to create ‘the brand’. They needed investors.

Over Christmas 2008, Mark had shown a very good friend (over from Ireland with his family for the festive season) the innovative tea product he was selling and basically bored him with his plans for world domination. Little did he know but that was the most important conversation in the short history of Square Orange Foods Ltd.

Remembering the conversation Mark contacted his friend to see if he was interested in investing in the company especially now as a new opportunity had presented itself and this opportunity was the business that Mark and Chris knew inside out. In April 2009 three more shareholders (Irish Bakery entrepreneurs) joined the company and the Beanies brand was launched and registered. Things were starting to move and to be honest we didn’t have room to swing the proverbial cat in Marks garage anymore, but we were reluctant to make a long term commitment to renting premises. The answer was Evans Easy Space in Newton Aycliffe – we paid a small deposit and need to give a months notice if we need to move, just what we needed. So on the 1stMay we moved into a 1000 sq ft factory unit – the new home of Square Orange Foods, not as intimate or homely as Marks garage (we had food and drink on tap there!!) but essential to move the business forward.

Since February we have set about developing the products we know we require and designing the look of the brand to give it a contemporary, exciting, uplifting feel. The flavoured coffee market in the UK has become fragmented with several new players entering the market and one old (no offence Henry) flexing their muscles. The one thing the Beanies brand offers is INNOVATION – we will constantly move the boundaries forward for the rest to follow.

In May 2009 we launched our range of 4 varieties of flavoured instant coffee using a new innovative method of flavouring instant coffee, another 2 will follow shortly.

In August 2009 we exported our first Beanies products to Poland; we were now an INTERNATIONAL company.

In September 2009 we launched our ‘Super Six’ range of Flavoured ground coffee in an eye-catching, ‘creative’ carton (not a run of the mill A frame box with label). We also exported our first Beanies products to Cyprus.

In October 2009 we have launched this NEW web site offering an easy to use, fully integrated, e-commerce site. We purchased and are currently installing a fully automated coffee jarring line that will give us the ability to produce ‘our own’ brand of non flavoured instant coffees (as well as Private Label products). We will now be able to produce our range of Fortified Instant Coffees.

Coming Soon – In October (we just need the packaging) we will launch our 2 Christmas Coffees again with a stunning look which is already becoming synonymous with Beanies and Square Orange Foods Ltd.

2 more flavours of Instant Coffee – Amaretto and Cinnamon & Hazelnut.

The story goes on.