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Leeds · United Kingdom

North Star Coffee Roasters

Since 2013 · Holly Kragiopoulos, Alex Kragiopoulos

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Overview

North Star was Leeds's first coffee roastery, founded in 2013 by Holly and Alex Kragiopoulos at the age of 22 after they spent three months in Nyeri, Kenya researching whether Fair Trade had delivered what it promised to smallholder farmers. They drove to Wales to buy a used roaster, spent three months developing The Docks house blend in a Meanwood unit, and now operate four cafés in Leeds plus around 350 wholesale customers and 1,200 online subscribers. Both founders are licensed Q Graders, and the company became the first UK coffee company to offer home-compostable packaging in 2021. The whole business was certified B Corp in 2022 — currently the only B Corp coffee roastery in Yorkshire.

Known for

  • Leeds's first specialty coffee roastery
  • Holly and Alex Kragiopoulos co-founders, both Q Graders
  • First UK coffee company to offer home-compostable packaging (2021)
  • Certified B Corp 2022 (first in Yorkshire)
  • Holly is on the Cup of Excellence international jury
  • Young British Foodie Award (2015)

Why it matters

North Star wrote the playbook for impact-led specialty coffee outside London — first compostable packaging, first Yorkshire B Corp, transparent producer pricing — and they did it from a city that had zero specialty roasters when they started. The fact that they only retail in Leeds is a deliberate philosophical commitment.

Production

head roaster
James (production roasting); Krag oversees operations
roastery location
Armley, Leeds (since 2019)

Café

This roaster operates a café.

Recognitions

  • Young British Foodie Award (2015)
  • Certified B Corp (2022) — first coffee B Corp in Yorkshire
  • First UK coffee company to offer home-compostable packaging (2021)

Sources

More roasters