Coffee and social media is a perfect marriage of great visuals, with interesting stories, people and flavour.
There’s a lot of coffee-related content on social media these days, and it’s hard to know who to follow (and why). To help, we’ve put together a list of some of our favourite coffee-related Instagram accounts, including some up-and-coming coffee accounts you might not have yet heard of.
MTPak Coffee (MTPak)
Founded in 2016 by Mark Zhou, MTPak has quickly spread across the world to become the leading supplier of packaging options for the specialty coffee sector.
Inspired by the specialty coffee industry’s commitment to sustainability and innovation, they’ve spent the last few years perfecting a range of planet-friendly options such as recyclable, compostable and biodegradable material. In the last 12 months, they’ve also begun focusing on creating a line of takeaway cups for the specialty coffee market.
Why you should follow them: It’s not just bags and cups – MTPak Coffee provides a range of educational articles through its ‘Education Centre‘, a publication dedicated to information and insights into coffee roasting, trends, design and sustainability.
Follow via: @mtpak_coffee
Big Island Coffee Roasters
If you love great coffee, great views and the occasional dog/cat photo, then you’ll love the work of Big Island Coffee Roasters. A small coffee farm purchased via Craiglist in 2010 has quickly become one of the most renowned producers of coffee in the Hawaiian islands, and they’ve been sharing their story along the way.
With a focus on diverse, authentic and small batch roasts of specialty coffee, this farm-to-bag company has received a number of accolades since their inception (including Grand Champion of the Hawaiian Statewide Coffee Competition).
Why you should follow them: Big Island Coffee Roasters offers an authentic, no-frills approach to the growth, production, roasting and appreciation of coffee. They embrace Hawaiian culture, share their incredible surroundings and prefer quality over quantity when it comes to their social media content.
Follow via: @bigislandcoffeeroasters
Producer & Roaster Forum
Producer & Roaster Forum (PRF) is the largest producer-focused coffee event in the world, and recently announced its fifth instalment that will take place later this year in Medellín, Colombia. Each PRF event has taken place in a coffee producing country, with the aim being to facilitate coffee trade, education and collaboration with farmers and producers at the centre of discussion.
In 2021, PRF was hosted in Honduras via a digital platform with over 2,000 attendees, and expects to have more than 5,000 people attend it’s Origin Trip Experience and two-day forum (dates TBC).
Why you should follow them: Unlike most coffee events, Producer & Roaster Forum is primarily focused at empowering and facilitating relationships with coffee farmers and producers. The event also includes a range of educational lectures, expert panels and discussions from industry leaders – so you can learn as you enjoy the coffee talk!
Follow via: @producerroasterforum
Carimali
Based in scenic Bergamo in the heart of Italy, Carimali has been producing high-quality espresso machinery and equipment for more than 100 years. Since 1919, the company and its partners have been producing fully automatic and traditional coffee machines, coffee grinders, accessories and more to nearly every corner of the globe.
In 2021 Carimali announced the launch of a new project, Heylo, which uses induction heating technology in coffee machines (as opposed to traditional boilers). This new endeavour not only won them an Innovation Smart Label Award, but is leading the way for energy efficient, sustainable technology for preparing espresso.
Why you should follow them: Although they’ve been around for a long time, it seems like Carimali isn’t stopping any time soon when it comes to innovation. We also love their casual approach to talking about complicated machinery, and their focus on creating the best technology possible.
Follow via: @carimali_1919
James Perry Coffee
‘Who is James Perry?’, you ask? Well, from all appearances he’s your everyday barista, passionate about new brewing methods and trying new coffees. However, he’s quickly amassed more than 10,000 followers via Instagram alone with his aesthetically pleasing, catchy and easy-to-approach brewing videos.
The Australian-based barista experiments with a range of brewing vessels, pouring techniques and offerings from various roasters around the world, sharing his recipes in expertly crafted reels and videos. He’s also experimented with his own pop-up coffee shop featuring Nordic roasters and brew gear, but appears to have taken a short break for the time being.
Why you should follow him: There’s nothing more satisfying than a great brewing video, and if you’re able to learn something at the same time it’s even better. Whether you’re just starting out on your filter coffee journey, or you’re well-versed but want to be re-inspired, James Perry is the account for you.
Follow via: @jamesperrycoffee
Higher Grounds Trading Company
If there’s something we love more than coffee, it’s coffee with a purpose. Higher Grounds Trading Co. is a coffee bar and roastery based in Traverse City, Michigan (USA) that operates with a focus on community projects, non-profit partners and giving back to their partners in producing countries.
Higher Grounds’ story started in Chiapas, Mexico when co-founder Chris Treter met the farmers of the Maya Vinic cooperative during a post-graduate internship. Inspired by their work and wanting to create greater access to rights for coffee farming communities, he founded Higher Grounds based upon a ‘circle model‘ that operates with what they call a human-centric approach.
Why you should follow them: Each of the coffees Higher Grounds sells helps to contribute to non-profit organisations, their award-winning, co-owned importing cooperative (Cooperative Coffees) or their non-profit, On The Ground. We love seeing coffee being consumed in a way that gives back to communities that work so hard to create it! They’ve also recently launched a 3D Virtual Tour of their coffee bar and roastery, which is a great way to visit without visiting.
Follow via: @highergroundstradingco
Zero Coffee Roastery
This Turkish coffee roastery has a philosophy that begins in zero (or nothing). As they say on their website, “Today you have all, maybe tomorrow you get back to 0. And again you should start from this point. Start from ZERO.”
The approach Zero Coffee Roastery has to coffee quality and service is genuine, honest and humble. Although they’ve only been on the scene for a handful of years, they’ve inspired a number of coffee professionals with their clever animations, community focus and behind-the-scenes look at what goes into creating and running a coffee business.
Why you should follow them: It’s not always the large businesses or influencers that can inspire the biggest change, and this is why we love Zero. It’s a go-to source of wholesome and genuine coffee content, and will most likely inspire you to visit Turkey (if you’re not already on the way).
Follow via: @zerocoffeeroastery
FreshlyGroundPixels
Self-taught illustrator Deepika Gowda has been creating coffee-related images and animations for little more than a year, but has been creating inspiring artwork for a much longer period.
Coffee and design go together like … well, coffee and coffee, and it’s exciting to see talented artists sharing their passion through a medium that coffee lovers can enjoy. Rumour has it that some of the most popular prints will soon be available to order, so watch this space.
Why you should follow them: We love the combination of incredible design, crafty animation and coffee education that makes this account so enjoyable. There’s nothing better than supporting a young artist with a passion for coffee, so be sure to throw Deepika a follow (and keep an eye out for prints).
Follow via: @freshlygroundpixels
Interested in learning more about creating engaging, inspiring and high quality social media content? Get in touch with a member of our specialist coffee marketing team.
