Our History

The Kent and Sussex Tea and Coffee Company was established in 1982 by Mr Malcolm Smith and his son Richard Smith on their return from India.

The Smith families involvement in tea in India in the 1920's when Mr Robert Stammers travelled to India to work in the tea trade on the plantations of Assam in North East India. Ultimately He was the Manager of the famous Behora Tea Estate.

Daughter Janet married an ex Gurkha Mr Malcolm Smith who had also joined the tea trade. Based in Calcutta Malcolm Smith worked for the McLeod Russell Tea Plantation Company.

On retirement from India, the family settled in the village of Pluckley which is the most haunted village in England. On request from the local grocer, some tea was sourced and we named this Pluckley Tea. To this day it is still one of our most popular black tea and a main day to day brand for the Company.

The Company Today

Today the company is located at Pivington Mill near the village of Pluckley in the heart of Kent. Our Factory, Warehouse and Shop is in an old Flax Mill and Dutch Barn with an area of over 8,000 square feet.

The factory produces traditional Tea Bags and packs an extensive range of loose leaf tea with over 1000 teas in stock. We also have a range of over 70 different fresh roasted coffee, available as whole beans or ground to order.

You can Buy Coffee Online from our website, our factory shop or from one of our many independent retailers across the South East of England and further afield. We ship to all of the United Kingdom, Europe, Russia and many International destinations.

Visitors are welcome to our Factory Shop which is open on Weekdays from 9.00am until 5.00pm

Loose Tea

We pride ourselves in sourcing the best grades of loose tea from around the world. We have unique sources of tea from many growing countries. Our tasting panel has a daily programme of trying new teas. We are constantly adding new varieties and blends.

Tea, of course, is a crop and from day to day, week to week and from year to year you get great variances of types and qualities of production. We all strive for consistency but on occasion, Mother Nature can have its say. We keep customers updated on the latest developments from origin countries via our newsletters and articles we product on our blog.

Once the Tea is shipped and arrives at Pluckley we carefully store the tea before packing. Every single order that we receive is picked and packed to order to ensure the freshest, nothing is “Off the Shelf”! We also pack may different types of tea for our retail customers and produce bespoke blends for some of our famous catering customers. We believe to be the best you must serve the best, “Quality First”.

Fresh Coffee

We have different types of coffee for all types of machines including for espresso, filter and cafetiere. Our coffee is roasted using the state of the art Neuhaus Neotec fluidized air-bed system roasting system which maintains the highest quality and consistency.

We stock over 70 different Original and blended, always ground to your specification or as whole beans. We pack a range of coffee for retailers and have a fantastic array of Espresso Coffees which we supply to discerning catering customers from coffee shops to hotels across the country and in fact around the world.

Of course, you can buy our coffees online, from one of our retail stockists or for the adventurous in spirit from our factory shop.

Loyalty Points

For our regular online customers around the world, we have a reward points programme so that every time you shop with us we give you loyalty points which can be redeemed on future orders. This amounts to 5% in value of the products you order. You have a choice to either use your points on your next order or save them up and redeem at any time.

Subscription

Our unique subscription service makes it possible for you to order nearly any product from our range to be processed and delivered on a regular basis, from monthly up to six monthly. Products ordered on subscription get 10% discount after their first order for the lifetime of the subscription, so you save money as well.

Trade Customers

We offer our trade customers special accounts which have discounts for bulk purchasing. If you have a catering business why not give us a try. Just send us a request for a trade account with your business details and we can help you to sample and choose the best solution for you.