About Us

The UCC story began in 1933, when an ambitious young man established a western food store in Kobe, Japan. Ueshima Tadao’s love for all things Western soon led him to discover coffee. Such was his passion for this rich, aromatic “mysterious beverage” that he dedicated his life to making coffee popular across Japan.

Today, UCC Europe continues that proud tradition – operating in every major coffee market in Europe and delivering high-quality products and services at scale, consistently. And whether it’s the coffee we roast, the equipment we supply, or the training and maintenance we provide – we are still driven by the same passion and founding principles. Most importantly, we remain a family-owned business that enjoys a close and unique relationship with each of its customers, whatever their size, wherever they are, no matter their goals.

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EMPLOYEES

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COUNTRIES

37

MANUFACTURING SITES

€2.3BN

TURNOVER

Great things happen over coffee

Coffee has incredible power. It motivates our mornings, stirs our senses and gets the world moving. It sparks creativity and fosters collaboration. It enables precious moments of reflection and calm.

We use the power of coffee to connect people, cultures, and communities everywhere – energising us to go further, achieve incredible things and be our best selves.

Coffee is a gift from nature

From a simple green seed to your first sip – coffee goes on an incredible journey that spans the world. Planting, harvesting, drying, roasting, blending, grinding, brewing and serving – at every step, coffee touches lives and the environment around us.

For the people we meet along the way, and future generations, our coffee can make a positive difference.

Our coffee makes you smile

Happiness, friendship and celebration, great coffee has the power to enrich us, lift our mood and make the world smile. We bring people closer together, helping them flourish and making the world a friendlier, more joyful and compassionate place.

So, whether that’s our customers, employees, communities, or the coffee drinkers of tomorrow, we aspire to spread happiness and create smiles everywhere we go.

How we act

Our values are a key part of our identity, and a guiding force in the way we do business.

Courage

We move forward with courage. We take accountability, act promptly, and have high ambitions.

Unity

We act with unity. We consult, communicate and report, respecting and understanding each other to achieve effective teamwork. We are truly collaborative.

Respect

We behave with respect. We’re proud of our high ethical principles, and aim to be a trusted partner, acting responsibly in everything that we do.

The UCC Coffee Story

UCC Coffee Europe was created in 2012 following the acquisition of United Coffee by UCC Holdings, Japan – one of the top five largest independent coffee companies. We remain a family-owned company with the same founding principles, which means that our clients enjoy a very close and customised relationship with us, wherever they are and whatever their size.

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Ueshima Tadao Shoten was founded in Kobe, Japan.

UCC opens its first coffee shop in Hakata, Fukuoka.

UCC developed, manufactured and sold the world’s first canned coffee beverage. Canned coffee becomes a global sensation after UCC are invited to sell it at the Osaka International Expo.

UCC opens its first directly managed coffee plantation in the Jamaican Blue Mountains.

Japan’s first coffee museum opens in Kobe, the birthplace of UCC Coffee. It celebrates coffee’s history and culture, and later becomes home to the UCC Coffee Academy.

UCC opens a second directly managed coffee plantation in Hawaii.

UCC Black (non-sugar) is introduced to the canned coffee range.

The ‘Super Aroma System’ is introduced at UCC’s Rokko Island Factory, enhancing coffee aroma and flavour. Around the same time, the Hyogo General Factory (now Hyogo Beverage Factory) becomes the first in Japan to achieve ISO9002 certification, setting new standards for quality management in coffee production.

Through a partnership with the Rainforest Alliance, UCC becomes the first company in the Japanese market to sell sustainable coffee.

The UCC Coffee Academy opens, offering coffee education and training for employees and the public, promoting deeper knowledge and appreciation of coffee.

Following the build of a factory in Brazil in 1984, a further on-site office is completed in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam in 2011. These factories enable UCC experts to inspect the production processes of green beans for UCC, helping to increase global quality standards across the coffee industry.

UCC acquires United Coffee, leading to the formation of UCC Europe. This marks a major step in UCC’s global expansion, establishing a strong presence across key European markets. UCC Europe now operates offices and facilities in the UK & Ireland, the Netherlands, Switzerland, France, Spain, the Nordics and Germany – offering locally tailored coffee solutions while upholding UCC’s commitment to quality and innovation.

UCC Europe undertakes significant investment in our factory in France where state of the art technology produces Nespresso®* and Dolce Gusto compatible capsules.

* UCC Coffee is an independent producer and is not related to, associated with or connected to Nespresso® or the companies behind that brand in any way.

UCC launched a new corporate message – ‘Every Coffee, Every Moment’.

Launch of hero brand in Europe – Ueshima.

Established UCC Coffee Australia and New Zealand.

Established the UCC Sustainability Direction and forged new partnerships with environmental groups and suppliers around the world, helping towards our goal of 100% Sustainably Sourced UCC branded Coffee by 2030.

Published the first Global Sustainability Report in an effort to foster stakeholder cooperation to make our Sustainability Vision a reality.