Black Sheep Coffee, the global cafe chain started by St Andrews University flatmates, will open in Aberdeen in the next two months.
Already a fixture across the UK as well as France and the Philippines, Black Sheep will open its latest branch in Union Square shopping mall in early May.
The new store will take the space vacated last year by cake shop Patisserie Valerie, setting up a potential Union Square showdown with rivals.
The unit sits just metres from the Costa Coffee in the mall’s central concourse. Union Square also has a Starbucks and other cafes such as Muffin Break that serve speciality coffee.
An exact opening day for the new Black Sheep has yet to be set, however a company spokesperson said preparation work has already started.
“We’re absolutely thrilled to be coming to the awesome city of Aberdeen,” Black Sheep communications assistant Tryfen Kil said.
Coffee chain with sites across the world
Black Sheep was founded by former St Andrews University students Eirik Holth and Gabriel Shohet who opened the first outlet in Camden in 2013.
The company has since opened franchise stores across the UK, including in St Andrews last year. A shop will open in Dundee later this year.
The company is also expanding globally, with a new site slated for Dallas, Texas. There is already a Black Sheep Coffee in Paris and in Manila.
As the name indicates, Black Sheep is keen to stand out from other coffee chains in the UK.
It was the first to serve specialty-grade Robusta coffee in the UK. Robusta has a higher caffeine content than the arabica beans used in most speciality coffee shops.
The chain also serves Norwegian waffles, organic smoothies and shakes and freshly-baked pastries.
A signature drink at Black Sheep is the Black Hoof, a robusta bean espresso with coconut oil, cinnamon and milk. The Vietnamese Iced Coffee is espresso with whole milk and condensed milk over ice.
How big will Black Sheep Coffee’s Aberdeen premises be?
It will have 79 seats inside, and room for about 60 customers at the seating on the Union Square concourse.
Black Sheep Coffee has some heavyweight backing.
In June 2019, the coffee chain raised £13 million in investment from a group of high-profile private investors, which included the first investor in the Spotify music streaming service, Tellef Thorleifsson.
The new Black Sheep Coffee in Aberdeen’s Union Square will open seven days a week from 6:30am to 8:30pm Monday to Friday, 6:30am to 9pm on Saturday and 8am to 8pm on Sunday.
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