Matthew Algie - History

History

Matthew Algie (born 1810 in Greenock, Scotland, died 1902) was a grocer who sold tea that had been imported to Scotland on the Clyde Clippers. He established Matthew Algie the tea blending and wholesaling business in 1864. For around 80 years, and through two World Wars, the business sold tea and spices to retailers in the Glasgow area. In 1950 the company, then known as Algie’s, started selling coffee to post-war Glasgow, along with vending services. In 1974 “Algie’s” began selling coffee machines for offices, restaurants and hotels, replacing instant coffee with roast and ground coffee.

In the 1980s the business went through a period of rapid expansion, going UK-wide and adding bulk-brew coffee machines for the catering sector to their portfolio. In 1989 the company introduced the first espresso machine to its range. In 1995, Managing Director, David Williamson, a descendent of Matthew Algie, visited Portland Oregon and returned to restructure the company with a view to driving the espresso revolution in the UK. In 1997 Matthew Algie introduced the UK’s first Fairtrade espresso beans, followed in 2004 by the world’s first triple-certified espresso (Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance and Organic)In 2008, David Williamson died unexpectedly at the age of 42. The David Williamson Rwanda Foundation was set up in David’s memory.

In 2010 the company underwent its biggest rebranding exercise to date.