Dicksons teams up with Ringtons to offer barista-style coffee at 28 of its stores

Coffee-lovers have a new destination to try after two of the North East's oldest food and drinks firms joined forces to brew up a storm.

Dicksons has teamed up with Ringtons to offer barista-prepared coffee at 28 of its branches in Sunderland and the rest of the North East.

The new venture, spearheaded by the youngest generations of the family firms, has seen Dicksons staff trained in the art of coffee making at Ringtons' base in Newcastle.

Dicksons, which is based in South Shields, has invested £100,000 in the venture, kitting out its stores with the necessary equipment - and is even planning a mystery festive coffee for Christmas.

Dicksons, the region’s largest family-owned food manufacturer and retailer, has teamed up with Ringtons to offer customers barista coffee.

Elena Dickson, who is in the third generation of the family to work for firm, said: “At Dicksons we pride ourselves in the quality of the food we create - and we required our hot drinks to be of the same calibre. “Ringtons is such an iconic North East brand, everyone knows it sells great tea, but we now know they make great coffee too - because we’re selling it. “The coffee market is such a big one and we wanted to ensure our customers were getting the best. “I think it’s wonderful that two old family firms, hailing from the same region, can work together like this.”                          The ‘fresh bean-to-cup’ coffee is already on sale at Dicksons’ stores. 

November 2023 will see the launch of new specially designed Christmas cups and the two companies are working on a limited-edition Christmas flavour too. Brigitte Keatings, one of the fifth-generation family directors at Ringtons, said: “We're very proud to be supporting another North East family business who are as obsessed with  product quality as us. “As Ringtons develops into our fifth generation, we're building more collaborative  relationships with businesses that are dedicated to doing the right thing.” She added: “I was impressed with Dickson's product quality and starting this partnership with  them felt very natural. I'm looking forward to seeing how the relationship between Dicksons and Ringtons develops."

Dicksons celebrated its 70th anniversary this year after starting from humble beginnings with a butcher's shop in South Shields.

The firm now employs more than 300 staff and has 30 stores across the North East.

Ringtons was launched by Samuel Smith OBE, who moved from his hometown in Leeds, to Newcastle in 1907 where he began selling tea from a horse and cart.

The company now delivers to more than 220,000 customers throughout the UK, has 24 locations across the region, and provides hotels, restaurants, cafes and workplaces nationally with their beverages.