Who is Bjorn? Introducing our new identity

In the last few weeks we've introduced a lot of changes - new people, new logos, new blend names. But why? Read on to learn more about the changes, why we had to make them and what it means for your favourite coffee in the future!

New Name (Coffee Same)

The most important thing to know is that whilst a LOT has changed, the coffee in your cup has stayed pretty much the same. Head roaster Fran is still roasting all the beans, we haven't changed any of the blends from what you know and love, and even though we have a new name for decaf, it was the same coffee we'd been using for 6 months or so. 

So why Bjorn? Well in the late summer of 2025, the little yellow coffee shop on Hollowgate was taken over by Danelaw Coffee and roasting operations were moved to their roastery in Meltham Mills - it simply didn't make sense to have two businesses in the same town, doing much the same thing and both paying overheads for similar facilities. 

OK, so why the name change then?

Let's not beat around the bush here, we loved the old name, but we wanted to freshen it up and put a bit of a twist on it. (Plus, there's a chain of brunch restaurants in Derby that are called Bear, and the last thing we want is for our customers to find themselves wanting avocado toast in the East Midlands only to find that the coffee they love isn't the coffee served in those restaurants.)

Bjorn is the old Norse word for a large ursine mammal which is why he's now wearing a horned helmet - it's a nod to Danelaw being the area of England that was run under Viking (Danish) law in the 9th century. 

What's happened to the blends? 

Nothing, apart from new names. They're still the same coffees you love, just with new names so that there can be absolutely zero confusion with anything else. 

Bjorn Out Of Necessity is our new house espresso, which is the same blend as B**r Necessities was 

Brown Ben (The Gentle dark roast) is a replacement for Brown B**r 

Red Panda hasn't had to change. 

And the decaf?

We'd already been working with Danelaw for a few months on decaf, getting them to roast their Nott Aurora decaf coffee for us, which we sold as Sloth B**r. Seeing as we're all one big family now it made sense for us to take this as Nott Coffee instead.

We hope you like what we're doing with the place. We're really excited about keeping what makes Bjorn special, creating a temple of espresso excellence, where you can come to taste a diverse range of coffees and take home bags of beans that will make your mornings magical. We know it can be a bit of a journey to get to the shop and we want to make sure it's always worth the trip.