News / Cafes
Two Bristol cafes bought by growing London chain
Two cafes in Bristol still trading on their independent reputations are now both owned by a growing international brand with businesses across the UK and USA.
The new owners of Tradewind Espresso on Blackboy Hill in Clifton and The Crazy Fox in The Arcade in Broadmead are the Department of Coffee & Social Affairs (DOCASA), whose one Bristol cafe with their own name on is in Quakers Friars.
The two cafes sit under DOCASA’s ‘other brands’ (which also include Timberyard and Bea’s of Bloomsbury in London) and now have matching websites.
Tradewind Espresso and The Crazy Fox are both now owned by the Department of Coffee & Social Affairs
Tradewind Espresso began serving their coffee out of a converted Citroen van before opening on Whiteladies Road in 2015. Their sister company, Roasted Rituals coffee roasters in Hengrove, has also been purchased by DOCASA.
On Friday morning, it was business as usual in Tradewind, which is the only cafe in Bristol to our knowledge to have both a cortado (£2.75) and piccolo (£2.60) on the menu, as well as their signature Biggie Smalls (£4.50), a flat white with an espresso on the side.
Across town at The Crazy Fox, there was also no sign of any difference under its new owners, although its Twitter account still said that it was independent.
The Crazy Fox still proudly proclaims its independence
Downstairs, bags of Roasted Rituals coffee are for sale, while the upstairs lounge remains one of Broadmead’s best hidden spots.
In May, Bristol24/7 reported that the Crazy Fox’s 1960s vintage coffee van which was previously in Cabot Circus was due to open on the corner of College Green nearest Park Street, but it has yet to appear.
On the stereo in Crazy Fox cafe, Lou Bega sung about Mambo number 5 and Vanessa Carlton about a thousand miles, with DOCASA’s Bristol cafe slightly nearer than that, only a few hundred yards away.
Department of Coffee & Social Affairs opened their first Bristol cafe in February 2017
Read more: Department of Coffee & Social Affairs – cafe review
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