Wilkinsons-USA

Wilkinsons first shop in Norwich England. Inset Mr R Wilkinson himself

Wilkinson’s of Norwich was founded over thirty years ago in rural England by Ronald Wilkinson. He was a slightly dour but fair minded Yorkshireman that believed in giving folks a decent cup of tea or coffee for a fair price.  In 1972 he opened his first shop in Magdalen street Norwich, England and began to serve some of the finest Tea and Coffee to be had anywhere in the United Kingdom. In due course he retired and the business was sold but each successive owner has striven to keep alive that simple but very effective policy of high standards and customer service.

In 2004 the firm was purchased by Rick and Debbie Harris. Rick is a Florida man and as soon as the ink had dried on the contract began to dream of taking this slice of Englishness to his countrymen in the USA. Then three years later the foundations were laid for what would become Wilkinson’s USA on land that once belonged to his grandparents. Now with his sister Patsy Lato and Brother Johnny managing the site Wilkinson’s USA is ready to bring fine a new touch of class to the coffee roasting market.

Manager of Wilkinson's USA Patsy Harris Lato

Master roaster Johnny Harris at work on the latest batch of coffee

Johnny as head roaster was given his training initially by Mr Rupert Harvey from the parent branch who in turn was “shown the ropes” by Mr Wilkinson himself; thus carrying on the Wilkinson’s tradition on American soil.  Meanwhile, Patsy is working hard with Rick and Debbie to see which of the fine Traditional English teas the new branch can offer the discerning tea drinkers of America.

In 2006 The Wilkinson’s of Norwich Web site was first launched and had grown and developed into a respected presence in the tea and coffee world on the Internet. Now in 2009 the USA site is getting its own web site and moving their product pages from under the umbrella of the English web site to present a new and refreshing service to the American general public.

Other articles and resources.

• Coffee Facts

  Coffee. Its arguably the worlds favorite hot beverage. It is also something that we can take for granted if we’re not careful, “fresh” coffee is served everywhere and its all to easy to forget what a facinating drink it really is. So here are a short collections of coffee facts that you may or may [...]

• Comments and testimonials

  By request here we are starting a page where folks can leave us general notes and comments about our service and products.

• Links

  Our links page to some of our clients or other useful resources for the coffee lover.

  www.wilkinsonsofnorwich.com We could hardly not list the parent company’s site now could we? For an unsurpassed range of teas we have to bow to them.  Be aware however, export restrictions may limit the amount you can have sent to a USA or [...]

• What the Locals said

  In Late May 2008 Patsy released the following letter of introduction to the Brewton Chamber of commerce. I repeat it here as it makes a nice statement of what we hope to achieve in the USA. Wilkinsons is all about quallity and enthusiasm for our product.

  WILKINSON’S OF NORWICH EXPANDING TO BREWTON
  The tantalizing [...]

• Wilkinsons goes International!

  Wilkinson’s were pleased to announce that the foundations were laid for this sister branch to Wilkinson’s of Norwich in the good old US of A, at the end of the month of November 2007. The branch is located in Brewton AL, which is roughly fifty miles north of Pensacola FL.
  The new coffee roastery is now [...]