The dark horse of Christchurch coffee roasting and supply, Lyttelton Coffee Company has been serving and roasting coffee since 2007, about the same time their London Street cafe opened. The February earthquake saw the iconic 1921 heritage-noted building severely broken but not defeated, and so Stephen Mateer (Lyttelton Coffee Company owner) decided to put it back together - a task that took around 2 ½ years to complete with the help of a small group of Lyttelton locals.

Nowadays the cafe stands strong and as popular as ever, with good service, wholesome food and sustainability. Lyttelton Coffee Company saves 15,000 milk cartons a year from landfill through using stainless steel milk canisters and 500 kilos of packaging from wholesale clients by using buckets for produce, plus they also have an upcoming composting garden outback with some pigs and chooks.

As well as showcasing local artwork, Lyttelton Coffee Company holds occasional music gigs and weekly life drawing and spin classes, and has one of the best views in town.

The roaster has moved topside and sits proudly in the middle of the cafe. Roasting most nights of the week, Lyttelton Coffee Co supplies around 30 wholesale clients (Dose, Caffeine Lab, Gentle Giant to name a few) in the Canterbury region. A quiet achiever, Stephen describes Lyttelton Coffee Company as a comfortable symbolic relationship between cafe and roaster, a company content with its volume, providing jobs for 15 local staff, and with the creating of a unique community with coffee at it’s heart.