Inverness lad sets up The Highland Coffee Academy
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When Dimitri Andreas started working at Costa at the age of 16 to pay for a holiday with his pals, he didn’t even like hot drinks, much less coffee. But 10 years on, the budding entrepreneur now owns The Highland Coffee Academy: showing cafes and young people how to make the perfect cup of coffee.
Dimitri who lives in Inverness, said: “I fell in love with coffee making, and how to make the perfect cup. I worked my way up at Costa, and then went to Illy Coffee and trained people in the Highlands on how to use their product.
“I set up The Highland Coffee Academy to train others as I’m passionate about Inverness and surrounding areas providing good cups of coffee to people.”
The 26-year-old established his business at the end of 2022, and over the last few months his vision has gathered pace.
He offers a variety of on-site and off-site workshops to businesses and individuals, including a foundation course, with basic barista skills and an intermediate and advanced course for more in-depth knowledge.
On top of this he provides ‘at home barista skills’ for keen coffee enthusiasts, a latte art class and coffee machine servicing.
“If people are buying a coffee everyday, that is a lot of money,” Dimitri said.
“I feel that having a coffee is more of an experience than anything, so people deserve to be getting a decent one.
“Many cafes may be buying good quality beans, but there's a lack of knowledge on how to set up all the different equipment that is used to get the best out of the coffee.
“I want to help businesses and cafes, so that people have a good experience wherever they go in the Highlands.”
A big part of his passion is equipping young people with barista skills for future work, and ensuring that they have the right tools to be able to step into a job.
He said: “I’ve done barista training sessions at a few schools now, and they have gone really well.
“Pupils got to learn how to make coffee and to see what it would be like to work in hospitality.
“A big reason why I set up The Highland Coffee Academy is because I wanted to offer young people the opportunities I never had.
“I want to give them an experience that they can incorporate into their future work life. It gives them a head start in a skill that is in demand.
“It’s also good for hospitality in the Highlands, which is struggling at the moment. If young people have been trained up on how to make coffee, then it means they can step into a job.”
Alongside equipping people with coffee skills, Dimitri also has his own cafe on wheels: The Highland Coffee Pod. It can be found at different locations in Inverness throughout the week and it will soon have a permanent home at Anytime Fitness on Harbour Road, two days a week.
He said: “I had some time in between the training, and I really wanted to get what I do out there so I decided to start up the van.
“I want to be known for serving good quality coffee, and be able to network with others and let them know what we do.”
Dimitri’s dream is to be able to have a permanent base in the city that he can provide training from and set up cafes throughout the area.
“I want to hopefully get a premises in Inverness and have a hub for people to come to the academy.
"I would love to be able to have multiple sites around Inverness where people can get a good quality coffee.”
