The love for nutrition and food supplements has led Guy Morley to mix coffee with plant extracts and functional fungi. The result of this peculiar mix of ingredients is marketed under the Upraising brand, because it is a coffee that not only wakes you up, but “takes you to another level,” explains the entrepreneur. This Englishman living in Catalonia is not alone in facing such a unique adventure. For the founding of the company, in November 2022, Morley trusted his friend Guillaume Laford, a French citizen also claiming in Catalonia that he had been the owner of a digital advertising company. Morley, for his part, is a lawyer and, before venturing into coffee, tried his hand at tea (like a good Brit), but had to put an end to his Kailani Ice Tea brand due to the pandemic.
Upraising uses “specialty organic coffee, which we buy from a cooperative in Colombia,” explains Morley. The coffee is mixed with plant and mushroom extracts in a third-party factory in Lleida, from where it is distributed to around 30 stores in Madrid, London, Amsterdam, Dublin and Paris. On the other hand, the entrepreneur says that they are doing tests to start selling in stores in the Balearic Islands and Portugal. In addition, Upraising coffee can also be purchased on the company's website. Thanks to these sales channels, the co-founders expect to end the year with a turnover of 200,000 euros.
The brand has three types of functional coffee blends. One of the combinations is indicated to increase concentration, mental clarity and memory. Another claims to have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects that help recover and maintain strength and health. Finally, the third coffee promises to improve your mood and calm any worries. Morley says they are working on launching a fourth product before the end of the year, but this time it is not coffee, but powdered mushrooms.
The co-founders have established the company's headquarters in Barcelona and the two of them are the only two employees, waiting to close an investment round that will allow them to hire staff.
