WHAT DO professional footballers do when they hang up their boots? Long-time friends Euan Spark of Brechin City and John Souttar of Rangers may not be planning to retire from the pitch just yet but already they are planning for the future with their fast-growing coffee Angus-based business, Maison Dieu.

Maison Dieu Coffee Roasters in Brechin, named after a historic local church, was founded by the duo in November 2021 after John started thinking about ideas for a new business when he was injured.

Fast forward to 2023 and the business, which sells its popular coffee beans online and direct to the public from its roasting premises along with fresh brews from its takeaway window, is targeting growth.

Last year, Maison Dieu secured a hat-trick of wholesale deals with its first Edinburgh customer, Fitzroy Café, Cafe Noir in Stonehaven, and its biggest customer to date, holiday park Billing Aquadrome in Northamptonshire.

More wholesale customers have been signed up and others are in the pipeline, says Euan, recalling how “at one point we were just hoping folk would turn up”.

“It is harder than we thought it would be,” he admits. “Now things are a bit crazy and really taking off.

Maison Dieu, like many businesses, saw its initial plans to open thwarted by the Covid pandemic but Euan and John took it all in their stride, using the time to learn as much as they could about coffee and the roasting process.

Today, there are fewer than 30 coffee roasters in Scotland and Maison Dieu is one of only two in Angus that roasts its own beans site. “It was a slow burn to start with because of Covid but both decided that we should think about our future away from football as it’s a short career,” explains Euan, who plays football part-time now.

“John had a lot of setbacks due to Achilles problems and setting up the business gave him something to focus on when he was injured,” he adds. “It’s certainly been a learning curve for me – someone who doesn’t have a CV outside football or experience working anywhere else.

“With our bodies every game’s a blessing,” he jokes. “We’re both 26 now.”

Maison Dieu sold 200,000 cups of coffee last year and “people love it”, says Euan, adding: “We both wanted to start some sort of business in Brechin and we were both aware that there wasn’t really anywhere to get a decent coffee.

“I think what’s been great about is the way local people have got behind us – some customers are here every day and that’s brilliant – and opening the takeaway window really helped with that because people can speak to us, ask questions and understand what we’re doing and why. They also love our home-baked cakes and toasties.

“At Christmas, we held a big community event which over 500 folk attended – I think that’s when the penny dropped that it was real, we were making a go of the business and people were buying into it.

“Previously, we knew very little about coffee but we’ve both attended the Scottish Barista Academy at Livingston run by Jim Watson and learned about all aspects of coffee, including roasting.

“We also work with Adrian Mancuso who is a barista trainer and world champion barista judges to keep improving our skills and knowledge of coffee.”

Maison Dieu’s new house blend, Cookston Crescent – named after a well-known Brechin place – was launched in January while Four Seasons, another new blend, was introduced in February.

“We’re working on more new blends because we want to offer our customers plenty of variety,” explains Euan. “We want to take coffee to a new level.”

Meanwhile, Maison Dieu will be taking its converted horse box on the road to spread the word and sell coffee at events such as food and drink festivals and music events. This will enable the firm to expand its four-strong team of staff by taking on three seasonal employees.

Euan and John, who co-founded Maison Dieu with John’s wife Kayley and his brother Harry Souttar, a footballer in Australia, are ambitious for the future and see huge growth opportunities in both the wholesale and online areas of the business.

The friends are also passionate about sustainability. All coffee bags are biodegradable and can be returned to Maison Dieu and placed in compost bins while wholesale customers are provided with refillable buckets to help reduce the amount of waste.

Beans are ethically sourced and can be traced right back to the farms and farmers that grew them. Maison Dieu sources its specialty beans from all over the world and roasting on site in Brechin ensures that customers always get the freshest cup of coffee.

And the best thing about being in business? “Definitely the people,” says Euan. “I think coffee brings people together.”