Coffee taster insures nose for £2 million

Elizabeth Smythe

2011-09-14 3:32 PM

Dave Roberts, a professional coffee taster has insured his sense of smell for £2 million.

Mr Roberts is so admired for his ability to sniff out the best coffee from around the world that his employers, an international coffee company, have taken out  multi-million pound insurance policy as a precaution.

Known among his colleagues as ‘Mr Bean’, the taster has been responsible for sourcing coffee for 25 years. During this time he has seen many innovations in the industry - such as the rise of the luxury domestic coffee machine. 

He has been sent around the world to do his job, finding beans in South America and Africa; a far cry from the company’s headquarters in Croydon.

A graduate of a food technology course, Mr Roberts believes it was his grandmother who inspired his choice of career. 

“One of my youngest memories is of my grandmother making fresh coffee in her kitchen, which is perhaps one of the many things which continues to inspire me working in the coffee industry,” he said, cited by The Press Association.

“I am often reminded of that fond memory when I am at work tasting coffee.”

Mr Roberts joins the ranks of celebrities who have allegedly taken out huge insurance policies to insure their most important assets, Metro says.

The Rolling Stones’ Keith Richards was said to have taken out a £1.6 million policy for his guitar-playing hands and David Beckham reportedly insured his entire body for £100 million.