Lincoln & York industry’s first Aptean AI Agent to automate coffee order processing

Premium UK coffee roaster accelerates order turnaround time with custom AI agent

UK, October 2026; Lincoln & York, one of the UK’s leading premium coffee roasters, has gone live with a custom Aptean AI Agent that reads, interprets and processes incoming sales order emails. The launch makes Lincoln & York the first food and beverage business in the UK to put an Aptean AI Agent into full production.

For more than 30 years, Lincoln & York has roasted exclusively for others, with over 250 customers from independent coffee shops to national chains and supermarket own‑label ranges. Its business model demands consistency and accuracy, managing the right products, prices, quantities with delivery dates and locations. This bespoke tool from Aptean has been designed to specifically meet the needs of Lincoln & York’s customers, who rarely order the same way twice.

Paul Freear, finance director at Lincoln & York, outlined the business challenge: “Our team was spending time turning casual email messages from customers into a fully processed order. This already lengthy, manual process took even longer when the main point of contact was away. The new AI tool has taken a repetitive, time‑sensitive task off our team’s plate, giving us the space to focus on higher‑value work and the capacity to grow order volumes efficiently. A generic AI tool wouldn’t have been able to do what we asked this one to do, given the complex, seasonal and varying nature of our customers’ ordering behaviors.”

The project began at Aptean's Customer Connect event, where Lincoln & York saw Aptean building AI agents around specific business needs. A blueprint session followed, where sales order processing quickly emerged as the clearest opportunity for automation.

Nicknamed “Harry” by the team, the Aptean AI Agent has been running for two months from 7am until 4pm, to match customer ordering patterns. It:

• Reads and interprets orders: It identifies the customer, products, delivery dates, prices, minimum order quantities and lead times, even when requests are informal or ambiguous

• Creates the order automatically: It enters that information directly into Lincoln & York’s existing Aptean planning software, extending a system the team already relies on daily

• Flags what it cannot resolve: After each run, it sends a summary of processed orders, assumptions made and any items needing human review

A second phase, now in development, will allow the agent to manage order amendments and cancellations, confirm processed orders back to customers, and sort the rest of Lincoln & York's shared inbox to the right department.

Paul Freear added; “It's been a gradual trust relationship, very much like it would be with a new employee. We held the system close to start with, and we've gradually let go. The team even gave it the name Harry, and now it's genuinely become part of how they talk about their work.

“The Aptean team has been on top of everything, fixing issues fast and never once making it feel like a problem when we asked to add something. That closeness is what made the difference between an agent that ticks the boxes and one that actually works for us.”

Asked what he'd tell other food and beverage businesses considering AI, Paul recommends keeping it simple. “Start with one task that’s already well understood and clearly draining time from your team. Define exactly what you want the AI to do before you ask it to do anything. Don’t try to use AI to reinvent your business, use it to make the work you already do faster, more accurate and more consistent.”

Working with the biggest names in high street coffee, independent coffee shops and wider retail and hospitality venues, Lincoln & York has been at the forefront of the UK’s coffee culture for over 30 years. Established in 1994, the business has grown exponentially to become one of the UK’s largest independent coffee roasters whilst maintaining its commitment to quality, consistency and passion.

About Lincoln & York Lincoln & York is a 100% own-label coffee roaster based in Northern Lincolnshire, UK. Family-owned and trading for more than 30 years, it roasts and packs coffee for around 250 customers, from national high-street chains and retailers' own-label ranges to independent coffee shops. The company has its own team of accredited coffee graders on staff and competes on consistency and integrity rather than price. lincolnandyork.com

About Aptean Aptean is an AI company built for industrial businesses. For mid-sized and enterprise manufacturers, distributors and wholesalers facing rising costs, shrinking margins and operational complexity, Aptean embeds AI directly into the workflows, decisions and data your business already runs on – so intelligence isn't a bolt-on, it's how the work gets done. The result: faster decisions, lower costs and measurable margin improvement, delivered through an ongoing partnership rather than a one-off implementation. The company is headquartered in Alpharetta, Georgia, USA, with offices across North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific. Find out more at aptean.com