Frustration at 'burnt toast' smell from Trading Post unit

Paul Beckett works at Phlorum, an environmental and ecological consultancy, located on Hunns Mere Way in Woodingdean.

At the end of last summer, Paul and other colleagues started to notice a strong smell coming from outside their office however were unable to identify the culprit.

He described the smell to be like “burnt toast”.

Paul Beckett (Image: Liz Finlayson/Vervate) Paul said: “We started detecting a burnt toast smell in the office and outside. We didn’t know where it was coming from.

“It was really bothering me and left me thinking ‘what the hell is that smell’, I just couldn’t work out where it was coming from.

“There was one occasion when a fire engine turned up and I rushed outside because I thought they had come for the smell.

“But they said no and that they were just dropping something off at the fire brigade union nearby.”

Phlorum specialises in a range of environmental services - and by sheer coincidence, one of these is odour assessment.

Following further investigation, Paul discovered that Trading Post had recently moved into a unit nearby - their chimney being only about 30 metres away from the Phlorum office. 

With Paul's knowledge and research, he believes the smell is coming from their roasting process.

In July 2024, The Argus reported residents' frustration towards the smell coming from the popular business' Sydney Street and Tidy Street stores.

One resident described it to be "pungent and overpowering".

At the time, Trading Post said that they had found a property away from the city centre to do the majority of its roasting and invested in a replacing their coffee roaster at the Sydney Street shop.

Paul said: “The fact there is history there of this company causing this issue before and with the extent of the odour caused now, it suggests they haven’t done anything differently other than move.

“It’s completely unreasonable for a relevantly small unit to be kicking out a burnt smell odour over 100 metres.”

Windows at the Phlorum office overlooking the Trading Post unit (Image: Paul Beckett) Paul explained how initially the smell had been intermittent, however with the recent hot weather the smell had become a lot more prominent.

“Trading Post moved into the block last summer, as soon as they moved in they were kicking up a smell.

“There’s been times staff walking on the fields have said they can smell it from 100 metres away. I’m amazed there haven’t been more complaints", Paul said.

“In recent weeks the smell has been pretty persistent, particularly with the windows open in the office because it’s warm.

“It’s not disgusting but you don’t want to smell it all the time. It’s very annoying.”

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With the business' experience working with coffee roasters, Paul believes the issue could be resolved by using a higher quality afterburner.

Afterburner technology is generally used in coffee roasting to reduce emissions and protect the beans from taking on alternative flavours. It can also reduce odours.

Paul said: “We’ve worked with roasters in more commercial areas and have been able to stop this burnt odour.

“An afterburner would burn the aerosol that comes out of the roasting service. You can get cheap ones and expensive ones.”

Paul has reported the issue to Brighton and Hove City Council, and he said they are currently investigating.

Trading Post has been approached for comment.