Irish brand Bewley's has ­revamped its fresh coffee range and set its sights on expanding into the UK.

The company, which claims to be the leading fresh coffee brand in Ireland, is hoping to make the category more accessible to consumers. Many shoppers found fresh coffee intimidating, it claimed, so it was introducing new packaging featuring coffee strength guides and simple three-step instructions.

"We want more people to realise making fresh coffee is as easy as making a cup of tea," said Bewley's sales director Mark Saunders.

The company has also moved its range into Ziploc bags which it said was a first for a mainstream fresh coffee brand and more convenient than the stickers some fresh coffee brands used to reseal packs. The redesigned packaging has an airtight freshness valve, and features numbers to indicate flavour strength alongside simple descriptors such as "a smooth coffee with perfect balance".

Bewley's is seeking supermarket listings in the UK for the new 227g packs (rsp: £3.29) and 100g trial packs (£1.99), and is looking to hire a dedicated UK account manager to help grow its presence here. The brand, established in 1840, is well known in its native Ireland, particularly for its Bewley's café in Grafton Street, Dublin.

According to Mintel's 2011 coffee report, fresh ground coffee has grown its share of the overall coffee market only fractionally, from 15.9% in 2009 to 16% in 2010, and has been prevented from taking more by the heavy marketing and promotional activity of instant coffee brands.