Independent coffee roaster

[jsolomon]

Hi all,

I have a paranoid question for your experiences. My local coffee roaster is fantastic. He's spectacular. In my opinion, he roasts to the level of Intelligentsia.

But, that's all he does. He roasts, and he sells some small coffee making supplies. Filters, Chemex carafes, melitta one-cups, and very very good coffee. He's going to start offering actual coffee drinks at his store, and open a second one in our town.

What have been your experiences of your roasters branching out?

On the plus side, my roaster will be opening a coffee shop within two miles of my house, which is tres magnifique, but I'm still concerned that my quality of coffee will drop. Am I just being Chicken Little?

[Moopheus]

It wouldn't happen to be Coffee Emergency? I think he will hear it from his customers if his quality slips.

[phaelon56]

I wouldn't be at all concerned. One of the biggest challenges of growth for indendent coffee business operaters is finding good folks to work the bar and make consistently excellent drinks. But if he expands to three, four or even more locations he needs simply upgrade his roaster to one that handles larger batches. And a larger roaster will perform just as well as a smaller one.

IMHO anyone who has shown dedication to excellence in roasting is highly unlikely to slip as they expand.

[jsolomon]

No, it's The Coffee Roaster in Lincoln, Nebraska

[jsolomon]

I wouldn't be at all concerned. One of the biggest challenges of growth for indendent coffee business operaters is finding good folks to work the bar and make consistently excellent drinks.

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Yeah, I'd toss in an application, but Gary can't afford me as a barrista. Something about wanting to repay my student loans

Thanks for the encouragement!

[phaelon56]

What I neglected to mention is that I see his evolution as a logical growth plan and one that I intend to pursue once I'm financially able to make a leap into the coffee business as a full time occupation - starting as a roaster with a regional wholesale and online retail operation and eventually opening a shop (or several) if the local market justifies it.

[Moopheus]

No, it's The Coffee Roaster in Lincoln, Nebraska

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Ah, well, I was close. I think Coffee Emergency is also opening up a shop, at least there is something about it on their web site. If you've got two good roasters in town, then you are truly blessed.

[JasonTrue]

This is interesting to me because in Seattle, the coffee shop business model is so well proven that most companies go the opposite direction: they open a coffee shop with an eye toward adding a roastery when their cashflow supports it, or when they decide that's the best path to improve their quality. Vivace did this, for example.

There are some companies that have done the opposite, but usually they seem to be people who came from other coffee companies. The roaster Umbria finally opened a coffee shop a while back, and is apparently planning to occupy two former spaces of Torrefazione, but his family actually founded Torrefazione back when it was a little independent shop.

Anyway, I think that a roaster who operates a coffee shop will have to be even more conscious of quality. You may see changes as they decide what kind of blend and roast works best for their coffee setup, but before they have customers at retail the wholesaler is at a disadvantage in the feedback loop.