CCR Cover story

Better Coffee Best

How

By Michael J. Pallerino

La Colombe is changing today’s café experience

It’s hard to imagine the word “geek” associated with anything related to Todd Carmichael. As the first American to complete a solo trek across Antarctica to the South Pole, on foot with no assistance, no less, Carmichael captured the World Speed Record with a total travel time of 39 days, seven hours and 49 minutes. The video of the neardeath experience he endured later became an award-winning documentary—”Race to the Bottom of the Earth”—on the National Geographic Channel in 2010.

So when you call Carmichael a coffee geek, he just laughs. The moniker is one that he and his good friend, JP Iberti, embrace wholeheartedly. The duo, co-founders of Philadelphia-based La Colombe, one of the world’s premier coffee roasters and boutique cafes, have travelled the globe taste testing myriad cups of joe.

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BETTER COFFEE BEST

The brand's story started in 1994, when Carmichael and Iberti opened La Colombe Torrefaction, their first European-style café on 19th Street near Philadelphia’s Rittenhouse Square Park. In the early days, they would roast their own unique blends in the back of their café. After a rough start to the business, the roastery they opened in a warehouse in Philly's Port Richmond neighborhood took off.

Today, La Colombe is served in some of the most elite restaurants throughout the U.S. with top-rated cafés located in Philadelphia, New York City, Chicago, Washington, D.C., and Seoul, Los Angeles and plans to open nearly 50 more establishments throughout the United States within the next five years.

Commercial Construction & Renovation sat down with Carmichael—American entrepreneur, adventure traveler, philanthropist, television personality, author, inventor and producer—to get his thoughts on why this CEO’s brand is helping change the way today’s consumers view America’s favorite drink.

How does the design of the stores cater to how today's consumers' shop?

The architecture, design and flow of the store is designed around one key element and that key element is people. To design a

The story of La Colombe begins with several fundamental elements: two men, two friends and a brotherhood. The entire company grew from those things.

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great café, it begins with 40 people. Then we draw around them, with an eye toward heightening their experience.

We don’t look at ourselves as decorators who are trying to make the best-looking cafe possible—but instead we are craftsman. Simply two guys who have worked with our hands for a very long time.

At La Colombe, it’s not just about products, it’s about taste, touch, smell and the way you feel when you walk into our universe.

Walk us through how and why the stores are designed the way they are?

Each café is designed to incorporate the La Colombe brand, centered around the people, but also intended to reflect that neighborhood. The café design aesthetic is not the same in Beverly Hills as it is in Fishtown. The design architecture is there to reflect that neighborhood. We are a mirror of the community—not cookie cutter.

Change and revolution creates opportunities and it is these opportunities that I am very excited about.

For us, the experience is also really important. When we design a café, we design the mechanics of the flow. Our flow, how we move people around the bar, is key. We want to be good hosts. We want the space to feel comfortable and inviting. When we design a café, we keep asking ourselves how will they enter the space? How will they wait in line? We are always designing with people in mind.

What's the biggest issue today related to the construction side of the business?

At La Colombe, we understand that nothing is ever finished. Everything needs to evolve. The biggest issue is the same issue it has always been—discovering what the next thing is. What the next change is. What the next level is. We have very little interest in redoing what we have done before.

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Talk about sustainability.

For us, sustainability is defined in a very simple way—leave it better than you found it. Or if you think about the National Parks, leave no trace.

For us, this means everything from carbon to plastics, landfills to pesticides. We try to balance our carbon footprint off shade grown coffee trees. We do everything humanly possible to eliminate plastics from our equation, with sustainable packaging. Where that is not possible we use recycled plastics. We pay strict attention to our coffee farming practices, for example pesticides are either not used or used at a minimum. We share IP with our farms in order to use less water

Ultimately, sustainability is a voyage. It’s something you have to work on continually.

What do you see as some of your biggest opportunities moving ahead?

We are a five-channel business, including brick and mortar retail and others. We see

the growth in all these channels as very strong. But the most exciting arena right now is in the ready-to-drink space.

I think the café space will continue and evolve. Cafés will grow in their offerings, incorporating more foods and snack and of course more beverages. In a lot of ways, the café has evolved in isolation—highly specialized in one area—brewing coffee. I see them widening in that spectrum to include more things. A café 15 years from now won’t look anything like the cafes of today.

Are you optimistic about what you see in the retail sector?

I am always optimistic when I see an environment that is undergoing change. Change and revolution creates opportunities and it is these opportunities that I am very excited about.

Why did you pick the locations you did for your stores?

First, we look for communities. Our preferred communities are mixed, residential and business. Black, white and brown. Straight and gay. We like a mix. Second, we look for architecture. The buildings bones are key to us. And if we have these two ingredients we know we have the components to make a great café.

What is your growth plan? What areas are you targeting?

At La Colombe we have multiple channels and all of them are growing at quite a clip. In the retail space, our resting heart rate is between eight to 10 cafés a year. We would like to keep this feel-good pace up for the next five to 10 years. We have our eye on California, Texas and Colorado. And of course, more back east.

What trends are you seeing?

We are still riding this massive ice age. The shift from consumer drinking only hot coffee, toward cold has now reached a fever pitch. Today, in our brick and mortal retail, 65 percent of all drinks across the bar are cold. This is the world flipped upside down and “oh-my-god” is it exciting.

What is the secret to creating a "must visit" retail store in today's competitive landscape?

You have to be real. That is it.

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What is today's consumer looking for?

From our perspective, it is our understanding that people are looking for a beautiful product, sourced and crafted in a transparent way. They want to experience this in a beautiful environment that doesn’t feel like a business. It feels like something else—like a small universe constructed for their pleasure.

Describe a typical day.

The only thing typical about my day is that each and every one of them are atypical. No two days are alike. In that, my days are a bit like snowflakes. You just never know what you’re going to get

As a CEO, I like to submerge myself in my company. In every category and department, every day. I don’t believe you lead a company from

a tower. I believe you lead a company from the front of the pack, driving every day. And from there each day is very different from the last.

What’s the biggest item on your to-do list right now?

Lay waste to the K-Cup market through innovation.

Tell us what makes the La Colombe Roasters brand so unique?

The story of La Colombe begins with several fundamental elements: two men, two friends and a brotherhood. The entire company grew from those things. It wasn’t developed from a boardroom, branding company, marketing agency or think tank. Every piece of it is an extension of a friendship. It’s a real entity; it’s a real brand. CCR

One-on-one with...

La Colombe co-founder & CEO

Todd Carmichael

What’s the most rewarding part of your job? Connecting with others—from Philly to New York to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The most rewarding part of my job is connecting with people from all across the world.

What was the best advice you ever received?

The best advice I’ve ever received was from a retired Italian roaster in Perugia, Italy. He told me, “In everything be yourself” and “Don’t do it for the money.”

What’s the best thing a client ever said to you?

“How the @*%k did you do that?” The client was referring to the Draft Latte innovation and that made me so happy when I heard that.

Name the three strongest traits any leader should have and why.

Endurance—In business, and in anything you do, it requires endurance. As I like to say, this is not a sprint, this is an ultra-marathon. And in my case, it’s 25-plus years.

Know how to really tell a story— The spirit that binds your people together is the story. The spirit of any company is the story that accumulates. How can you share your history to anyone working with you without storytelling? It’s imperative to internal and external branding.

Be likeable and don’t be an arse— When my children ask me the two

things most important to business I always say, “Storytelling and be likeable.” People like to do business with people they like.

What is the true key to success for any manager?

Inspiration. Be the person who others want to give an extra effort for.

What’s your favorite vacation spot and why?

For me it’s the sea. I love spending time on the water, with my kids, in a boat. If I am surrounded by water and sun, I am all set.

How do you like to spend your down time?

Sleeping. I am a CEO and a father. Any downtime I have, I spend it reading or sleeping.

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