3 minute read
COS Coffee Shop Owner Steps Into Innovation for That Industry
MISSION COFFEE ROASTERS — MICRO INNOVATORS
by KAY ROWE, Staff Writer, So. Colorado Business Forum & Digest
Brett Bixler, the owner of Mission Coffee Roasters, has 32 years in the coffee trade. Mission Coffee Roasters coffee has been sold at Whole Foods Markets for 18 years and Bixler has spent 11 years in his roastery in Colorado Springs.
In March 2023, Bixler and a long-term customer and friend, John, developed the concept of the Grinder Hopper Extension to eliminate spills and other challenges associated with filling five-pound coffee bags. “It is such a simple problem, and an even simpler solution,” says Bixler. Bixler took all that history in coffee and found a way to improve the industry.
Much of the coffee trade needs to grind five pounds of coffee at a time; but most commercial coffee grinder top hoppers hold less than five pounds. Using CAD software, after much trial and error, the duo was finally able to devise grinder hoppers that fit coffee grinders used daily in the warehouse at Mission Coffee Roasters. “Once we got a handle on the process, and produced a few working hopper extensions, we knew we had a tool that could help a lot of other coffee companies, roasters and cafes alike,” says Bixler.
Simply put, this tool enables hands-free filling in under 18 seconds, significantly reducing labor, saving time and enhancing wholesale production and profits. They had solved a problem that had plagued the coffee industry for decades.
Originally these tools were for Mission Coffee Roasters’ exclusive use in their wholesale coffee roasting business. As they came to rely on it everyday, the company realized that other coffee outfits would benefit too. Within days of posting the items online, companies as far away as the Virgin Islands and Hawaii began purchasing the hoppers. Costco stores provide them for customers to use to grind coffee after checkout.
The Grinder Hopper Extension is available for machines made by Ditting, Grindmaster and Bunn. Their products can be purchased directly from them online at: missioncoffeeroasters.com/ bagging-and-grinding-tools.
The men are working on prototypes for Mahlkonig EK43 and GH2 coffee grinders and hope to have them available soon. The Grinder Hopper Extension for Ditting is now available on Amazon as well.
Kay Rowe is a staff writer for the SoCo Business Forum & Digest.
All brand names and machine/grinder models are the intellectual property of the companies mentioned.
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