September 2017

September 2017 | Vol. XXX No. 9 www.coffeetalk.com

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P O H S E E F F O C A G N I O PE N

N THIS MO ish What I W

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I Knew

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SEE EXHIBITOR

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HIGHLIGHTS

12 GETTING PROFITABLE Identifying Your Solutions to Becoming Profitable 16

The Operator’s “Store” 18

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Contents

6

The View

6

Calendar

8

Opening a Coffee Shop?

What I Wish I Knew

10

Roaster's Rock

Roasters Guild Retreat: Then and Now

12

Photo Essay

Making Photos in Guatemala

Getting Profitable

16

Identifying Your Solutions to Becoming Profitable

Coffee Service Corner

18

The Coffee Service Brew Site – The Operator’s “Store”

19

Coffee Fest

Portland Show Listings

19

Pack Expo

Vegas Show Listings

20

Newsbites

22

Advertiser Index

Feature

4

8

Opening a Coffee Shop?

September 2017

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THE VIEW Kerri Goodman

T

his August I celebrated my 30th year in business.

Anniversaries are interesting. They provide an excuse to reflect, to ponder, to judge.

Letter to the Editor

I couldn’t help but take note of Samantha Novick’s article on page 8 of this month’s CoffeeTalk issue entitled “What I Wish I knew.”

Her article came at a perfect time of reflection in my own career and made me consider “What I Wish I Knew” 30 years ago when I started my first business. It is a simple truth that sometimes we need to make mistakes so that we can learn from them. If we are smart, we mitigate as much risk as we can though in the process, so that we don’t lose it all.

In reading Samantha’s article I was impressed by so many of the quotes. Caroline Bell from Café Grumpy reminds us that we need to take care of ourselves and manage our stress and health.

I also appreciate what Stephenson said about making sure that you have “a proper Board of Directors or advisers to help guide you.” I was very fortunate when I began the magazine back in 1994 to have some generous, dynamic coffee icons agree to help with my new magazine.

While my story seems to be headed towards a happy ending, I honestly don’t know how I survived the first 5 years, let alone 30! By the end of my column, I’m hoping to figure that out myself.

Hi Kerri, Just finished reading Coffee Talk front to back and felt this was an informative and well written issue.(Aug) The tribute to our friend Skip Finley with accompanying photos was heartwarming with a touch of sadness.

Rocky’s advice was right on and Sherri John’s point’s taken on Third Wave venturists. (folks that venture forth) Congrats.

Dan Cox President, Coffee Enterprises

In 1987 I was a few years out of college and ready to take on the world. I was so excited, so confident, so resolute that I didn’t have time to even consider all lessons I’d have to learn.

If I knew then, what I know now, I might not have even tried. But thank God I didn’t quit.

In retrospect I am very thankful that after failing hard the first time, I was given another opportunity. Specifically, I found a mentor who could teach me to be more conservative, more careful. I learned that you need a lot of energy and passion but that slow and steady wins the race. In short, early on I was the hare…until I learned it was better to be the tortoise.

6 September 2017

30-years in Business: The Tortoise vs. The Hare

So, my first bit of advice to the fresh entrepreneur is to ride that excitement, ride that confidence, ride that resolution for as long as you can. The hard truth is that you need to learn your own lessons in your own way.

With that said, here are 10 things I know now that I didn’t know 30 years ago.

1. You don’t know what you don’t know.

2. You don’t know as much as you think you know.

3. Surround yourself with smarter people than yourself.

4. Asking for help is NOT a sign of weakness.

5. Entrepreneurs don’t sell…they evangelize.

6. Tenacity paired with a little bit of insanity is a good combination.

7. Take ownership of your decisions whether they are right or wrong.

8. Don’t panic. Every problem has a thousand solutions.

9. Don’t be the hare. Be the tortoise.

10. Failure is not permanent.

As the publisher of CoffeeTalk I have seen a lot of companies come and unfortunately, I’ve seen many of them go. I have a special place in my heart for startups because I’ve been there. I remain appreciative to all those that have helped me, and in reflecting over my past 30-years, hope I can pay homage to my mentors by continuing to pay it forward each and every day.

Because of what I’ve learned, I realize that even in my settled years, I need to keep pushing forward, adopting and adapting to new technologies and to ask myself each day how I can reinvent my publishing business. To this end, we recently launched a new online Webinar training series which will evolve into an online training library and also be developing an automated digital marketing/client engagement platform for small-to-mid sized café owners.

Thank you to everyone, and there are a lot of you, that I’ve learned from over the past 30-years.

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Opening a Coffee Shop?

What I Wish I Knew

S

tarting a coffee business is not for the faint of heart. It will bring blood, sweat and tears.

Yet, there’s still something that makes the pursuit worthwhile despite being strapped for cash, overworked and underpaid, running on an un-human amount of sleep, and grappling with the constant uncertainty of your decision to start something of your own.

We asked individuals behind some of America’s best cups to share what they wish they knew before opening their coffee shops. From mistakes made to tricks of the trade, you’re bound to discover at least one nugget of wisdom that will save you time, money, energy and quite possibly your sanity.

“I wish I had become more of a handyman before launching my business.”

– Peter Brown, Six Shooter Coffee (Cleveland, OH) “I wish I knew… to hire a good bookkeeper! It’s my #1 piece of startup advice.

If you can’t trust your numbers, then you can’t really measure your business.

We’ve spent the better part of a year cleaning up the mistakes we made when managing our own books.”

– Matt Bachmann, Wandering Bear Coffee (New York, NY) “I wish I had known that you could lease equipment, and they come with service contracts.”

– Jonathan Rubinstein, Joe Coffee (New York, NY) “I wish I had known to work with an accountant BEFORE the first dollar was ever put into a bank account.”

– Colby Barr, Verve Coffee Roasters (Santa Cruz, CA) “I wish I had known how important taking the time to eat proper meals and exercise could be for managing stress. When you are run down or not feeling well, no one is going to take care of the business for you. It is imperative you do all you can to try to stay as healthy as possible.”

– Caroline Bell, Cafe Grumpy (New York, NY) “The amount that was needed for impact fees and building permits cost nearly as much as the work itself. I recommend spending a good amount of time with your architect and your city planning department prior to securing funding or signing a lease on a space that may end up costing more than you know.”

– Joe Shafer, Slow by Slow (Boise, ID) “The piece of advice I would give to all budding entrepreneurs is that whatever dollar amount you think you need to get everything done… double it! The most expensive thing that you will ever deal with in your business is “Time” and it will cost you a lot of money.”

– Caleb Garn “If you aren’t financially smart, it will be doomed. We had to do a lot of course correcting, optimizing, and leak plugging since we opened. I wish I had done a lot more research into costs, the profitability of certain offerings, and overall, a more refined business plan.”

– Marco Suarez, Methodical Coffee (Greenville, SC) “I wish I would have prioritized having working capital in the bank when we opened to have room to grow once the dust settled after our first 6 months.”

– Lindsay Windsor, Lord Windsor Coffee (Long Beach, CA)

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“I wish I’d known that we could roast our own coffee, rather than buying from out of state for the first 6 years—We would have provided opportunities, expanded outside of NY and had a wholesale program much earlier.”

– Jonathan Rubinstein

by Samantha Novick, Marketing Associate, Bond Street

“I wish I had known to not underestimate our growth. I started with a 6-pound batch size San Franciscan. I was forecasting slow, but steady growth at the beginning. Very quickly, I found we were roasting 30+ batches per day! It took us a few months to secure and install a larger roaster, and those few months of being “at capacity” slowed our growth.”

– Micah Svejda, Bootstrap Coffee Roasters (St. Paul, MN) “I wish I had known that an expensive accountant that is good is much cheaper than a cheap accountant who is bad. It ended up being far costlier in both time and money than bucking up for a quality accountant from the get go.”

– Geoffrey Meeker, French Truck Coffee (New Orleans, LA) “I wish I had known the importance of hiring great people—even if it meant spending a bit more than I was comfortable with. Bad employees end up costing a business much more in the long run.”

– Josh Zad, Alfred Coffee (Los Angeles, CA) “I wish I’d started out with a more focused grassroots marketing effort. People do business with people. Find networking groups, find business mixers, and find coffee lovers. Get video customer testimonials. Get referrals. Get business owners willing to share their customer and employee bases with you.”

– Alex Moen, Match Made Coffee (Oceanside, CA) “I wish I had known to put more stock in the feedback we get from our customers right from the start. I had lots of my own ideas, but the customers have an even better idea as to what is providing good service to them.”

– Will Shurtz, Methodical Coffee (Greenville, SC) “In the beginning, we spent a lot of time on every step of the process from sales leads and producing our coffee to SELF-distributing our coffee. We realized we had to scale with the right partners, removing ourselves from the distribution business. We wish we had known how amazing our distribution partners would have been from the beginning if we found the right ones.”

– Hudson Gaines-Ross, RISE (New York, NY) “I wish I had started with a proper board of directors or advisors. A good board can guide you to make smarter and more efficient decisions, which is key in a competitive market.”

– Steven Sutton, Devoción (New York, NY) “There’s a tremendous amount of freedom to be found in offloading certain responsibilities onto other qualified partners. Find people you can trust, allow them to do their job, and focus your energy on the areas where you can have the greatest impact.”

– Jonathan Riethmaier, Mammoth Espresso (New Orleans, LA) “I wish I knew that when you’re starting out, it feels like for every two steps forward, you take one step back. That’s just the name of the game—it’s all about cultivating patience and celebrating those little victories!”

– Noushin Ketabi, Vega Coffee (Estelí, Nicaragua / New York, NY) “I wish I had taken the time in the beginning to celebrate all the wins along the way instead of moving on so quickly to the next issue or task at hand.”

– Chris Campbell, Chameleon Cold Brew (Austin, TX) For more tips and full article, check out... https://bondstreet.com/blog/ coffee-business-advice/ Samantha Novick is a Marketing Associate at Bond Street, a company focused on transforming small business lending through technology, data and design.

September 2017

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Roasters Rock

ROASTERS GUILD RETREAT: THEN AND NOW

by Rocky Rhodes

I

don’t remember getting old. I don’t remember getting smarter, wiser and more experienced.

(Many of my friends are thinking that I couldn’t have noticed because I only got older… not the other things!) This year at the Roasters Guild Retreat in Buford GA. I felt old, smart, wise, and experienced. Mostly old, but the other things too!

When the assembled roasters were asked, “How many of you are at your first retreat?” the majority of hands went up. It was very exciting to see so many new people following the dream of roasting. It also made me think of the time I raised my hand back in 2004 in Keystone CO. It seems both like ancient history and like it just happened yesterday. I remember the gut feeling I had that if I raised my hand, everyone would know that I was just a newbie that did not know anything.

As it turned out I was in about the middle of the pack on my team that year.

I had been roasting for about 7-8 years but never had a chance to take any classes because they did not exist yet. I was amazed at what other people knew and was surprised at how much value I brought to the group.

Rosters Guild now is a little different. The newbies are different. They come with the same passion I remember, but they come with something else: Information and education. From what I gathered in conversations, these newbies have already been in coffee for a while in some other role and are now going to start roasting. When they made the decision they went to the internet and learned the basic concepts of roasting. They took SCA certification classes and even the Q-Grader class. For them, retreat was a way to quickly advance their skills and take it to the next level.

In 2004, formal Guild classes were just starting to be written. These eventually became the Roaster certification classes given today by SCA. 1000’s of volunteer hours by subject matter experts and curriculum writers were put into these first classes. Every time we were able to check one off the list as complete we were ecstatic.

There are some other instances of change from then to now.

Code of conduct form We now have to sign a code of conduct form when registering to ensure that we will behave like civilized humans and also to relieve some liability from SCA. I can remember why we started that but some stories should remain buried. In the highly sensitive times we live in, this is not a bad idea. As I understand it, this code had to be enforced a couple of times this year. That is cool because everyone should feel the love of attendance at retreat.

Bonfire Back in the day, there were very large pits, a couple cords of firewood and the occasional flammable liquid. The last few retreats I have attended give an honorable nod to the tradition with flame heaters and Chimineas but we no longer have the risk of someone deciding to have a Firewalker Experience. I’ll be honest, I liked this better the old way, but I don’t have to carry the liability insurance.

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Roasting Tent This needs to be said about the roasting machine manufacturers – There would be no guild without them! It has been amazing how much donated

time, money and sweat these companies put in each year to get an environment where we can roast. I can remember roasting while standing in water and also trying to get water off the tarps covering the roasting area so the machines would not get drenched. Over the years some amazing people have designed gas and exhaust systems so we can keep adding more and more roasters. I don’t know if it was a record this year, but I never saw so many machines under the roasting tent before.

Roasting Technology and Advancements In full disclosure, I have Diedrich Roasters as a significant client. They have tech advances but so do so many others. What is wonderful about our group is that we want to show off our stuff even to our COMPETTITORS! No other industry does this. I got to roast on a Loring, Dan let me put my head inside the US Roaster Corp machine so I could see the burners, and Willem explained the drum pressure reading on the Giessen. All fascinating geeky stuff!

Mutually Assured Success If the whole world did business the way we are able to do it, everyone would win. I may be idealistic but that this concept of mutually assured success exists in our industry makes me proud. I am sure it has contributed more than anything else to my personal growth in Specialty Coffee. We all just seem to understand that if I can make you better at what you do, we all will have more success than if we worked against each other. Do we compete?

ABSOLUTELY! And I love to win over some of my friends so I can brag about it at the next retreat. I would not however do anything to subvert or damage my competitor because together we will make the industry bigger and better. I am extremely happy to see that this is one thing that has NOT changed over the years. I even heard it espoused by different RGEC members at various events and lectures.

Social Media Yeah… I’m old. I think I have been bypassed on the caring what other people are eating on a daily basis. But I will say that I was shocked at how fast the cool stuff that was going on at the retreat was going out to the rest of the world. I was hearing about some things via a phone call from someone back on the West Coast that happened within 50 yards of where I was standing.

I do believe that if we had this type of speed of information when the guild started, it would either be massive by now or embroiled in lawsuits. (See Code of Conduct form above!)

So congrats on another year of retreat! I am so happy that the tradition and spirit survives. We continue to make the Specialty Coffee Industry better and better. (I won’t say “Make Coffee Great Again” because that could be construed as a micro-aggression and violate the new code of conduct!)

Rocky Rhodes is an 18 year coffee veteran, roaster, and Q-Grader Instructor, and his mission now is to transform the coffee supply chain and make sweeping differences in the lives of those that produce the green coffee. Rocky can be reached at rocky@ INTLcoffeeConsulting.com Photo by Trish Rothgeb

September 2017

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11

Photo Essay Making Photos in Guatemala

S

ince 1993, when I served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Guatemala, I have been making Latin American women laugh with my inability to make round corn tortillas. I’ve sat beside their stoves, sharing stories, eating warm tortillas with salt and making photographs.

When on international assignments for clients, I opt to eat with and if possible stay with a family in the community where I am working. This way I can witness and document what woman do in the morning. How early is she up? Who takes the corn to the molina to be ground? Which person gets the one or two eggs available to eat?

I have also learned that the number of eggs on the counter directly correlates to the food security of that family.

It is these assignments in coffee growing regions that are my favorite and I owe it all to Bill Fishbein, the founder of The Coffee Trust. Twenty years ago I met Bill and showed him my photographs from Peace Corps. That same day he hired me to document the micro-credit projects he was supporting in Guatemala. Since then I have traveled to Guatemala, Mexico

by Dorie Hagler

and Nicaragua witnessing the communities that grow coffee as well as the development work Bill does. From the beginning Bill and I agreed that I would never produce and we would never publish photographs which

diminish someone’s dignity for the sake of shock value or guilt fundraising.

Instead my camera would serve as a witness to what life is really like living in this coffee growing communities. cont. on page 14

Photo Essay On my assignment earlier this month for The Coffee Trust, I stayed with Maria Raymundo Cruz’s family. The first morning I was served the only egg they had for breakfast. Despite my desire to stay the rest of the week, I knew my presence put a strain on the food security in the house and so I stayed at a hotel down the road and ate just one meal a day with the Raymundo Cruz family.

Sitting in their dirt-floor kitchen with my expensive camera equipment on my shoulder, made me acutely aware of the economic injustice between my life and theirs. Situations like this make me question if my work really makes a difference or is it an ego-driven desire to show what great pictures I can make at the expense of someone else’s poverty and suffering?

This is when my personal mission statement comes in handy. I know that my goal, as a visual storyteller, is to use my skills and my equipment, to connect people to one another. I use my camera to show how we are all more alike than we are different. Being a photographer is more than a way for me to earn a paycheck. Being invited into people’s homes and kitchens with my camera is an honor that comes with the responsibility of photographing our shared humanity.

Maria Raymundo Cruz is a mother, grandmother, wife and community leader. She works hard to help her family survive. After two days in the village of Chel, Maria’s 4 year old granddaughter, Flor, referred to me, in Ixil, as her sister. On my last day Flor stuck to me like my shadow and as the sun set she crawled up on my lap and fell asleep. This family has so little, but they would have filled my bags with all the coffee I could carry, if I let them.

So now what? Will these photographs accomplish anything?

The most direct result is that my client, The Coffee Trust, has tons of compelling visual content of their projects that are truly making a difference in the well being of the community of Chel. You can see them on their Instagram and facebook pages. With these photographs The Coffee Trust can pursue additional funding sources so by 2018, they can complete the projects they have started. By 2018 Maria and her family will have lots of chickens and eggs, a family garden and newly gained knowledge and training to pass along to their neighbors.

The indirect but lasting impact of being a witness is that my audience can connect with Maria and her family. My greatest hope is that if people around the globe feel connected to one another they will not seek to harm one another or harm the natural resources that we share.

14 September 2017

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Getting Profitable Lesson 7: Identifying Your Solutions to Becoming Profitable

O

ver the last year we have explored the variables and issues related to achieving business profitability. We’ve talked about controlling cost of goods and expenses, and increasing sales by attracting new customers, and extracting additional revenue from existing customers. With those tools, you should be able to move your business towards the profitability you desire, but first you must determine where to direct your efforts.

Your efforts can be directed with lazar precision, if you have accurate numbers to look at. You must produce an accurate cost of goods calculation, and an income statement, every month! If you have no numbers to look at, then in reality you’ll only be guessing as to where your business problems lie.

You can waste a lot of valuable time “fixing” things that aren’t broken, and you may overlook other areas that are costing you greatly! In essence, you’re “flying blind” without numbers to look at.

On the other hand, if you are confident that your cost of goods is within an acceptable range, and you have earnestly cut all your expenses as far as you can (without sacrificing service or store cleanliness), then increasing sales is where you’ll need to concentrate your efforts. So, how do you determine how much you will need to increase your sales by, to reach your profitability goal?

Start off by taking the last monthly income statement you produced for your business. You are going to need to duplicate this on paper multiple times, making changes to sales and expenses on each version. For each new version, increase monthly sales by $5,000, and add $1,000 to expenses. You don’t need to break down sales into beverage, food, etc., nor do you need to itemize expenses, projected totals for those categories are fine. Cost of goods should always remain consistent as a percentage of sales. So for example, if your cost of goods on monthly sales of $30K equals 33.3% ($10K), then if sales reach $45K your cost of goods should still equal 33.3%, in this case, $14,985.

As you produce each sequential income statement, you will notice that as sales increase, bottom line losses decrease, and eventually yield profits. What is the difference in sales between your first income statement and the one that

by Ed Arvidson

moves you to your desired profitability? Maybe at $30K monthly sales you lost $5,800, but at $50K you are projecting break even performance, or even slight profitability. Your goal now becomes immediately apparent! Increase your sales $20K per month, and you’ll stop losing money!

Now, as a consultant, if I told you, “just increase your monthly sales by $20,000 and everything will be great,” you’d probably think, “that’s easier said than done!” Almost doubling your sales might be viewed as a monumental, if not an impossible, task!

The key to making this happen is to break down the goal into “baby-steps.”

Certainly, increasing sales by $20K in one month is impossible for the vast majority of coffee businesses out there. However, what if you took 8-months to accomplish this task? $20,000 ÷ 8 = $2,500; increase your monthly sales by $2,500 each and every month over the next 8-months, and your monthly sales will have increased by $20K. If you break it down even further, and you average 30 business days per month, then you would need to increase your daily sales by $83+. If you are open 12 hours per day, then ultimately you need figure out a strategy to increase hourly sales by $6.92 over the previous month’s hourly sales. This is a goal that you can plan for and succeed at!

Your cashier alone can probably help you achieve this goal by upselling and suggestive selling, example: “would you like a big mocha? need some cookies to take back to the folks in the office? Be sure to think of us for lunch, we have some great panini!”

If you’ve read all the articles in this “profitability” series, you now have the tools necessary to move forward. Next month, we’ll wind up this series by gaining an understanding of how to coordinate and administer all the actions necessary, to drive your business to your profitability goal.

Ed Arvidson is a 25-year veteran consultant to the Specialty Coffee industry, and President of E&C Consulting. Elements of this article are from his new book, “How to Get Profitable in the Coffee Business.” www.coffeebizhelp.com

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17

Coffee Service Corner

THE COFFEE SERVICE BREW SITE – THE OPERATOR’S “STORE”

by Ken Shea

I

n keeping with this issue’s focus, the retail centric theme is most appropriate in the world of Coffee Service. Yes, for the most part Coffee Service is an amenity provided to office employees as a no cost benefit or perk. But this is a business and as an operator providing the service, I want to maximize my long term return on investment.

And as the Office Manager, my goal is to have happy, productive employees and keep them in the office rather than vacating the premises for caffeination and hydration. Approaching these opportunities with a retail mindset makes perfect sense from both perspectives.

Menu cards are a fun way to encourage beverage experimentation. Some operators even provide coupons for retail use. Brokers, account representatives and distributors are a great source for merchandising racks and shelf organizers.

Just ask!

Real Estate Limitations – The first factor to consider in merchandising a brew site is the relatively small space allocated to the brewer and related items. Unfortunately, oftentimes the consumables are relegated to a kitchen drawer or pantry. The first objective therefore becomes appealing to the decision maker for an extra linear foot or two to display the products. Unseen usually translates into unconsumed.

Operator Profitability Impact – As an operator, our team believed in the mantra “One Route = One Profit Center”. We did not manage and measure our business at account level, but instead, studied each individual brew site with a metric that we called “MOL” or machines on location. Within a single office building, we observed that different departments or floors had different needs and wants. Said another way, there is often (unfortunately) a coffee service caste system. The executive suite might have a fancy bean to cup machine while other departments might have batch brewers and a bank of decanters.

The coffee was typically good quality but definitely a step down from the combination drink brew systems enjoyed on the top floor. Some brew sites might be bound by a list of authorized items while others were often allowed carte blanche to order most anything. In either case, there were things our route personnel could always do to impact the monthly invoice.

If faced with a decision of what should be the most visible, my choice was most often to put the coffee in the drawer or pantry. My experience is that people will find their coffee but not necessarily take the same effort to search for flavored creamer, stevia sweetener or their organic tea. And these “ticket builders” can move a borderline account to profitability. Keep these products front and center to optimize profit.

An average route in my coffee service operation, which was a combination of rural and urban business, would serve approximately 250 brew sites. An average route at that time would generate $500K annually. We found that paying attention to proper merchandising and “building the ticket” that good route professionals could grow their gross revenue by 5-10 percent annually over a three year run. Not bad same store sales!

Coffee Shop at the Office – From the Office Manager’s perspective, one effective way to keep employees from leaving their work stations for a beverage they deem better than what they can get at the office is to provide higher quality offerings and ample beverage options that can satisfy a multitude of tastes. This would include providing organic teas, cocoas, water and even cold brew coffee.

Customer Retention Impact – The most important KPI for an operator is to retain profitable customers. Great service is the key. Included in great service is ensuring that each brew site is appealing to the employee, is vibrant and is well stocked with the products that the employees desire. From experience I can confirm that when our sales executives were attempting to replace the incumbent coffee service, nothing instilled more confidence than encountering a sloppy, unappealing break room. On the other hand, if our site visit revealed a professionally merchandised brew area with trendy, current offerings, our sales team knew that replacing that operator would be much more difficult.

For this article I write from the operator’s perspective, having witnessed the good and not so good impact of a brew site presentation.

Liquid creamer is another meaningful offering that not only provides a better mouth feel for those that whiten their coffee but provides a higher profit line item for the operator. Natural sugar and a stevia sweetener are also welcome additions and are coffee shop staples.

While replicating a Starbucks or Caribou store might be a bridge too far, upgrading offerings and image will positively impact employee satisfaction.

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consistent and improving consumption.

Clean, Uncluttered and Inviting – Retail merchandising basics should be employed at the brew site. Here is where having diligent route men and women is very important. Not only should the brewing area be kept clean and organized, refreshing the signage and showcasing new products will keep the employees interested and active, while at the same time, the operator enjoys

While a Coffee Service operator will not have aisles and aisles of shelves at their office accounts, taking the approach of a retail merchandiser will most certainly impact accretive revenue.

Until next time - Ken

September 2017

Ken is President of Ken Shea and Associates and also serves as V.P. of Coffee Service for G&J Marketing and Sales

Please Make Sure to Visit these Coffee Fest Exhibitors Aerobie, Inc. 202 aerobie.com (650) 493-3050 Aerobie, Inc. manufactures and sells the AeroPress coffee and espresso maker.

See our ad on page 19

Brewista 911 mybrewista.com (307) 222-6086 As a collaboration of engineers, designers, coffee aficionados and roasters with decades of experience, Brewista designs, manufactures and distributes the finest brewed beverage products available.

See our ad on page 19

Coffee Holding Company 416 coffeeholding.com (800) 458-2233 From one bag to a full truck, Coffee Holding Company provides green coffee solutions to specialty roasters including exclusive Daterra Estate and Organic Certified coffees.

See our ad on page 2

CoffeeTalk TT6 coffeetalk.com (206) 686-7378 CoffeeTalk - Industry Intelligence for Smart Business People. Subscriptions free to Industry Professionals @ coffeetalk.com

See our ad on page 16

Curtis 710 wilburcurtis.com (800) 421-6150 A leader in the industry for over 70 years, the Wilbur Curtis Company is a premier manufacturer of state-of-the-art specialty coffee and tea brewing equipment.

See our ad on page 7

iFill Cup United Home Technologies, LLC 324 unitedhometech.com (360) 574-7737 iFill Cups™ and the iFill Series™ Filling Machines have revolutionized the way single serve coffee/tea is perceived. Easy to operate, fast, and a superior product.

See our ad on page 19

Java Jacket 413 javajacket.com (800) 208-4128 The Original Green Coffee Sleeve. Comes in 100% Recycled Natural Kraft or White. Can be custom printed with your design.

See our ad on page 17, 19

JoeTap 1016 joetap.com (855) 456-3827 JoeTap is the world’s ONLY on-demand Nitro Cold Brew Coffee solution. JoeTap delivers either still or nitro coffee, perfectly, consistently and deliciously with every pour.

State Farm Insurance 216 st8.fm/bizinsurance.com Performance, variety of coverage. State Farm and its affiliates are the largest providers of auto, home and individual life insurance in the United States. Its 18,000 agents and more than 65,000 employees serve more than 83 million policies and accounts – nearly 81 million auto, home, life, health and commercial policies, and nearly 2 million bank accounts. Commercial auto insurance, along with coverage for renters, business owners, boats and motorcycles, is available. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company is the parent of the State Farm family of companies.

Vessel Drinkware 301 vesseldrinkware.com (855) 833-7735 oneVessel by Vessel Drinkware provides retailers with highquality, reusable drinkware featuring lifestyle driven artwork to capture the attention of your customers.

Please visit us at www.vesseldrinkware.com, or call (206) 763-0366

See our ad on page 17

See our ad on page 5

Tightpac America Inc. 206 tightvac.com (888) 428-4448 Patented coffee closure system that acts exactly the same way as one-way degassing valve, allowing natural gasses to escape without allowing oxygen in.

See our ad on page 19 UPAC2 INC. upac2.com 100%compostable single serve K Cups Brand name Compo Cup

1012 (612) 518-2240

See our ad on page 4

See our ad on page 15

Please Make Sure to Visit these Pack Expo Exhibitors Buhler Inc S-7304 buhlergroup.com (905) 754-8389 Bühler covers the entire range of coffee production from green coffee handling and cleaning to advanced color and foreign material sorting to roasting and grinding.

See our ad on page 21

Cablevey Conveyors C-1528 cablevey.com (641) 673-8451 Cablevey Conveyors produces best-in-class tubular cable & disc conveyors for gentle conveying of green beans & roasted whole bean coffee with minimal breakage, reliably, since 1971!

Eastsign Foods (Quzhou) Co., Ltd. 7778 eastsign.com Eastsign is specialized in producing Instant Tea Powder with 2000MT annual capacity. Certificated by ISO22000, KOSHER, ORGANIC NOP. Main products are Tea Stick, Tea / Coffee Pod (Single Serve), Pyramid Tea Bag and Coffee Pod Filling and Sealing Machine etc.

Fres-co System USA, Inc. C-5038 fresco.com (215) 799-8032 Fres-co’s is synonymous with quality and reliability in flexible coffee packaging.

Visit www.fresco.com, or call 215-721-4600 for more information on machinery and individual components.

See our ad on page 11

See our ad on page 4

See our ad on page 20

FRAPPES

COSTELLINI'S 877.889.1866 WWW.COSTELLINIS.COM

Delight your taste buds with our delicious Chocolate and Vanilla Frappes!

QUALITY CONTROL

JAVALYTICS™ BY MADISON INSTRUMENTS, INC. 888.349.3847 WWW.JAVALYTICS.COM The JAVALYTICS™ Family of Degree of Roast Analyzers simplify the measurement of roast color classification.

Call, email, or visit us at the Global Specialty Coffee Expo. paulh@javalytics.com

COLD BREW SYSTEM

BREWISTA WWW.MYBREWISTA.COM The Brewista Cold™ Pro Nitro!

No nitrogen tank needed! Try it in your own shop before you buy it. Contact info@ mybrewista.com for more details. sales@mybrewista.com

SLEEVES

JAVA JACKET 800.208.4128 WWW.JAVAJACKET.COM

VACUUM CONTAINER

TIGHTPAC AMERICA, INC. 888.428.4448 WWW.TIGHTVAC.COM

SINGLE SERVE SOLUTIONS

iFill800XP™ Pictured Here IFILLCUP FILLING SYSTEM 360.574.7737 WWW.IFILLCUP.COM

Java Jacket provides the best We offer the largest selection iFill’s Pre-Assembled Cups and insulation of all sleeves on the of vacuum sealed containers in Filling Machines are a turnkey market. Protects customers the world! We have developed solution that revolutionized from hot or cold to-go a patented vacuum open and the production and packaging beverages, and provides a close system that acts exactly of single serve coffee and tea. more grippable surface than the same way as a one-way Roast, Fill and Deliver the other coffee sleeves. degassing valve, allowing Freshest Single Serve on the natural gasses to escape Market. without allowing oxygen in. Perfect for Coffee & Tea, guaranteeing freshness & flavor. Simplicity that works.

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NewsBites

Coffee Flour™ To Receive Grant Funding From Australia’s Department Of Foreign Affairs And Trade Coffee Flour™, a 2017 LAUNCH food innovator, was recently named a recipient of funding from Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to expand the market for Coffee Flour in the Indo-Pacific region, amplifying the global economic and nutritional impact of the product. Coffee Flour uses a proprietary method to convert some of the billions of pounds of coffee cherry fruit annually discarded as a byproduct of green coffee production into a nutrient-dense and flavorful culinary ingredient that is high in fiber, protein, potassium, calcium, and iron.

The company’s business model provides supplemental income for smallholder farmers and creates additional jobs at local coffee mills, turning what was once agricultural waste and an environmental pollutant into an economic boost to coffeegrowing communities around the globe. Coffee Flour was selected for its potential to transform food systems and promote health and prosperity while respecting the planet’s resources. For additional information, visit www. coffeeflour.com.

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semi-automatic labeling solution for cylindrical containers as well as many tapered containers, including bottles, cans, jars and tubes. Set-up and operation is fast and easy.

Just: set the guides, place your container in the machine, press the footswitch and your label is applied. The built-in springloaded pressure arm makes sure labels are applied firmly and without wrinkles. With an AP-Series Label Applicator you’ll apply labels faster and more accurately – helping to speed up your production and sell more of your products! Apply labels fast and accurately. With an AP-Series Label Applicator you’ll be able to apply labels at speeds of up to 1200 per hour. Labels are perfectly applied without wrinkles, giving your finished products a highly professional look. For more information, visit www.primeralabel.com.

Wilbur Curtis Perks Up Product and Service Convenience with New Website Wilbur Curtis has announced the launch of their newly redesigned web site Curtis Seraphim® - Batch www.WilburCurtis. com. Along with a Brewing Re-Imagined new, sophisticated Powerful, responsive design technologically and format, the site advanced and presents the full range good looking, the of Curtis products, Seraphim takes reorganized for more single cup brewing to the next level. Built on the chassis of the intuitive searching—a move certain to help award-winning Curtis Gold users find what they Cup brewer, and the industry standard Curtis Water Tower, the need faster. Newly added features include Seraphim puts on a great show.

But its beauty is more than skin a brewer comparison function, save and deep. Like all Curtis brewers, export to list function, it produces a consistently warranty look up, order delicious SCA Golden Cup status and much more. of coffee and the Seraphim The site has augmented easily brews into a single cup, the service side as Chemex® or French Press. An well. Now, technicians intuitive G4 digital control have 24/7 access to system, patented brew cone parts reference from and proven Curtis technology anywhere in the world. make sure of it. By lending a Enter the equipment touch of “coffee theater,” the Seraphim can bring in customers serial number and the results page will that want something delicious provide the original to drink—plus something fascinating to see. The Seraphim parts list as well as next generation parts, puts batch brewing right into making the technician’s your operation — front row job easier. There’s also a center. Taking up a mere 2’ x 3’ news feed for company of room, it fits easily onto your announcements, an existing counter space, and looks impressive, too. For more updated trade show calendar, fresh sales information, 800-421-6150 materials, videos and wilburcurtis.com. much more. Learn Fast and Affordable Way more about The Wilbur to Apply Labels on Food Curtis Company, visit www.wilburcurtis.com.

Products 800-421-6150.

Primera’s AP-Series Label Applicators are the perfect

Coffee Quality Institute Collaborates with SAFE Platform and S&D Coffee & Tea The Coffee Quality Institute’s project, the Partnership for Gender Equity (PGE), is pleased to announce a new collaboration between the Sustainable Agriculture, Food and Environment (SAFE) Platform and S&D Coffee & Tea (S&D). SAFE is supporting the design and testing of PGE’s validated systemic approach to a more resilient supply chain through improving gender equity at origin. As a SAFE Platform member, S&D recognizes the importance of gender sensitive methodologies in their diverse supply chain investments, encouraging the use of PGE’s methodology to enhance farmer performance metrics. It ends with a common goal: design and test a field project methodology so that SAFE members, and other industry partners, can more easily integrate gender equity into their existing supply chain programs. S&D will also begin to use PGE’s indicators linked to the project methodology in its

field-level project in Colombia.

For more information, visit www.coffeeinstitute.org.

Vitacup Announces Three New Coffee Blends, Expanded Distribution And New Chief Vitamin Roasterie's Danny O'Neill Officer Heads to Arctic Circle to VitaCup is a new Raise Funds for Variety product helping KC consumers’ At 4 a.m. Tuesday, life hack their August 22, The morning routine as the first Roasterie’s founder company to offer single-serving Danny O’Neill coffee and tea pods infused with hopped on his motorcycle essential vitamins. Launched and headed north to Alaska in spring 2017, VitaCup is on a to raise money for Variety KC mission to make healthy living to purchase adaptive bikes more efficient and attainable for special needs kids. “I was by upgrading your morning inspired after talking with beverage habit with vitamins Variety KC executive director that have been shown to Deborah Wiebrecht,” O’Neill support adrenal health and says. “Her organization works weight loss, boost mood and with kids living in a world not reduce inflammation. Each of built for them—mobility issues the brand’s six flavors (French pose serious challenges.”O’Neill Roast, French Vanilla, Green hopes to raise at least $25,000 Tea, Gourmet Breakfast Blend, to buy 10 adaptive bikes—not Gourmet House Blend and covered by insurance— at a cost Gourmet Decaf Blend) feature of $2,500 each. “Adaptive bikes, a signature vitamin blend tailored to fit a child’s specific of B1, B5, B6, B9, B12, D3 needs, offer kids the chance to and antioxidants. For more play, move and engage with their information about VitaCup, peers,” Wiebrecht says. “We’re please visit www.VitaCup.com. thrilled that Danny, a longtime Variety KC partner, is putting his big heart and big bike on the road for our kids.” For more information, please visit www. varietykc.org.

September 2017

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Advertisers Index Company.................................................. Phone.................... Web....................................Page.........Coffee Fest ..... Pack Expo Add a Scoop Supplements.....................................(415) 382-6535..............addascoop.com........................... 21 Aerobie, Inc.............................................................(650) 493-3050............aerobie.com................................ 19................202 Ahlstrom Chirnside Ltd...........................................(860) 654-8300...........ahlstrom.com.............................. 9 Brewista...................................................................(307) 222-6086............mybrewista.com......................... 19................911 Buhler Inc................................................................(905) 754-8389............buhlergroup.com........................ 21..................................................S-7304 Cablevey Conveyors................................................(641) 673-8451..............cablevey.com.............................. 20..................................................C-1528 Coffee Holding Company.......................................(800) 458-2233............coffeeholding.com...................... 2..................416 Colombian Coffee Growers Federation.................(305) 532-7950.............federaciondecafeteros.org......... 23 Costellini's................................................................(877) 889-1866.............costellinis.com............................. 19 Curtis........................................................................(800) 421-6150.............wilburcurtis.com......................... 7..................710 Don Pablo Coffee Roasting Company...................(305) 249-5628............cafedonpablo.com...................... 21 Eastsign Foods (Quzhou) Co., Ltd..........................see web........................eastsign.com............................... 4.......................................................7778 Flexicon Corporation...............................................(610) 814-2400.............flexicon.com................................ 12 Fres-co System USA, Inc.........................................(215) 799-8032.............fresco.com................................... 11..................................................C-5038 iFill Cup | United Home Technologies, LLC............(360) 574-7737.............unitedhometech.com................. 19................324 International Coffee Consulting Group.................(818) 347-1378...............intlcoffeeconsulting.com........... 21 Java House..............................................................(317) 566-9750.............heartlandfpg.com....................... 3 Java Jacket..............................................................(800) 208-4128............javajacket.com............................ 17, 19............413 Javalytics By Madison Instruments, Inc................(888) 349-3847.............javalytics.com............................. 19

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WHO WE ARE Phone: 206.686.7378, see extensions below Publisher / Advertising Inquiries Kerri Goodman, ext 1 kerri@coffeetalk.com Director Educational Publishing Shane Gillispie, shane@coffeetalk.com Managing Editor Libby Smith, ext 8 libby@coffeetalk.com

JoeTap......................................................................(855) 456-3827.............joetap.com.................................. 15.................1016 Ad Art & Accounting Laurie Veatch, ext 4 laurie@coffeetalk.com

Mukilteo Coffee Roasters........................................(888) 890-9800...........mukilteocoffee.com................... 21 NAMA.......................................................................(312) 346-0370.............namanow.org.............................. 15 Primera Technology, Inc.........................................(800) 797-2772.............primeralabel.com....................... 21 Shore Measuring Systems......................................(800) 837-0863............moisturetesters.com................... 21 State Farm Insurance..............................................see web........................st8.fm/bizinsurance.com........... 5..................216 TekPak Solutions.....................................................(416) 505-3839.............TekPakSolutions.com.................. 21 Texpak Inc | Scolari Engineering............................(856) 988-5533............scolarieng.com............................ 24 The Coffee Trust......................................................(505) 670-9783............thecoffeetrust.org....................... 21 Tightpac America Inc..............................................(888) 428-4448............tightvac.com............................... 19................206 UPAC2 INC................................................................(612) 518-2240..............upac2.com................................... 4..................1012 Vessel Drinkware....................................................(855) 833-7735.............vesseldrinkware.com................. 17.................301

Calendar

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For complete and updated show information visit our online calendar: http://coffeetalk.com/industry-calendar/

September 6

2017 US AeroPress Championship, Seattle WA, USA

September 14-16

Pacific Coast Coffee Association's 86th Annual Convention, Santa Barbara, CA USA

September 25-27

Pack Expo, Las Vegas, NV

September 23-24

Coffee & Chocolate Expo, Orlando FL USA

September 26-28

Tea & Coffee World Cup Singapore, Singapore

September 26-28

Foodservice Immersion, Boston, MA USA

October 4-5

Global Coffee Sustainability Conference 2017, Geneva Switzerland

October 5-6

SCA Spain Roasting Championship, Barcelona Spain

October 6

Fundacion iecafe Encuentros Cafeteros, Barcelona Spain

October 13-15

Coffee Fest Portland, Portland OR USA

October 13-15

New York Coffee Festival, New York NY USA

October 16-18

Foodservice Immersion, Chicago, IL USA

November 6-8

NAMA Coffee Tea & Water, Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center, Grapevine, Texas, USA

November 9-12

Seoul World Barista Championship, Seoul, South Korea

November 16-18

5th World Tea & Coffee Expo 2017, Mumbai India

Copy Editor Mark Moser, ext 9 mark@coffeetalk.com Web Design Justin Goodman, ext 6 justin@coffeetalk.com Print Design Marcus Fellbaum, ext 5 marcus@coffeetalk.com Mailing Info Mail: HNCT, LLC, 25525 77th Ave SW Vashon, WA 98070 Phone: 206.686.7378 Fax: 866.373.0392 Web: www.coffeetalk.com Disclaimer CoffeeTalk does not assume the responsibility for validity of claims made for advertised products and services. We reserve the right to reject any advertising. Although we support copyrights and trademarks, we generally do not include copyright and trademark symbols in our news stories and columns. CoffeeTalk considers its sources reliable and verifies as much data as possible. However, reporting inaccuracies can occur, consequently readers using this information do so at their own risk.

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September 2017