Coffee Service Corner
INTERVIEW WITH COPPER MOON’S GUTWEIN BROTHERS
C
President Cary Gutwein
CEO Brad Gutwein
opper Moon Coffee, LLC, is a family-owned coffee roaster in Lafayette, Indiana. Focused on a single mission: To create evenly roasted, uniquely smooth, high-grade coffee – giving you an entirely satisfying taste that’s out of this world. We do this with our family values of integrity, trust, and hospitality. Copper Moon Coffee operates a state-ofthe-art food-grade certified roaster and is a certified roaster of Organic, Fair Trade, and Kosher coffees. Consumers can “Reach for the Moon” online at coppermooncoffee.com and at retailers across the country. I have had the pleasure of knowing the Gutwein family for more than a decade, having been a coffee customer of theirs, and then acquiring their Indiana OCS routes during my days at Standard Coffee Service. I engage with the Gutwein brothers on various projects through my consulting business. I spoke to Gary Gutwein, President of Copper Moon Coffee, about the business of coffee and the current state of the industry. KS: It’s been great to reconnect with you. It’s also good to see Copper Moon maintaining a viable presence during these unprecedented times. To what do you attribute your ability to survive during this terrible pandemic? CG: This COVID period has been extremely difficult. Fortunately, we roast and pack ground, whole bean, and single-serve coffees for the retail trade as well as for the foodservice class of trade, including drip brew coffee, served in cafes, restaurants, hotels, and C-Stores. But make no mistake, we have suffered alongside our OCS and Foodservice customers. We look forward to working with our customers as they adjust and ease back to some normalcy in the near future. KS: At one time, Copper Moon had coffee service routes. What prompted the sale of that business?
VP of Sales Dan Gutwein
KS: Tell me more about the level of involvement that you have with farmers and others at countries of origin. How do those relationships enhance your viability as a roaster? CG: Our coffee sourcing program is a multi-tiered approach; we call it the SEE Copper Moon Rising sustainability program. SEE stands for Social, Economic, and Environmental, and we seek to make substantive progress in each of those pillars for the good of coffee farmers and the coffee industry. We’ve done this through programs where we have directly contracted with small growers in Honduras and El Salvador to support them directly. Additionally, we have joined the Sustainable Coffee Challenge that is administered by Conservation International. KS: What do you see as keys for roasters surviving, hopefully thriving, as we navigate through this pandemic, which has decimated office populations and driven OCS operator revenues to well below 50% of pre-pandemic numbers? CG: We will need to be creative and look for those opportunities and methods of business that are different than what we are doing now. In time I think that the offices will return, and the OCS business will come out of this; it may take some time, but it will happen. We hope to be there when it does, both for the operators, distributors, and end customers. Ours is a value-add approach. We partner with our customers in search of developing new opportunities and building upon what we have. KS: Cary, I thank you for the time that you set aside for this timely and meaningful interview. All of us at CoffeeTalk wish you and our entire roaster community the very best!
KS: With your focus now solely as a roaster, what classes of trade are you targeting?
In Closing: As I continue to reach out to suppliers, distributors, and operator friends during this pandemic, most continue to report a painful business condition. Though we remain in the most challenging times that I have ever personally witnessed, it is encouraging to witness the creativity, ability to adapt and pivot, and the re-positioning of companies for a rebound and even greater success. The attributes of great leaders shine most clearly when facing the headwinds of adversity.
CG: The Office Coffee Service, Foodservice, C-Store, and Hospitality markets have certainly been key markets for us. We roast and package coffee for the retail grocery category as well. The response to our brands has been excellent. As you know, we also operate a few cafes in Indiana. That exposure has been very beneficial.
Nurturing, positive company cultures that support and promote a team environment provide strong foundations during the best and worst of times. Copper Moon is one of these companies.
CG: Our focus today is on being a wholesale roaster. As you know, Ken, operating a coffee route business, is unique and different from the roasting and packaging part of the business. We felt we could better serve our customers by having our attention being on the manufacturing aspects of the coffee business. Additionally, taking this position eliminated our being a competitor to our operator customers.
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by Ken Shea
Until next time - Ken Summer 2020
Ken is President of Ken Shea and Associates, providing specialized solutions to operators and suppliers in the Coffee, Tea and Water Industries.
