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Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders

A coffee podcast providing coffee shop owners and leaders, with insights, inspiration, and the tools you need to grow and advance your coffee business or coffee career. We learn from experts both in and outside the coffee industry as they deliver specific, practical, and actionable advice about ownership, optimization, profitability, barista work, employee culture, management, scaling, leadership, personal development, and anything else that will help you achieve success in the coffee shop.
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Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
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Now displaying: December, 2023
Dec 28, 2023

When we set goals it is usually because we have come to realize a need for change. In the cafe this can result in making a large scale transformational effort that can often fall flat, We want to evolve and grow our cafe or even ourselves but the learned behaviors that got us here stand in our way.

On today's Shift Break we will talk about how evolution and change that is sustainable has to be based on small and consistent steps in the direction of your goal and how doing this in the New Year can make it your best year ever!

Related episodes:


In my consulting work through KTTS Consultingmanagement and leadership structures are one of the main conversations we have. Working to create clarity, understanding, and systems for success in leadership has a compound effect on the rest of the business. Would you like to work with me 1:1 to help your cafe thrive in quality, operations, and people? 

Click below for a discovery call and lets have a conversation! 

https://calendly.com/chrisdeferio/30min


Thank you to out sponsors!

Custom branded apps for your coffee shop: www.espressly.co

 

The best and most revered espresso machines on the planet: www.lamarzoccousa.com

 

 

Dec 19, 2023

Sample roasting empowers people with the knowledge of possibility locked in the coffee. Bringing sample roasting that provides for more continuity and better communication to more professionals in the value chain, especially at origin, is critical not just for how coffee's potential is achieved but how the value of that coffee is distributed. Today we explore this dynamic through the lens of the IKAWA sample roaster with Inventor, Andrew Stordy!

Andrew, the inventor and founder of IKAWA, grew up in coffee growing countries including Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and Burundi.Andrew is an engineer and industrial designer and developed the concept for IKAWA while studying Industrial Design at the Royal College of Art in London. He’s dedicated years of toil to making IKAWA a reality.

In this conversation we discuss the start of the company, how and why the roaster was developed, the impact it has had, and the design/iteration process that they utilize at IWAWA that helps them continue to innovate. 

Links:

www.ikawacoffee.com

@ikawacoffee

 

Related episodes:

Subscribe to Roast Magazine!

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Dec 18, 2023

Hospitality is a pursuit that relies on our ability to not only offer our guests excellence in quality, consistency, and interaction, but it also relies on us being able to select tools for delivery of our service that line up with our values. Mobile apps and order ahead systems have become a part of the fabric of the coffee shop space based on their convenience and marketing potential. Beyond the question of whether you should utilize this tool, is the question of the role apps and convenience ordering systems play in hospitality and how we can integrate them in a mindful seamless way.

Today we get to talk all about this with someone whose life revolves around these questions and the pursuit of delivering a solution to cafes. I am please to welcome, Joe Capone, of Espressly! 

Joe Capone is a Co-Founder and CEO of Espressly. Joe oversees and manages the team at Espressly as they continue to advance and sustain the mobile app ordering system for coffee shops across the US. He is an experienced software developer and previously ran a web development agency that helped clients throughout the US. Joe has a passion for using technology as the foundation to sales and marketing systems and loves how mobile apps are readily available to the masses, enabling things that we only dreamed of in years past.

Here are just some of the things we cover: 

  • Developing white label apps for coffee shops 
  • Possibility to enhance the customer experience.
  • Balancing convenience and quality 
  • Prioritization and organization using apps
  • Backup systems to avoid over-dependence on technology
  • Efficient order flow management and pickup stations 
  • Grace and flexibility as essential for handling mistakes and maintaining strong customer relationships.
  • Quest for a seamless customer experience 
  • Importance of capturing data for business growth and future exit strategies.

Links:

www.espressly.co

IG:@ESPRESSLYAPPS

 

Related episodes: 

Hire Keys to the Shop Consulting to work with you 1:1 to transform your operations, quality, and people. Schedule a free discovery call now!

https://calendly.com/chrisdeferio/30min


Thank you to our amazing sponsors!

Get the best brewer and tool for batch espresso, iced lattes, and 8 minute cold brew! www.groundcontrol.coffee

 

The world loves plant based beverages and baristas love the Barista Series! www.pacificfoodservice.com

 

 

Dec 18, 2023

You can't always get what you want. In fact, getting exactly what you want may hinder your growth and creativity in the long run. Most of us in the cafe space work within constraints of budget, time, space, and capacity, and that is actually something to celebrate. 

On today's shift break we will be talking about why embracing and even applying constraints is the key to unlock your own, and your coffee shop's potential.

Related episodes:


In my consulting work through KTTS Consultingmanagement and leadership structures are one of the main conversations we have. Working to create clarity, understanding, and systems for success in leadership has a compound effect on the rest of the business. Would you like to work with me 1:1 to help your cafe thrive in quality, operations, and people? 

Click below for a discovery call and lets have a conversation! 

https://calendly.com/chrisdeferio/30min


Thank you to out sponsors!

Custom branded apps for your coffee shop: www.espressly.co

 

The best and most revered espresso machines on the planet: www.lamarzoccousa.com

 

 

Dec 18, 2023

The coffee market is much bigger than just specialty coffee. In fact specialty makes up just a fraction of coffee consumed globally. The advent of convenience coffee service is growing lock step with innovations in automation and that has historically make those of us in the more craft forward markets nervous. While I will readily admit to being one of those nervous and doubting people when it comes to convenience and automation, I also enjoy exploring the other side of a subject that can help balance my (maybe a whole industry's) dogmatic assumptions. To help us explore the value of these ideas and to connect to a frequently maligned segment of coffee drinkers we have returning guest and friend of the show, Tim Cox!

Tim Cox is Marketing Manager for Franke Coffee Systems. He is a food and beverage professional with over 15 years of experience focusing on beverages and Specialty Coffee. With a career spanning diverse roles ranging from multi-unit retail management, restaurant ownership, product development for national brands such as 7-11, and marketing, Tim has developed his experience across multiple channels, including Specialty, QSR, and Convenience. In his role at Franke Coffee Systems, Tim is responsible for research & insights as well as product management. 

Here are just some of the things we cover: 

  • Tim's Career Transition
  • The Value of Automation in Coffee
  • Defining Specialty Coffee and Ethical Concerns
  • The Importance of Accessibility in Coffee
  • The forgotten segments of consumers we need to engage
  • Automations impact on Hospitality
  • Transferable Skills and Intentionality in Automation
  • Balancing Excellence in Coffee with market access
  • The Blurring Lines Between Commercial and Specialty Coffee
  • How convenience and automation can help elevating the Average Expectation in Coffee

Links:

www.franke.com

Tim on IG @booksandbanjos 

 

Related episodes: 


Hire Keys to the Shop Consulting to work with you 1:1 to transform your operations, quality, and people. Schedule a free discovery call now!

https://calendly.com/chrisdeferio/30min


Thank you to our amazing sponsors!

Get the best brewer and tool for batch espresso, iced lattes, and 8 minute cold brew! www.groundcontrol.coffee

 

The world loves plant based beverages and baristas love the Barista Series! www.pacificfoodservice.com

 

 

Dec 14, 2023

In this second part of our 2 part Founder Friday we switch gears with Doug Zell, founder of the iconic coffee company Intelligentsia Coffee. In the years that followed the acquisition of Intelligentsia, Doug entered into a new era of creativity related to food, coffee, and his passion for cycling. With his friend and fellow cycling enthusiast Chris St. Peter, they founded the Meteor.

The vision began with a desire to create a beautiful environment that combines all the things they love under one roof: delicious ingredient-driven food, thoughtfully chosen wine, carefully prepared coffee, and, bicycles. The hope is to build a community that enjoyed these same pursuits. Their motto? -  Espresso | Champagne | Chain Lube

In this episode we focus on the this new venture, how it came to be, the challenges of a multifaceted concept, the lessons and wisdom earned from 20 years of coffee leadership, and how that, plus the same spirit to innovated and create, has helped the Meteor Succeed. 

We discuss:

  • The chance meeting and common interests that started The Meteor
  • Building a team of great people who understand different aspects of the business
  • Keeping the menu and offerings tight and well-executed 
  • Why opening a coffee bar with just coffee and pastries may be challenging in today's competitive market.
  • How creating a sense of community and connection is a rewarding aspect of running a multifaceted concept.
  • Looking to the future of coffee shops and advise for those entering in to the market.

Links:

www.intelligenstia.com

www.themeteor.cafe

IG @doug.zell

Related Episode:

 


Hire Keys to the Shop Consulting to work with you 1:1 to transform your operations, quality, and people. Schedule a free discovery call now!

https://calendly.com/chrisdeferio/30min


Thank you to our amazing sponsors!

Get the best brewer and tool for batch espresso, iced lattes, and 8 minute cold brew! www.groundcontrol.coffee

 

The world loves plant based beverages and baristas love the Barista Series! www.pacificfoodservice.com

 

Dec 14, 2023

The landscape of specialty coffee has been influenced by many people and companies over the last few decades. The foundations of the standards and methods we use now, at one time, were merely ideas waiting for someone to put them into action. In the class of companies operators that have championed that exploration one of the most influential was Intelligentsia Coffee under the leadership of founder Doug Zell.

Doug Zell is the founder of Intelligentsia Coffee and the Meteor Cafe. In 1995 he and Emily Mange founded what was just a small roastery and cafe in Chicago. Through a passion for design, coffee, and innovative hospitality Intelligentsia became an iconic brand with retail locations and roasting operations across the country and an influence in coffee that has inspired countless professionals globally. Intelligentsia was an early innovator of Direct Trade, and has boasted progressive design and service concepts that have challenged the status quo of training and hospitality in the industry. Included in their staff of some of the best green buyers, baristas, and managers, including a WBC Champion. 

It is virtually impossible to measure the impact and contribution to coffee culture Intelligentsia has had and so much of it comes from the original values and goals that the company was founded on and the ability to develop a team to scale that vision. 

In this first part of our 2 part Founder Friday we will be talking with Doug and focusing on the years of 1995-2015 and the establishment and growth of Intelligentsia Coffee all the way up to the acquisition of the company by Pete's Coffee. In part 2 we switch gears with Doug and talk about how he pivoted to start the unique concept of The Meteor Cafe.

We discuss:

  • Doug's entry into coffee and the coffee business
  • The original store, concept, and values
  • Growing in Chicago and working to lead with design
  • How Doug grew his leadership and the 
  • Why culture is a critical aspect of building a successful business
  • Having confidence in your ideas and the ability to endure the challenges of a startup
  • Competition's role in company culture and the barista craft
  • Balancing local and national perception 
  • How expansion can creates opportunities for growth and economic success.

Links:

www.intelligenstia.com

www.themeteor.cafe

IG : @doug.zell

Related episodes:


Hire Keys to the Shop Consulting to work with you 1:1 to transform your operations, quality, and people. Schedule a free discovery call now!

https://calendly.com/chrisdeferio/30min


Thank you to our amazing sponsors!

Get the best brewer and tool for batch espresso, iced lattes, and 8 minute cold brew! www.groundcontrol.coffee

 

The world loves plant based beverages and baristas love the Barista Series! www.pacificfoodservice.com

 

Dec 14, 2023

The pursuit of excellence drives us to create very stringent standards for our coffee, service, and businesses. There is nothing wrong with this, except for when it becomes so narrow that it chokes out the life of the café, pushes people away and ends up, creating the opposite result then we intended.

On today's shift break we are going to talk about why it's OK to have reasonable tolerances in the café and how having them is actually necessary to achieve excellence in all areas overtime

Related episodes:

436: STOP BURN OUT! AND MAKE WORK EFFORTLESS W/ GREG MCKEOWN | BEST SELLING AUTHOR “EFFORTLESS”

435 : ENCORE! IT’S OK TO BE THE BOSS, W/ BRUCE TULGAN

432 : HOW TO WIN IN SPECIALTY RETAIL COFFEE

427 : ENCORE EPISODE: WHAT YOU MUST KNOW ABOUT EMPLOYEE CULTURE W/ STAN SLAP

426: FOSTERING A CULTURE OF CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT


In my consulting work through KTTS Consultingmanagement and leadership structures are one of the main conversations we have. Working to create clarity, understanding, and systems for success in leadership has a compound effect on the rest of the business. Would you like to work with me 1:1 to help your cafe thrive in quality, operations, and people? 

Click below for a discovery call and lets have a conversation! 

https://calendly.com/chrisdeferio/30min


Thank you to out sponsors!

Custom branded apps for your coffee shop: www.espressly.co

 

The best and most revered espresso machines on the planet: www.lamarzoccousa.com

 

 

Dec 12, 2023

The world of coffee trade and commerce is complex to say the least. The difference between a business that succeeds and one that flounders is largely based on how well we know the business of coffee and how we move wisely within it as we establish and grow our shops and roasters. The consistent nurturing and success of our business has a ripple effect that will help the whole supply chain. Certainly it is not overstating the case that, if we want to have true sustainability then we in specialty coffee need to be about the business of coffee as well as the craft itself. But where do we start to gain this understanding?

To help us view this world in a clearer light I am thrilled to welcome Maxwell Colonna-Dashwood to KTTS!

Maxwell Dashwood's fascination with coffee began in Melbourne, Australia, in 2007. Returning to the UK, he co-managed a coffee events company and opened Colonna & Small's, a Bath-based coffee shop with a focus on curated, changing coffee menus. Maxwell founded and runs the Colonna Coffee roastery, and has recently opened a Colonna & Small's location in London. He also works on different coffee research and development projects. 

An acclaimed figure in the industry, Maxwell is a three-time winner of the UK Barista Championships and has co-authored academic papers on coffee. He's also the co-author of "Water For Coffee," a study on the impact of water on coffee taste, and "The Coffee Dictionary," an accessible guide to coffee terminology. His most recent book, "The Business of Specialty Coffee," combines his business experiences with an exploration of the coffee supply chain.

Here is just some of what we discuss in this episode: 

  • The need for business knowledge
  • Maxwell's career development 
  • Why write this book? 
  • Unicorn business vs the preferable "good" business
  • Various business models 
  • Fast vs slow growth
  • Specialty coffee's need for the brick and mortar cafe
  • Sustaining a business to fulfill your vision

Links:

Buy the book: www.scottrao.com

Follow:

https://www.instagram.com/mcolonnadashwood/

https://colonnacoffee.com/

 

Related episodes:


Hire Keys to the Shop Consulting to work with you 1:1 to transform your operations, quality, and people. Schedule a free discovery call now!

https://calendly.com/chrisdeferio/30min


Thank you to our amazing sponsors!

Get the best brewer and tool for batch espresso, iced lattes, and 8 minute cold brew! www.groundcontrol.coffee

 

The world loves plant based beverages and baristas love the Barista Series! www.pacificfoodservice.com

 



Dec 7, 2023

The holiday rush is in full swing and many of us (most of us) are trying our best to just survive the frenzy. Shops are full of customers as well as friends and visiting family of our customers and it is a great time to not just survive the craziness but to increase our intentionality, presence of hospitality, and care for our staff and guest in spite of the pressure.

Today on Shift Break we will be talking about how we can plan our energy, presence, and lean into ways to make the holiday time more than just a profitable time for finances, but also a time where we are reinforcing our values and bringing the our best selves to the work of coffee. 

Related episodes:

 


In my consulting work through KTTS Consultingmanagement and leadership structures are one of the main conversations we have. Working to create clarity, understanding, and systems for success in leadership has a compound effect on the rest of the business. Would you like to work with me 1:1 to help your cafe thrive in quality, operations, and people? 

Click below for a discovery call and lets have a conversation! 

https://calendly.com/chrisdeferio/30min


Thank you to out sponsors!

Custom branded apps for your coffee shop: www.espressly.co

 

The best and most revered espresso machines on the planet: www.lamarzoccousa.com

 

 

Dec 6, 2023

As the tools we use to craft coffee multiply, so too does the need for companies to keep the machines running well. Service techs are an essential segment of the industry and in an industry based on hospitality and service, it is important that a tech is able to not just diagnose and fix machines, but is able to work with people in a way that reflects the values of hospitality that equipment is meant to help produce. 

I am thrilled to finally get an opportunity to talk with someone whose history in coffee and mission with his company has been focused on community and a people-first culture from the beginning. Excited to welcome the co-founder of Black Rabbit Service Co., Jason "Double J" Johnson! 

Double J has been quite a while. Starting as a teenager in the mid 90's, he developed a deep passion for coffee, food, and hospitality. After moving to Portland Oregon in 2001 he worked for a handful of coffee houses (large and small) until finding work as a coffee technician for Stumptown Coffee. After a decade of honing his tech skills at Stumptown he is now a co-owner of Black Rabbit Service Co. Fast forward a few more years, Double J is now the writer, producer and host of Coffee Breath - A food and travel show based around coffee and cafe culture.

Today we will be chatting about Double J's career, how he learned the industry and began tech work, the founding and development of Black Rabbit, and how they serve both their clients and their team with empathy and expertise.

Links:

www.blackrabbitservice.com

www.coffeebreathshow.com

 

Listen to these episodes next:

Hire Keys to the Shop Consulting to work with you 1:1 to transform your operations, quality, and people. Schedule a free discovery call now!

https://calendly.com/chrisdeferio/30min


Thank you to our amazing sponsors!

Get the best brewer and tool for batch espresso, iced lattes, and 8 minute cold brew! www.groundcontrol.coffee

 

The world loves plant based beverages and baristas love the Barista Series! www.pacificfoodservice.com

 

Dec 1, 2023

We are obsessed with innovation that tends to solve problems that are increasingly inconsequential to the customer. A race to put coffee in virtually any context all in the name of convenience may bring coffee to more people, but what does it do to the value of the coffee when we remove virtually all customer generated investment into the process. 

Today on Shift Break we will be talking about why a bit of inconvenience is ok and, in fact, may be a needed thing to allow the customer the buy in, personal investment, ritual, and connection with the product we are, in my opinion, rushing to devalue through wasteful mindless mass consumption.


In my consulting work through KTTS Consultingmanagement and leadership structures are one of the main conversations we have. Working to create clarity, understanding, and systems for success in leadership has a compound effect on the rest of the business. Would you like to work with me 1:1 to help your cafe thrive in quality, operations, and people? 

Click below for a discovery call and lets have a conversation! 

https://calendly.com/chrisdeferio/30min

 

Related episodes:


Thank you to out sponsors!

Custom branded apps for your coffee shop: www.espressly.co

 

The best and most revered espresso machines on the planet: www.lamarzoccousa.com

 

 

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