Coffee shops can have everything going for them on paper, but it is what is practiced in the day to day that determines whether you are successful. The truth is, mistakes happen. They are unavoidable. Certain mistakes, though, have a greater likelihood of causing damage and ruining what we have built.
Today we will be talking about 5 things that I would consider some of the biggest mistakes that coffee shops make. Each of them are not simply isolated accidents, but practices that we are prone to develop if we don't work hard to avoid and replace them with something better.
We will discuss:
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Sustainability can become more of a reality if we determine to use the tools at our disposal wisely. Perhaps even more so if the tools we use to roast evolve to better address the many concerns we have in the coffee industry. That is what Bellwether hopes offer. With their all electric, ventless coffee roaster their goal is to empower any business to roast incredible coffee in-house and do so in a way that leads efforts in sustainability.
In this episode of Rate of Rise we are going to be talking with, Arno Holschuh.
Arno Holschuh is the Chief Coffee Officer at Bellwether Coffee, which manufactures the world's lowest-carbon coffee roaster. A veteran of the industry, he was one of the first employees at Blue Bottle and went on to manage their coffee operations and product. For the past eight years, he has been working with Bellwether to build a delicious, profitable, and sustainable future for coffee roasters, farmers and drinkers.
In our conversation we discuss important and direct questions about this new tech and its impact on both sustainability efforts and traditional coffee roasting.
My goal is that you leave this conversation with more clarity and better informed about your options when it comes to creating better sustainability outcomes through technology.
In our conversation we cover:
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You have heard this many times from managers and trainers alike. The idea being that if you want your work to go at a quick and consistent rate then you have to work with purpose.
On today's Shift break we will explore this idea and its validity to produce results we want to see on the coffee bar, as well as how it can be used to produce results that we do not want to see.
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Creating opportunities for a wide group of people to experience coffee seems like a goal we have for just for consumers. As good of a goal as that is, it is equally and maybe even more important that this goal be applied to the people who work in coffee. Sadly it is all too convenient for us to default to the easiest and most familiar options for those opportunities and as a result we tend to find a lack of diversity in the shop and beyond.
This does not need to be the case and to help show us what we can do what he is doing to address the issue, we are welcoming to the show, Keith Hawkins of The Color of Coffee Collective!
Keith Hawkins has been in the coffee industry for over 25 years and is a passionate coffee connoisseur. Keith’s pragmatic approach to the coffee industry is to educate, introduce and inspire the consumer, curator and the curious to explore an awe inspiring journey of coffee that will certainly compel conversations and change.
Keith is the Founder of The Color of Coffee Collective and Koffee with Keith. The Color of Coffee Collective is comprised of diverse and talented minority coffee growers, farmers, producers, roasters, baristas, artists, and coffee enthusiasts. The mission of The Color of Coffee Collective is to educate people about the specialty coffee industry from a diverse perspective through symposiums, workshops, conferences, and open and honest conversations.
This is a wonderful, deep, and maybe hard conversation that I hope inspires you!
We cover:
Links:
www.colorofcoffeecollective.com
Instagram: @colorofcoffeecollective
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Welcome to another before and after edition of Founder Friday! Occasionally we sit down with an entrepreneur who is in the proccess of opening their shop to talk about what they are planning, hoping for, and doing right now. Then we come back a few months post launch and see how things went getting open and the lessons learned in the process.
I am thrilled to have been able to sit down with frequent guest on the show, Jonathan Pascual of Tap Room Coffee in Atlanta. This first half was recorded in December 2021 as he was gearing up for the launch of his new roastery and cafe brand, Opo Coffee which has now been in operation for 2 months.
In this conversation we get to hear the details, planning, and hopes Jonathan had for Opo Coffee and then we get to see how things actually went and the wonderful way that Jonathan and his team have approached this new venture based on values, mission, respect, and a deep care for people.
This is going to be an episode full of incredible insight you won't want to miss!
We cover:
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It is all too easy to throw shade at your current state. It is also because of that easy path to bating yourself up that we find it difficult to find the good and even great things about where we are now in our career or business.
On today's Shift Break we chat about the importance of loving where you are and how doing so is in fact the surest way to get to where you want to be in the future.
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Specialty coffee has its fair share of challenges across the supply chain. Solutions for those challenges are only as good as how they were created, namely, whether they were created collaboratively and with deference to those most impacted. In short, when we connect with each other in shared work toward common goals, we see progress.
Today we will be talking with someone whose work in telling the important stories of coffee and producing events for connection is making a big impact. I am so pleased to welcome Henry Wilson to the show!
Henry Wilson is the founder of the popular coffee news organization, Perfect Daily Grind as well as the founder of The Producer Roaster Forum. What started as a fascination for the stories of coffee, turned into a much larger enterprise which focuses on connection and bringing the best information and diverse perspectives to bear on the challenges that face our growing industry.
In this conversation with Henry we talk about his road to establishing these platforms and especially focus on the importance of collaboration, connection, and relationship through the Producer Roaster Forum and what we can apply from its example in our own efforts to connect and create a better future.
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Welcome to part 2 of a live series of interviews conducted on the show floor of @coffeefestshow Los Angels and PNW in 2022!
Today we will be starting off by talking with Shad Baiz of @lamarzocco.usa A long time machine tech in the coffee industry, Shad grew up around espresso tech and has 2 decades worth of experience in serving the industry. Shad Baiz is now the Southwest Sales Director for La Marzocco USA and spends his days helping cafe owners and coffee entrepreneurs determine the right espresso and coffee equipment for their operations.
Shad and I talk about the advancing role of advancing tech in espresso equipment and what role craft still plays in this new era of automation.
Next we chat with Jeremy Lyman of @birchcoffee Jeremy co-founded Birch Coffee, a New York City-based coffee company, in 2009. Since then, the company has grown to 14 locations and is doing 10x the revenue it was doing by the end of year three. The focus of Birch is on service and the way they hire and manage staff has a lot to do with their success. In this conversation we go in depth on how they hire and then lead staff at Birch coffee to create their dream team.
Lastly we get to sit down with MelindJohn of @josumacoffee Melind John is the Chief Espresso Evangelist and Senior Coffee Bean Hunter at Josuma Coffee Company. This dual role reflects Josuma’s unique positioning as an espresso specialist, supplying not just a roasted bean (Malabar Gold Espresso) to cafes, offices, and home baristas but also green coffee beans to roasters for use in their espresso offerings.
I sit down with Melind to talk about the foundational elements of achieving great espresso and the kinds of questions he gets at his long running session on the subject at Coffee Fest.
links:
If you are looking for resourcing, clarity, inspiration, and just a really fun experience then I would suggest attending Coffee Fest Trades Shows!
You can get 50% off your registration by using the code “KEYS” when registering at www.coffeefest.com be sure to follow @coffeefestshow
Welcome to part one of a live series of interviews conducted on the show floor of @coffeefestshow Los Angels and PNW in 2022!
In these interviews I sit down with stellar presenters and lecturers to dig deep into a range of relevant and important topics that will help make you and your coffee business better.
Today we will be talking with Manish Shah founder of Maya Tea. Manish Shah is the owner of Maya Tea Company, a Tucson, Arizona-based manufacturer and distributor of fine loose leaf tea blends. He began his tea company in 1996 with a single product, and has since grown and expanded his line to include over two hundred varieties of tea as well as an innovative line of chai concentrates. In this conversation we chat about tea trends and your business.
Next we chat with Stephanie Alcala of RGC Coffee. Stephanie Alcala is a trader specializing in sustainable coffee supply chains. She works for RGC Coffee, a family-owned importer whete she pursues her passion for agriculture and community economic development. We talk with Stephanie about sustainability and what it means to have a truly responsible supply chain.
The next guest is Maria Cleaveland. Maria Cleaveland is a food & beverage and hospitality professional with business development, strategic planning, finance and operations and brings an entrepreneurial spirit to every project. Currently she serves as North American Sales Director for Urnex Brands. Maria and I talk in this interview about the new innovations and tech making easier for consumers to have great coffee and what it means for coffee shops
Lastly we get to sit down with the great Jim Ngokwey! Jim is managing partner at Mighty Peace Coffee, a social impact coffee importer and roaster that highlights the great coffees of the Congo. As a Congolese immigrant who now calls New York home, Jim dreams of the day when his country’s coffee will not be an afterthought or an exotic option that roasters try once every few years, but rather a mainstay for coffee companies across the country.
Jim and I talk about the ways roasters and coffee people can and should make room for origins like Congolese coffee and then the importance of purging diversity in our businesses as well as the bean counter.
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You might have the perfect checklist, SOP, policy, and plan to apply to you current situation, it might even make things technically better, but if you are in the wrong place, position, or even career then those tools can easily become anchors that hold you down.
Today on Shift Break we will be talking about the need to make sure that you are in a place that is right for you, how tools can help you discern this, and how to know the difference between something that is challenging vs something that is a sign that you're in the wrong place and need to seek change instead of more efficiencies.
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Why so serious? Coffee is a beverage that inspires a wide range of emotions but within the specialty industry in organizations, competitions, and businesses it has somehow moved away from one of the main emotions that draws so many to it. Happiness.
As we focus on improving our skills, pushing our craft, and solving problems, we also need to make room for fun, community, encouragement and create relations that relieve stress instead of creating it.
Today we are going to joined by someone whose own journey in coffee has taught her deep lessons about place, belonging, professional development and how being happy is an absolute necessity.
We are talking with the indelible Wendelien van Bunnik!
Wendelien van Bunnik is the 2019 Dutch Barista Champion, Dutch Aeropress ánd World Aeropress Champion. She started her career in coffee in 2010, and has competed in coffee competitions since 2011. She started her career as a barista, though after three years, she was employed at a Dutch specialty coffee roastery. Here, she was responsible for wholesale training and education for over 9 years. She has started her own business in 2021 as an AST, trainer and consultant.Though she is a trainer through and through, chances are you know Wendelien from her humorous and relatable content she shares on her Instagram account @wendeliendrinkscoffee .
She is also the founder of The Happy Coffee Network: an open, welcome community space on an online platform, which launches in March '23. This Network is a friendly online place for barista's to connect, share experiences and knowledge as well as provide access to resources and support, no matter their level of coffee skill.
In this episode we will be learning about Wendelien's journey into professional coffee, how she discovered her place and voice in the process, and what she has to say to us about finding happiness.
We discuss:
Links:
Instagram: @wendeliendrinkscoffee
Instagram: @thehappycoffeenetwork
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The ideal for cafe management is that you can raise up and promote a barista from within the shop. Unfortunately that cannot happen in all circumstances and shop that needs to delegate management is forced to seek outside help.
On today's Shift Break i wanted to cover a couple tips for cafes to consider when seeking to hire a manager form outside the shop. I believe these things will help make this move a successful one for all involved.
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Specialty coffee has been defined by a difference in quality and taste for a very long time. It is the central value that creates the markets that we currently operate in. The problem with this though is that taste as a value is, in the end, a subjective opinion. While quality, taste, and serving the desires of customer is always important, how we go about the practice of taste making will either include or exclude those most impacted by out judgments. How can we balance the need to serve and be effective in what we have not, while building a better way for the future? Well, to talk with us about these and many other questions regarding taste is Kosta Kalivoursis of ally Coffee.
Kosta Kallivrousis is a Senior Account Manager with Ally Coffee and has been a fixture in specialty coffee for a very long time. He spend a great deal of his time researching coffee, community, and social movements and putting together some very thought provoking posts that challenge us to evolve into a better industry.
One such article was recently featured in the latest issue of Standart Magazine called "Against Taste". In it Kosta explore the idea of taste as a value that dominates and competes with the well being of those who produce the coffee we enjoy.
On this episode we will dive into this topic and tease out where we are, how we got here, and where we can go in the future if we move beyond the tyranny of taste.
We discuss
Links:
Kosta's Instagram @espresso_patronus
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Community is an incredibly important part of our industry. In fact it is the number one thing cited by professionals as the main reason they love coffee. Unifying around a common love is so powerful and helps us all become better...or does it?
On today's Shift Break we will be talking about how community can often be a way to avoid difficult parts of working together and keep things at a perpetually shallow level of enthusiasm and keep us from making real progress both professionally and industry-wide.
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The journey of a barista often will lead to management. That particular role of leadership in the cafe comes with a host of changes that call on people to not only care for the quality and operations of the cafe, but the people themselves. Today we are going to be talking with Justin Duenne of Quills Coffee, a manager whose journey into the role is marked by a focus on team and the constant goal of providing a great experience for both barista and guest alike.
Justin began working in coffee in 2018 with Quills Coffee in Indianapolis. With a passion for coffee and community growing, Justin stepped into a manager role for the Indianapolis shop. Throughout this time he’s helped Quills Indianapolis step into a new chapter of the company and location. Justin is also an accomplished musician and songwriter.
In this conversation we will be talking about Justin's jouney into coffee and then into management and the lessons he has learned regarding leadership, and the importance of a great team
We cover:
Links:
Justin on Instaram @justinduennemusic
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It is Founder Friday and boy is this a wonderful conversation with a wonderful person. You simply cannot underestimate the importance of what an owner brings to a cafe and business. You as a leader have the opportunity to bring meaning, soul, and vision that creates electricity and momentum for your staff and customers. This is exactly what today's Founder Friday guest brings to her cafe and its people. We are talking with Megan Wilson of Spuds Coffee!
Megan Wilson was born and raised in Jamaica and moved to the United States to attend Johnson and Wales University where she would pursue and achieve a degree in culinary arts and food service management.
From a very young age she had a great interest in the kitchen. What began as a passion for baking would blossom and extend to a passion for cooking and coffee. Connecting with people, creativity, and serving her community is what drives her.
Recently, Megan opened the doors to her first establishment. Spud’s Coffee. There she and her team strive to create a space that inspires and motivates others to create, think outside their box and get after that dream. It is firmly rooted in the purest expressions of genuine hospitality.
In our conversation we cover her entry into coffee from food service, the harrowing journey through the pandemic to open Spud's and the lessons and experiences she has had through its founding and operation thus far.
We discuss:
Links:
Instagram: @spudscoffee
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Even though it is one of the most objectively identifiable defects, the presence of tipping seems to continue to plagues roasters. With the end result ruining an otherwise perfectly roasted coffee, this largely preventable defect deserves special focus.
In this episode of Rate of Rise we are going to be interviewing the great Rob Hoos who has dedicated a significant amount of his attention through a new downloadable booklet aptly named "Tipping and It's Avoidance", to helping us mitigate tipping for good.
Rob Hoos is a coffee roasting consultant and owner of Hoos Coffee Consulting and Iteration Coffee. Rob is the author of Modulating the Flavor Profile of Coffee and has been a roaster since 2008. He has extensive experience in the specialty coffee industry, including roasting, training, purchasing, and profile evaluation. He is a subject matter expert for the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) and conducts coffee roasting workshops online and in-person at his lab in Rainier, Oregon.
In our conversation we cover:
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I am helping my clients establish values all the time. Having a clear understanding of what is important to you and your business is incredibly important because it informs everything you put your hand to. For this show, and in my consulting work, I have my own set of values that have been developing over the course of my career.
On today's Shift Break we will be talking about the 4 core values that guide and inspire KTTS, what they mean to me, and how they can also apply to the work you do in your shops.
I hope you enjoy!
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Being competitive in business is often thought of in the same vein as being aggressive, leading with fear, and creating an us vs them scenario that is antithetical to community. The reality is that while we need to be competitive in order to run successful businesses, we need not do so in a way that alienates.
In today's episode you and I will talk about seven way to be what I will call "Consciously Competitive" in order make you business stand out in and become a better version of itself year over year.
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The future of staffing our cafes depends on how effectively we hire and set up our teams for success. Rather than having an unsustainably low or high number of staff working, we need to create lean and effective teams of thoroughly trained, resourced, and well paid professionals.
Today on Shift Break we will be talking about investing into and professionalizing the barista role and how we can challenge ourselves and our baristas to do more and better with less and actually thrive in the process.
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A lot has changed in coffee over the last couple decades. As roasters and baristas, our understanding of the current landscape of coffee processing, its impact on flavor, and the possibilities it contains will greatly determine our success. Thankfully our industry has some very bright minds who create clarity around the ever complex world of coffee, and one of those voices is here with us today.
Christopher Feran is a coffee industry consultant, green buyer, roaster and lapsed Q-grader with years of experience helping startups and established companies in the Midwest, California and New York City as well as exporters and coffee growers in producing countries like Guatemala, Colombia and Ethiopia.
A pioneering coffee professional, he regularly publishes thought provoking blogs and articles that have challenges and pushed the industry forward.
Most recently he has published the “sort-of glossary” to coffee processes; which inspired today's conversation.
We will be exploring the topic of processing, it's evolution, and how to think about their use and application in your roasting company
We cover:
Links:
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Professional development and opportunities for betterment and advancing are areas that operators must bake in to the business as much as possible. If you are a barista, manager, trainer etc and you want to take advantage of those things, create opportunities, or simply take charge of your own development for a better future then you must focus on adding value.
Today on Shift Break we will be discussing how to make yourself more valuable as an employee both in the job you have now and in preparation for the opportunities you have yet to encounter.
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Running a coffee shop means you take on a fair degree of risk. This is why having and understanding of insurance that is appropriate for your shop is critical. On top of that you need to make sure the insurance you do have is optimized and that you are providing an environment that puts safety first.
Unfortunately, while all small businesses carry the required insurance, it is often not optimized for their needs and the shop itself is run in a way that invites accidents rather than mitigates risk.
This is your livelihood and you own it to yourself, your staff, and customers to throughly explore these subjects. Today we are priviliged to get to talk all about these things with Brennon Pothetes of Butter insurance.
Brennan Pothetes is the Co-Founder and CEO of Butter Insurance, which offers a more accessible and efficient insurance experience for coffee shops coupled with a safety program, making them more sustainable. He is a veteran entrepreneur with a background in insurance, banking and software development for companies like Bloom Credit, Rhino and Simple. At Rhino, he helped build a product that saved renters $500 million dollars since the onset of the pandemic by replacing cash security deposits with affordable insurance.
This is a very helpful and informative conversation and I hope you apply these insights ASAP!
We cover:
Links and resources:
Risk + Safety Winter Checklist
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Nobody is perfect. No coffee business is perfect. Therefore there will inevitably be complaints that staff have about the business. This could be anything from the schedule and state of the bar, to the performance of co-workers and even your own performance as a boss. Even the best companies deal with complaints. The trick is how to do so well.
In today's Shift break we will discuss a few ideas for how you can handle staff complaints with a clear head in order to create a better culture, system, and coffee shop.
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As the 2023 begins it is a great time to take inventory of our cafes and roasteries and really look at what we have done and where we can not only improve, but what needs to change. How can we keep up with the changing industry while still serving our customers? Where do we need to innovate and what are the first steps to building a better business?
Today we are discussing all of this and more with our guest Miranda Caldwell!
Miranda Caldwell is a coffee business coach and the founder of The Coffee MBA, a community where she teaches business courses for the specialty coffee industry. Since 2000, she has held leadership positions at coffee roasting companies in roles spanning operations, procurement, quality, sales, retail, and education. In 2022 she completed her Masters of Business Administration from a joint program with The University of Manchester and Indiana University. Her primary goal is to improve profitability for coffee roasters, believing they're the key to unlocking profitability for the rest of the value chain.
In this conversation we will be discussing Miranda's bold approach to coffee business operation, innovation, and values based leadership and product development that will give you a head start on reaching the next level in your coffee biz.
We cover:
Links:
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