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…
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 …
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, …
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 …
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…
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 …
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…
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 …
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…
Taking what you have learned over many years of working in coffee and creating your own roasting and cafe business is no easy task. It requires a strong enough “why” and a vision for the people that the roastery and shop wil serve. Cody Gordon did…
