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Wholesale Imported Green Coffee & Commercial Small Batch Micro Roasting Equipment

Carvaci’ Green Coffee, Starting A New Retail Coffee Shop is Good Business Green Mountain

Roast Your Own Coffee

Sorry No Summary Here, This Is a Must Read! There are several very important factors for making a successful transition into roasting. It’s a very simple switch that can be made much more difficult than necessary, Here’s what we’ve learned.

 

ROASTERS: We’ve had several instances where customer’s made the mistake of telling their old wholesale roasters of their intent to roast their own coffee and things have gotten downright ugly. From delivering terrible coffee in last orders to confuse customers all the way to bribing employees and sending out affiliates to knock the new coffee, it’s all happened. Although thankfully most roasters are not of this mind set, it’s still important to remember that you have absolutely nothing to gain from informing your roaster of your intent to roast. As could be expected, even the friendliest roaster won’t help you down this particular path. Thankfully It’s not up to them and you don’t need their approval. When you’ve done all the research and are ready to get started, just do it! Also, let go of whatever preconceived notions that your customers frequent your store because of your wholesale roaster’s coffee. Nothing could be farther from the truth. There’s more to your business than their inferior, overpriced coffee! What about all the work you and your employees have put into your business and everything else your store has going for it? Go ahead, take a little credit!

 

EMPLOYEES: When employees roast their own coffee and accumulate positive responses from their customers, a lot of pride and commitment develop instantly. However, in the beginning, we’ve found time after time that even the most open minded employee’s natural knee jerk reaction is to be mostly skeptical of any change. (like anyone) Employees rightfully feel as though they are manning your front lines and may perceive that they have nothing to gain from roasting. (ie; if the tip jar ain’t broke don’t fix it!) But in the end they all see the light. Their customers are happier and since there’s always more of them from serving better coffee the tips go up! We’ve had nothing but positive comments from our employees an all of our customers’ employees once they’ve actually roasted their own coffee. They continually confide that it’s a fun & satisfying part of their days and that the coffee’s superior to what they used to serve. Also, at our stores, we let our employees buy coffee for their home, friends & family at cost. It helps in many ways to form even more positive word of mouth and employee pride & ownership in the coffee they serve.

 

BAD CUSTOMER!: The guilt factor in letting go of an old roaster is amazingly strong for many retailers. Your not alone, ALMOST EVERYBODY LOVES THEIR ROASTER! We did too! We actually

believed that buying their coffee was helping us succeed when in fact it was dragging us down. What a Joke! At any rate, when it comes to emotions, the thing to remember here is that this is business! We’ve found that honorable roasters will be happy for your success and thankful for your business to date which they most definitely should be! Play with the spreadsheet 2 pages back to see what they’re making from your account. You’ll get the picture of why they’re so nice and give such good service and why Monster is like a really bad dream for them. Up till now, they’ve reaped the financial rewards of an excellent, high profit business. If one of your customers gave you as much money as what you give them, you’d smile and offer pretty stellar service too! We figure ours made off with $125,000 in pure profits from our hard work. That’s a decent sized home or several very nice automobiles just for pushing a button on a roaster and dropping off some beans once a week! What a racket! We could have used that money and bet you could too! What’s really amazing is that even at our low, low prices of $2/lb, Monster’s able to stay afloat. We can hardly imagine making dollars instead of nickels and dimes per lb! It’s insane how much roasters charge! There’s no need to feel guilty about making such an obviously good business decision!

 

COFFEE HABITS: We’ve all tried crappy coffee from “certain businesses” and wondered why their so busy. It’s because coffee customers build very strong habits. They keep coming because of familiarity, location, ambience, employees and drink making styles. If you serve decent coffee, it’s just a bonus! If you ask a customer what’s most important to them, the 2 most common responses will be for you to lower prices or give them more free drinks. Although those things would be great, it could also cost you a fortune and put you out of business. If asked about changing coffee, customers like employees will be skeptical at first. Not unlike you would be if your waiter at your favorite restaurant told you they were changing the way your favorite meal is made. There’s simply some things you ask customers and others you don’t. Don’t invite negativity! In the end, they will be happy with your decision to serve them fresher, higher quality coffee. Duh! Actually, most won’t even notice anyway.

 

COFFEE FLAVOR: Try to stay within a similar flavor profile when switching. Some of our customers have thought it’s a good opportunity to change flavors or roast profiles. However, excepting those with truly crappy coffee or bad roasts, most should stay within certain boundaries. We’ve found that there’s really only about 5 common espresso profiles and roast levels. When choosing a blend and deciding on your roast, we recommend going with a flavor and roast level fairly similar to the one you’re currently using. It doesn’t have to be exactly the same by any stretch, but should be in the same realm. At any rate, you can’t go wrong when choosing from 100% arabica blends and roasting them fresh on the spot. Your new coffee will be superior to the old. We’ve found that iced coffee drinkers love the sweeter, less bitter flavor. And americano or straight latte drinkers appreciate the higher quality flavors imparted from the arabicas. None the less, it is a commonly known fact that the majority of customers won’t be able to tell the difference between your old and your new so long as the profile & roast levels aren’t drastically different. Sadly, most will never realize that it’s actually different or that you’re giving them better coffee. People tend to equate the better taste of higher quality coffee with the barista or the fact that it’s fresher which of course is partially true. At any rate, sophisticated or not, your customers will be exited & impressed when they see you’ve taken the necessary steps to provide freshly roasted coffee for them. When it comes to talking to your customers about roasting, be sure to speak of the “expensive roasting system”, ultra high quality green coffee and significant changes you’ve made for their benefit. Like everyone, customers love to think you’re working hard and doing more for them! If you tell them how much you’re saving, they’ll all want free drinks! ;-)

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