As a small coffee roaster what is the best way to approach coffee serving places?

[CremaBean]

Hi guys,

It is about time for us to go and try to offer our roasted coffee to local breakfast places, pastries/chocolate cafes and etc. From your experience, what is the best way of approaching them - how much coffee should we bring as a sample, what are the typical prices per pound for wholesale. Maybe you have some other tips as well?

Thank you

 

[slurp]

It is about time for us to go and try to offer our roasted coffee to local breakfast places, pastries/chocolate cafes and etc. From your experience, what is the best way of approaching them

Walk in when it is not busy and introduce your self. Do not expect them to switch brands to yours right then. Give them a sample and then follow up a week later.

how much coffee should we bring as a sample,

No more than a half pound our you wasting product, take whole bean and ground. Make sure to have a few of each sample with you.

what are the typical prices per pound for wholesale.

depends on the coffee BUT..

Costco Kirland coffee is about $6.50 per pound
Sysco sells coffee at $4.50 to $9 per pound
Good old Folger's is $3.68 per pound

These are places were breakfast places buy coffee.

 

[thCapn]

Top craft brands frequently go for $10+ per pound. I've also noticed that some shops are tied into equipment programs that require them to buy from the roaster they get their machines from.

I'm about to embark on the same path.

 

[John P]

oh Capn my Capn...

LONG gone are the days where roasters provide equipment. Don't go near that potential fiasco.

And when you are starting, if you position and market yourself as a "top craft brand," you had better be able to back it up. You might need to do more than samples. If you peak their curiosity at all, have staff and management come in for a comparative tasting class. Part of the price they pay is for the quality of the coffee provided, and the premium (should) come from your proven expertise as an artisan quality roaster. This means thousands of hours of doing it correctly first. Remember it's not "practice makes perfect." it's "Perfect practice makes perfect."

Don't forget to include basic brewing ratio fundamentals with your samples. Many places use too little coffee and the resultant product tastes as such. Also, if they are using poor equipment, then they probably are not the right candidate for a higher end product.

 

[thCapn]

Hi, John. Stumptown Coffee here in Portland has an equipment program. That's one of the reasons they are so dominant in the local market. Once they have a shop/cafe/restaurant on an equipment contract it's extremely difficult to shake that account loose again.

 

[slurp]

Best way to loose money as a roaster is provide equipment.

Even if you got $20 per pound to the store (which is crazy talk) how many pounds would do have to sell to pay back a $17,000 two group Synesso machine? And a $2000 espresso grinder plus a $2000 Lab Grinder (you said highend)

Lets do the math:

High end coffee per pound roasted in bag cost: $8 (finished) leaving $12 profit

$21,000 / $12 = 1750 bags of coffee

Average coffee shop is going to use 50 pounds per week (this is way high estimate)


1750 pounds / 200 per month = 8.75 months to break even on equipment. Plus you have to pay off your roaster.

Do not forget about repairs and service you will need to provide.

This is based on over inflated sales numbers, lets do it for real.

The real numbers:

Equipment $21K, Profit per pound $4.4 = 4,667 1# bags to pay off equipment

4,667 / 25 pounds per week = 47 months to pay off equipment.

Now most coffee shops owners that do not have the cash to buy the gear probably will be out of business in two years as they should not be running a business to begin with. Restaurant business has the highest failure rate of any, do not kid your self that is what this is.

4 years to pay the equipment off before you break even. If you lay out gear for 5 stores your into equipment for over $100k in other peoples store which you have no control over. If you have that kind of cash laying around surely you can find a better investment than maybe break even in 4 years.

Most real roasters are not in the equipment business as John P stated. The guys in the equipment rental / lease business are mostly slimy sales people that sell floor sweeping coffee roasted by someone else (not all, most).

Finally $10+ coffee does not mean that is all profit.

Not to be the downer, just want you to have a real view of what your getting into. You can make money, it is not as easy as it looks that is all.