Happy Daze……

[eldub]

We got a call yesterday from the local community college. They are going to put a coffee kiosk on their campus and want to use our beans. The contact person said they want to stick with organic and fair trade products. That's us! hehe They plan on using the business as a work experience venture for students, so we will not need to man the shop. Our pricing was fine with them. Nothing finalized yet, but it sounds like they plan on moving forward soon.

The kiosk will be located on the main campus of the community college. Interestingly, I've been talking with a potential business partner about setting up a shop close to the campus in question for awhile now. There are two other large campuses of this community college in the metro area. I'm hoping they might consider similar ventures on their campuses if all goes well with the first.

Btw, we had our first annual organic inspection yesterday as well and it went fine. I'm getting a grasp on things and don't feel like we're flying by the seat of our pants so much now.

 

[PinkRose]

Hey eldub,

Congratulations! It's pretty major for a community college to go to an outside source for anything. They usually have huge contracts with vendors that supply everything and anything! It's great that they found you. Your organic and fair trade reputation worked out nice for your business.

Good work! Thanks for sharing the news with us.

Rose

 

[topher]

That's awesome!! Will you be involved in the training of the staff or are you just supplying the coffee? Either way...Congrats!

 

[eldub]

Thanks, fellas....

I'm not sure about the training aspect yet. A friend sells coffee equipment and I'll be recommending his services, which include training on the machines he sells.

she did tell me they plan on using cups with our company logo. (Not sure what the kiosk will be called.) I'm just tickled to get the business and exposure.

 

[JumpinJakJava]

Awesome! Great to hear of this news! Congrats!

 

[Bardo]

That's awesome. Congrats. What sort of volume do you think you could expect from a location like that?

 

[PinkRose]

Hi Eldub....

How'd you sleep last night? Were you awake thinking and planning this next step in your head?

My inquiring mind wants to know.

Rose

 

[eldub]

I have no idea on the volume they might do and that worries me a bit. We have enough beans in stock to get the ball rolling but I'm going to need to stock up on whatever they will be selling in order to maintain a continuity of product.

My guess would be 50-100 lbs./week for the main campus. And then if we manage to finagle our way onto their other local campuses that number gets bigger in a hurry.

Btw, I slept like a baby last night, but the night before was another story. I was awake most of the night after talking with the Community College rep. hehe

 

[eldub]

The community college folks are coming into our shop Saturday to get the ball rolling on this project. I'm really excited. This could really be big for us in the long run. Even with this one campus the increase in revenue puts us in the position of being able to hire a part-time employee to allow me to get out of the shop a bit each week.

 

[peterjschmidt]

That is such a huge turn of events, eldub. Who knows where this will lead? Even if it was nothing more than the kiosk, you should be very proud. But I see it like a stone thrown into a still pond; the ripples will go out, and hopefully one good thing will lead to many more!

 

[Bardo]

Keep us posted