The Entrepreneurial Coffee BusinessTakes Root

Written by Ashley LaBossiere

Nestled at what could be considered the midpoint between Woodstock and Canton is Alma Coffee. "Alma," in Spanish, translates to "soul." That's what is at the center of Alma Coffee.

Behind every bag of coffee beans, every roast, every drink, every in-house syrup, is soul. Along with its farm-to-cup philosophy, the soul behind Alma is what sets it apart. Co-owner Leticia Hutchins is a fifth-generation coffee farmer and runs the Holly Springs-based cafe, roastery, e-commerce business and wholesale division with her husband, Harry, while her father, Al Lopez, a service-disabled Army veteran, oversees their family coffee farms in Honduras.

From the start, direct trade has been a leading motivator in Alma's story. This vertical integration of working directly with its family farms is what makes Alma unique. Vertical integration means coffee from the family farms never leaves the family’s care; family members are responsible for every step of the process, from planting, nurturing and harvesting to wet processing, dry milling, exporting, importing and, finally, warehousing, roasting, grinding and even brewing! It is a rare treat to find a genuine farm-to-cup experience like the one at Alma Coffee.

To expand its coffee offerings and support fellow farmers, Alma also purchases coffee beans directly from other farms — a process referred to as "Alma-doption." Alma buys the entire crop from the farm, brings the coffee beans back to the roastery, and roasts them for purchase. That's as "direct trade" as you'll ever get.

In the four years since Alma Coffee opened its doors, a lot has changed. What was once just a roastery now also houses a full-scale coffee shop that's open seven days a week. The family has added a second, larger Loring roaster, making Alma the only roastery in the state of Georgia to own two Lorings. This also allows Alma to keep its promise of coffee roasted fresh daily to