Fresh Cup Magazine | March 2020 by Fresh Cup Magazine

CONTENTS

M A R C H 2 0 2 0 | v o l . 2 9 . n o. 3 | F R E S H C U P M A G A Z I N E

10 NEWS YOU CAN USE The Filter By Fresh Cup Staff

SO YOU THINK YOU CAN ROAST?

WILLIAM RISTENPART, UC DAVIS COFFEE CENTER

In House By Michael Butterworth

Do You Know? By Dan Shryock

48 PLASTIC-FREE TEA Sustainable Matters By Robin Roenker

Small Business, Big Stores Where does a small brand start with retail? How do you get your brand in front of customers? Fresh Cup looks for the answers. By Janae Easlon

Beverages on Tap

Accessibility at Trade Shows

As more coffee shops acquire coffee-on-tap systems, some are moving beyond nitro cold brew to include tea, kombucha, and other beverages on tap. By Susan Johnston Taylor

For all their many benefits, trade shows can be difficult for attendees and organizers alike. By Michael Ryan

Editor’s letter, PAGE 7 | Contributors, PAGE 8 Counter Intelligence, PAGE 44 | Calendar, PAGE 46 | Ad index, PAGE 50 ON THE COVER: Nitro cold brew coffee on tap. Photo by Josiah Davie

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Fresh Cup Magazine FRESH CUP PUBLISHING Publisher and President JAN WEIGEL jan@freshcup.com EDITORIAL Editor CAITLIN CARTER editor@freshcup.com Associate Editor JANAE EASLON janae@freshcup.com ART Art Director CYNTHIA MEADORS cynthia@freshcup.com ADVERTISING Sales JAN WEIGEL jan@freshcup.com Ad Coordinator DIANE HOWARD adtraffic@freshcup.com ACCOUNTING Accounting Manager DIANE HOWARD diane@freshcup.com FRESH CUP FOUNDER WARD BARBEE 1938-2006

EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD DAVID GRISWOLD Sustainable Harvest Coffee Importers

CHUCK JONES Jones Coffee Roasters

BRUCE MILLETTO Bellissimo Coffee Advisors

ANUPA MUELLER Eco-Prima

BRAD PRICE Phillips Syrups & Sauces

BRUCE RICHARDSON Elmwood Inn Fine Teas

MANISH SHAH Maya Tea Co.

LARRY WINKLER Torani

SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION Fresh Cup Magazine is distributed worldwide each month by post. Available by subscription: price—one year US $48, two years US $68, one year Canada $55, all other countries $85 per year. Single issues—$5-$10 each, plus shipping. (Checks must be drawn on a US-affiliated bank.) PLEASE ALLOW 6–8 WEEKS FOR DELIVERY OF FIRST ISSUE.

EDITOR’S Letter

ith spring’s arrival, we celebrate new beginnings and fresh changes. On a personal level, I recently celebrated a major change—one that, if you pay attention to the masthead, you might have already noticed. At the beginning of last month, surrounded by our loved ones (including my Fresh Cup family), I married a wonderful person whose last name I have chosen to take as my own. I’m thrilled to re-introduce myself to you now as Caitlin Carter and enter this new chapter in my life. If you bear with my metaphor of the season of renewal, I’m pleased to highlight a few of the features you’ll find in these pages. Spring is the perfect time to start thinking about making changes in your own business. Perhaps you’re considering roasting your own coffee in-house—turn to p. 16 to read Michael Butterworth’s take in “So You Think You Can Roast?” where he discusses the when and how a café can find success roasting their own coffee. Or maybe you’re looking to branch out into more retail spaces—in that case, I encourage you to read our associate editor Janae Easlon’s survey of what retail is like for brands starting out in “Small Business, Big Stores,” on p. 24. With warm weather season just around the corner, cafés have begun incorporating customer favorites like nitro coffee, tea, and kombucha on tap. As Enhanced Beverage Solutions’ Shelby Van Slooten says, “You can keg really anything”—find all the inspiration you need when it comes to revamping your menu with beverages on tap, on p. 30. Spring also ushers in trade show season, an important element of our industry that fosters “a sense of community and camaraderie,” writes longtime coffee professional and trade show attendee Michael Ryan. But for all their benefits, trade shows have much room for improvement when it comes to accessibility—on p. 36, Ryan takes a holistic look at how these industry events can be more progressive and inclusive. These next few months will certainly be busy for us all, but if you find the time at Coffee Fest New York or Specialty Coffee Expo in Fresh Cup’s hometown of Portland, Oregon, please don’t hesitate to stop by our booth, say hi, and share the exciting changes in your business.

SUBSCRIPTION QUESTIONS? EMAIL: freshcup@pfsmag.com CALL: 888-881-5861 PO Box 92735, Long Beach, CA 90809-9639 FRESH CUP OFFICES 5520 SW Macadam Ave., Suite 220, Portland, OR 97239 PHONE: 503/236-2587 | FAX: 503/236-3165 FRESH CUP PROUDLY SPONSORS NONPROFITS

CAITLIN CARTER, EDITOR

editor@freshcup.com FRE SH CUP.COM

FRESH CUP MAGAZINE [ 7

Contributors DAN SHRYOCK is an Oregon-based freelance writer who splits his time meeting deadlines for coffee/tea magazines and travel publications. When not at the keyboard he’s usually found riding his MICHAEL BUTTERWORTH

bike somewhere around the

is the cofounder of

world or studying Italian.

TheCoffeeCompass.com

On p. 20, he introduces

and an Authorized SCA

William Ristenpart, direc-

Trainer based in Istanbul,

tor of the UC Davis Coffee

Turkey. Read his piece on

Center, in Fresh Cup’s Do

when café owners should

You Know? series.

consider in-house roasting on p. 16. MICHAEL RYAN is the

SUSAN JOHNSTON TAYLOR

Green Buyer at Dapper &

covers personal finance,

Wise Roasters. During his

entrepreneurship, and

ten years in the coffee in-

lifestyle topics for The Wall

dustry, Ryan has held every

Street Journal, Daily Candy,

job that touches the coffee

Parade, Entrepreneur, Bos-

from serving to sourcing. He

ton Globe, Fast Company,

is also the joint founder of

and The Atlantic. Learn

Threadbare Coffee Com-

more about cafés finding

pany, a consulting business

success with beverages on

that helps people in all

tap on p. 30.

parts of the supply chain, from producers to baristas, tailor the timeless principles of business and coffee to their current context. Turn to p. 36 to read his Lexington, Kentuckybased freelance writer ROBIN ROENKER has extensive experience reporting on business trends, from cybersecurity to real estate, personal finance, and green living. For Fresh Cup, she covers sustainable and eco-friendly trends in cafés and the coffee and tea industry in her regular column, Sustainable Matters, on p. 48.

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Full-time freelance writer

Director of Coffee and

article discussing accessibility at trade shows.

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The Filter

MARK YOUR CALENDARS FOR SCA EXPO

he Specialty Coffee Expo hits Fresh Cup’s hometown, Portland, Oregon, April 23–26, at the Oregon Convention Center. Attracting more than 14,000 attendees and featuring over 500 exhibitors from 75 countries, plus dozens of lectures by industry experts from around the world and numerous courses from SCA’s educational programs, this is the not-to-miss event of the year. Besides the Best New

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Product and Design Lab awards, the Cupping Exchange, and Roaster Village, the weekend will also see the finals of the U.S. Cup Tasters, Coffee in Good Spirits, and Roaster Championships. For those wanting a deeper dive into the world of coffee, don’t miss Re:co Symposium ahead of Expo, April 22–23. Register for and learn more about Specialty Coffee Expo at CoffeeExpo.org.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF SPECIALTY COFFEE EXPO

The Filter

ANNOUNCING “THANK MY FARMER,” IBM BLOCKCHAIN’S NEW TRACEABILITY APP

ech giant IBM Blockchain and its traceability platform, Farmer Connect, announced its new app, “Thank My Farmer,” which will allow coffee consumers to trace their coffee back to origin. “The aim is humanizing each coffee drinker’s relationship with their daily cup,” says David Behrends, founder and president of Farmer Connect. “Consumers now can play an active role in sustainability governance by supporting coffee farmers in developing nations. Through the blockchain and this consumer app, we’re creating a virtuous cycle.” According to IBM, Farmer Connect was developed by IBM Blockchain to increase awareness in the coffee supply chain, and to build an understanding of the need for farmers to earn a living

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as they bring their products to the marketplace. This technology comes from IBM Blockchain’s Food Trust, where information is traced across the process, allowing farmers, suppliers, and other industry people to interact in real-time data, says IBM. The look of the app is simple, with an interactive map and opportunities for consumers to fund local projects around the world. As “Thank My Farmer” starts up, companies can join and hope on board. Users in the United States and Canada can scan QR codes on 1850 Coffee owned by Folgers, while European consumers will be able to access the “Thank My Farmer” app with the single-origin brand, Beyers 1769. Learn more at IBM.com.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF FARMER CONNECT

WESTROCK COFFEE COMPANY ACQUIRES S&D COFFEE & TEA

rkansas’ Westrock Coffee Company announced plans to acquire North Carolina’s S&D Coffee & Tea from Cott Corporation. In an agreement projected at press time to close in the next few weeks, the companies will remain operating under their separate brand names. “Our unmatched commitment to customer service, product quality, and our industry-leading sustainability and transparent sourcing practices will remain a cornerstone of our business,” says Scott Ford, Westrock cofounder

and CEO. “Our combined organization will seek to lead the industry with our sustainability program and to accelerate the development of a broadening array of innovative products.” S&D will keep its operations at its North Carolina plant, with future expansions possible. S&D president and CEO, Ron Hinson, responded on the company’s website: “You can now see why I am excited about this direction. I can assure you S&D’s outlook remains secure and will continue to be a vital contributor to the local community and

the broader coffee industry. Now our impact can be even bigger.” To learn more about this acquisition, visit Westrockcoffee.com/pages/announcement.

NEW SOUTH WALES FIRE SERVICE cleaning ash off the windows at The Lott café.

AUSTRALIAN COFFEE COMMUNITY’S WILDFIRE RELIEF EFFORTS

t’s been a tough few months in Australia. Since September, the bushfire crisis spread throughout the nation, resulting in destroyed land, lost homes, and deaths. According to reports as of January, 33 people have died, nearly 11 million hectares of bushland have withered, more than 3,000 houses have been destroyed, and an estimated 1 billion-plus animals are dead. Many have been left feeling helpless. But the hardship has also brought with it a cohesive force. Communities,

industries, and individuals are coming together to offer help—ultimately, filling the nation with hope. “I’ve never seen such a united front on a cause within the coffee industry,” says Mark Free, co-owner of Melbourne-based Everyday Coffee.

THE GROUNDSWELL TOWARD REVOLUTION Australia’s café culture is mostly concentrated in urban areas, so many have been unaffected by the fires in a

PHOTOS: INSTAGRAM @WESTROCKCOFFEECOMPANY (TOP), COURTESY OF THE LOTT (BOTTOM)

practical sense. But with deterring air quality, high temperatures, and extensive volunteering efforts, no one has been left unmoved. “As far as response goes, it’s not just coffee businesses but nearly every group or individual with a platform that’s doing something,” says Free. Everyday Coffee created a Bushfire Relief Blend, which raised over $5,000, and staff also donated their tips to fire relief. “As small independent businesses, there is only so much we can do,” he

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The Filter says. “But our platforms can be wide-reaching, and every voice in the groundswell toward revolution counts.”

EVERYDAY COFFEE’S Bushfire Relief Blend.

Specialty roaster ONA Sydney organized garage sales of coffee equipment, while other companies donated coffee or their time to alleviate pressure from the fire-affected communities. Still more coffee organizations, roasters, green bean traders, and cafés have donated profits from coffees sold, online sales, bags of roasted beans, retail purchases, and tip jars. For one week in January, Melbourne’s ST. ALi donated A$1.00 from every coffee sold to Red Cross, going on to raise over A$18,000. Later that month, the roastery partnered with several other businesses for Raise for Relief, an event from which 100% of the proceeds went to Wildlife Victoria. Toby’s Estate has donated A$10,000 directly to their café partners impacted by the fires, along with A$5,000 to NSW Rural Fire Services to support the firefighters battling on the frontline. “Our call to action is for people to go out and support their local businesses and communities by spending money. Whether it’s as simple as a cup of coffee, to help them get back on their feet,” says Toby’s Estate marketing manager Gillian O’Brien. “This is a way to put money directly in the pockets of the people and communities impacted by the fires.” Sydney’s Sample Coffee donated one year’s worth of Brew Crew subscription for auction at the “Fighting Fire with Fire” fundraising event in January, and, last month, organized The Great Roaster’s Charity Ball, a roasters competition using its vintage Barth Ball roaster. All the coffee roasted by local competitors was bagged and sold, with 100% of the proceeds donated to organizations helping with the fires. “In our opinion, this is the first time the coffee industry has taken on board different ways of raising

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PHOTO: INSTAGRAM @EVERYDAYCOFFEE

funds towards organizations that are fighting fires or supporting affected communities and wildlife,” says Sample Coffee’s Ainhoa Martínez.

EMPATHY AS THE COMMON THREAD Champion barista Nicole Battefeld recently moved to Australia from Germany to be with her partner and to experience the nation’s specialty coffee scene. She says it has been a surreal experience to see how the public and various industries have reacted to the devastation of the bushfires that have ravaged Australia. “I have not had much exposure in my life to natural disasters,” says Battefeld, who now works at Highroad by ONA Coffee in Canberra, Australia’s capital. “The experience of the recent bushfires has been both terrifying and enlightening.” The response from the public has been one of frustration and stress, says Battefeld. The political climate is tenser than ever, but beyond that, the weather and the devastation witnessed has taken its toll on people. However, she notes the response from the coffee industry in Australia has been nothing short of miraculous; among the baristas and roasters she knows, nearly all have donated money from their savings to help those in need during this time.

“In the coffee community, sustainability is one of the foremost issues in our progression and development. Among the baristas and roasters I have spoken to, it’s clear that unless we find more sustainable ways in which to operate, events such as these bushfires will continue to occur with more frequency and severity,” she says. “As someone relatively new to the country, I have observed that Australians are kind, helpful, and very resilient. I can only hope that the coffee community continues to work together to help those in need. And that we find a way to prevent such devastation from ever occurring again.” –Anastasia Prikhodko

ASHES: Nicole Battefeld (right) wears a mask to protect her lungs from debris in the air caused by bushfires.

“The common thread among people is empathy,” she says. One of the most pressing topics Battefeld witnessed from the bushfires, and one many Australians are frustrated about due to the inaction, is climate change.

PHOTO: INSTAGRAM @NBATTEFELD

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In House

SO YOU THINK YOU CAN ROAST? By Michael Butterworth

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PHOTO BY BATTLECREEK COFFEE ROASTERS

ROB HOOS sorting out green bean defects.

t a previous job working for a coffee roaster, I used to joke, “It’s a good time to sell coffee roasters. It’s a bad time to sell roasted coffee.” It seemed every week a new roastery would open up, or one of our wholesale clients would notify us they planned to make the move to roasting their own coffee. And who could blame them? In the specialty coffee industry, roasters are held up as an elite and exclusive group of experts; the proprietors of a secret, gnostic craft; quite literally, the keepers of the flame.

ROB HOOS PHOTO BY CYNTHIA MEADORS

Although many café owners dream of roasting their own coffee, the decision should be approached cautiously. “Roasting coffee is not particularly easy, or romantic,” says Rob Hoos, coffee roasting consultant and author of the book Modulating the Flavor Profile of Coffee. Hoos’ comment indicates that although the specialty coffee industry has promoted a certain mystique surrounding coffee roasting, at its core, roasting is manufacturing. It’s less about artistic flourish, and more about consistency and attention to detail. Like any other role in the supply chain,

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In House coffee roasting is a skill that takes time and practice to develop. “You would not expect someone who has never made a latte before to know how to pour latte art. Nor would you expect someone’s first hundred shots of espresso they’ve ever pulled to be the best espresso you’ve ever had,” says Hoos. “At a certain point you just have to roast coffee and mess it up.”

Although roasting your own coffee offers a chance to eventually lower your cost of goods, the initial investment can be steep. Beyond the cost of the roaster, Hoos warns shipping, installation, and inspections are often more expensive and time-consuming than most aspiring roasters account for. Additionally, when first starting out, sourcing exciting coffees can be challenging. Most well-known producers have their coffee allocated to longtime partners. Companies roasting lower volumes of coffee often have to buy “spot” coffee, or whatever is on hand in an importer’s warehouse. In other words, you’re stuck with the leftovers more established roasters didn’t want. Despite the challenges, for many cafés, the switch just makes sense. “We had been considering different possibilities around roasting, with three shops open and one more on the horizon it was starting to become about time,” says Elle Taylor, co-owner of Amethyst Coffee in Denver, Colorado. “When [roaster] Sam [Neely] sat down

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PHOTO BY CYNTHIA MEADORS

with myself and my business partner, Breezy Sanchez, we knew it was the right move.” Amethyst had previously operated as a multi-roaster café. They introduced their own coffee under the label “Mystery Roaster,” before revealing their new, houseroasted coffee.

“There are always challenges,” says Taylor. “Cash flow for a roastery is new for us, and that was a bit of a learning curve, but we’re settling in now.” While every café’s numbers will be different, roasting coffee typically starts making financial sense when a café or chain starts using 500–600 pounds of coffee a week. This critical mass allows roaster/retailers to maintain a regular roasting schedule and lower their cost of goods. But beyond the financial break, roasting coffee can help a café differentiate their product. “The two biggest opportunities are to work with unique green coffees which other coffee roasters in the area are not currently working with, and to have complete control over the flavor of your coffee from the point of purchasing green to the final brewed product,” says Hoos. “It can also be a distinguishing factor in a marketplace to roast your own coffee.” For Amethyst, there was an additional factor as well. “It allows for some diversity in work we can offer our staff and different kinds of upward motion for people in the future,” says Taylor, “so we’re really excited about that aspect of it.” FC

PHOTO: INSTAGRAM @AMETHYSTCOFFEECO

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Do You Know?

WILLIAM RISTENPART, UC DAVIS COFFEE CENTER Story and photos by Dan Shryock

PROFESSOR WILLIAM RISTENPART outside the undergraduate coffee lab at UC Davis.

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illiam Ristenpart is becoming a celebrity of sorts in the coffee world. A chemical engineering professor at the University of California, Davis, he heads up the UC Davis Coffee Center research facility. He’s a frequent speaker at conferences around the world and most recently appeared with his colleagues on a CBS News report about coffee research. To thousands of college students, however, he’s the instructor who helped open their eyes to chemical engineering via the coffee bean. He teaches one of the most popular classes on campus. And, it all started with a bright idea over his own cup of coffee. Professor Ristenpart talked with Fresh Cup in February about the Coffee Center, its research, and the class that started it all. This interview has been edited for length. FRESH CUP: Please go back to the beginning. What was the genesis of coffee research at UC Davis? WILLIAM RISTENPART: Sometime around 2012, my colleague, Professor Tonya Kuhl, and I were thinking about how we could improve our upper-division chemical engineering laboratory courses and she proposed, “Hey, why don’t we have them reverse engineer a Mr. Coffee drip brewer?” The idea was to take one of those apart and have the students figure out how it works because it’s actually more complicated than most people appreciate. We were drinking a cup of coffee in the hallway and when she said that, I had a light bulb go on in my head. I thought we could make an introductory course and open it up to everybody on campus because the big insight is that the whole process of turning a green coffee bean into a cup of coffee involves basically everything we talk about in the entire chemical engineering curriculum. We can map that process of roasting, grinding, and brewing a cup of coffee.

We rolled it out as a freshman seminar in 2013 to 18 students and the feedback was very positive, so we rolled it out as a regular course and now we’re up to about 2,000 students a year. FC: What is this course and what is the focus? WR: I’m actually standing in the classroom right now. The class is called “The Design of Coffee” and the goal of the class is to provide a non-mathematical introduction to science and engineering principles using coffee as a working example. The undergraduate lab in the center of campus is a teaching lab. It’s an introductory course, so it’s designed for

high throughput, lots of students doing simple introductory experiments to teach them about science and engineering using coffee. In contrast, the Coffee Center building over on the other side of campus is for much more advanced, cutting-edge research with graduate students doing their master’s and PhD work on coffee. So, we have both sides of the coin here. [The Coffee Center building] was built about 10 years ago for a different purpose. We’re already making use of two-thirds of the space with some temporary renovations. We have some small roasters and a small brewing lab already set up. We’ve been fundraising philanthropic support to renovate this building because we have a tremendous

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Do you Know? William Ristenpart

A UC DAVIS undergraduate student prepares an experiment while her lab partner documents the process on video.

opportunity to make something really amazing for the coffee industry. Something I’m really excited about is setting up a sensory descriptive lab with booths and lights and all that. FC: Can you explain how a sensory descriptive lab operates? WR: Descriptive analysis? It’s all about what coffee tastes like. We use sensory description isolation booths. Typically, you can’t see the product and you’re in isolation, so you don’t see other people. You only smell the product that’s in front of you. The idea is that you taste a product under carefully controlled conditions and then you give quantitative information about how it’s different. FC: Where else is the research taking you? WR: The thing about coffee is how complicated it is. I have a lot of colleagues here at Davis who study wine and they know better than anybody how difficult it is to make a good glass of wine. And it’s even more challenging, more complicated to make a good cup of coffee. That complexity is invisible to most people because it’s behind the

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What controls the differences in taste between a [washed] coffee and a natural process coffee? We know there’s a flavor difference but what’s the actual chemistry? What’s the microbiology?

scenes but when you think about the overall process of taking the seeds of the coffee plant and turning them into a cup of coffee, there are way more unit operations, there’s more steps. Typically, there’s an international divide and a language divide and most importantly the science is very unsettled. What controls the differences in taste between a [washed] coffee and a natural process coffee? We know there’s a flavor difference but what’s the actual chemistry? What’s the microbiology? Nobody really knows so you take all those unanswered questions and the increased complexity along the supply chain, so I think you make a very strong case that coffee is actually a much more complicated beverage.

goal at the Coffee Center is to help disseminate and educate the public about how much work goes into that. On a more important scale, people here in the States see the barista and they might see the roaster but what they don’t necessarily realize is that there’s about 100 million people around the world whose livelihoods depend on growing and picking coffee. There are a lot of people in developing countries that if demand for coffee dried up, they would not be doing so well. So, anything we can do to improve our understanding of coffee, the sustainability of coffee, the quality of coffee to drive up demand actually affects a huge number of people around the world.

FC: I’m holding a cup of coffee in my hand right now. How does all this research relate to what I’m drinking?

FC: Is the Coffee Center looking at the effects of climate change on coffee crops?

WR: That’s a great question. One of our goals is to help improve quality of coffee around the world. Hopefully you’re enjoying your cup of coffee, right? It’s not an accident that you have a good cup of coffee in your hand. A lot of work went into that. In one sense, our

WR: Absolutely. One of the things that I’m very excited about is that the UC Davis Coffee Center has forged a collaboration with World Coffee Research. World Coffee Research several years ago started an international multilocational variety trial. That’s a fancy way of saying that they took about 20

RISTENPART inside the UC Davis coffee lab.

different cultivars of coffee and planted them each in 20 different locations around the world. The reason they did that is because there’s an astonishing lack of information. A very simple question is what type of coffee does best in a hot environment. It’s a simple question but there’s no good data out there on that. So, they’re doing research on that genetic versus environmental interaction to try to answer the question, specifically in the face of climate change. The Coffee Center comes in because World Coffee Research is so dispersed around the world, they didn’t actually have a central place to curate, to collect all the samples and then do chemical and sensory analysis on them. The Coffee Center is playing that role. We’re starting to receive samples of these different cultivars grown in these different locations around the world. Soon we will be working to roast them and then do chemical and sensory analysis. FC: Building a research laboratory like the Coffee Center takes money. Several major sponsors

are listed on your website. How is fundraising progressing? WR: We welcome philanthropic support at any level, but the reality is that to renovate a building on a university campus anywhere in the country is very expensive. This is the reality. Fortunately, we’ve had some very generous partners including many that are listed there. We just announced a gift from Toddy, which manufacturers cold brew coffee equipment, so they are funding one of the rooms. It’s going to be the Toddy Innovation Lab, space designed for cold brew experiments and advanced flexible space for different tests on brewing techniques or roasting techniques or whatever. FC: Did you ever expect you’d get to this point? WR: No, not at all. When I first got into coffee, I thought it was just going to be a fun way to teach students about science and engineering, but what my colleagues and I quickly realized was that there was a huge unmet need for

science, academic validation, and advanced education in the world of coffee. What I thought of as just a fun class has really blossomed into something even bigger and better. And I’m very excited about it. I’ve worked on a lot of different kinds of engineering problems in different fields and coffee, I think, is by far the one that engenders the most interest amongst both the public and the coffee industry. We just hosted the Specialty Coffee Association’s Sensory Summit here at UC Davis, and it’s amazing to me that people take time out of their busy schedules to come to UC Davis and learn about the science. The people are fascinated by it and, as an academic, that’s where you want to be. FC For more information, visit the UC Davis Coffee Center website at coffeecenter.ucdavis.edu See the CBS News report aired February 1 at www. cbsnews.com/video/whychemical-engineers-are-nowstudying-coffee

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Small Business, Big Stores

aybe you’re a small shop starting to make a line of products. Or perhaps you’re a boutique brand with a strong online following but wants a physical space for your product. With local, smaller brands springing up in big box stores everywhere, the questions on many minds are: Where do I start with retail? How do I approach getting my brand out there in front of customers? From small business owners who have been through it all to a digital platform working to connect brands and stores in one space, read on for answers.

KNOW YOUR CUSTOMER BASE With customers being the key to retail, knowing where your target consumer group likes to shop is a way to narrow down the large, intimidating list of places to potentially pitch to.

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Nomad Trading Co., a Brooklynbased company that offers cascarainspired energy drinks, began working with retailers and bodegas in New York City shortly after developing its product a couple of years ago. Business partners Max Keilson and Jon Epstein noticed consumers were drawn to the energizing coffee alternative after sampling the drinks at local Whole Foods stores. Picking up on their customers’ behaviors helped Nomad determine who to approach to sell their product, says Keilson. “We found early on that we tended to do well in food services like coffee shops and sandwich spots because there was less competition in our specific category,” he says. “Thinking about where people are consuming and why, and what the competitive landscape is like is huge. We talked to a coconut water company, and when they first started out, they went

after yoga studios because people are thirsty, need to be hydrated, and there was nothing for sale. We tried to look for things like that and still try to look for ways to cut through.” For Nomad, they were intentional in reaching out to retail buyers, but also focused on putting their brand in front of people’s eyes at events. “We met Whole Foods folks at an event,” says Keilson. “Most metro areas have events where you can hand out samples and put yourself out there. You never know who is going to be there and who you will end up chatting with.” Once while sampling their product at a grocery store, Keilson found himself speaking with someone from Michelinstarred farm-to-table restaurant Blue Hill at Stone Barns. “I think the first step is getting out there, and while people may be hard to get on the phone, the flip side is approaching this concept like it is these

PHOTO: INSTAGRAM @NOMADTRADINGCOMPANY

peoples’ jobs to find interesting products to offer to their customers. It is a mutual relationship. Approach it from that mindset—that we have something to offer and our products would make their business better.”

GROW ONLINE Some companies have started redirecting potential suppliers to sign up for RangeMe, a product discovery platform used by retail buyers to source new products for their retail stores. The online-based company connects brands to the retail sphere, represented by approximately 70% of the top 100 U.S. retailers, including Whole Foods, Target, and Safeway. Businesses and brands who sign up to be listed on RangeMe can then be connected with major and smaller-scale retailers. Users can also pay an annual fee for its “premium” version, which boosts their brand on the website. Not only does RangeMe facilitate the retailer submission, but it also provides quotes on insurance and shipping, among other typical business expenses, and provides insights into industry trends. Those who have yet to try the platform may still have come across RangeMe’s Success Center, an online article resource for vendors and suppliers to read up on ways to improve their branding, how to price items, and tips for a buyer meeting. Since launching in 2014, RangeMe now has more than 150,000 consumer product goods from a variety of industries, including coffee and tea. “We are here to standardize how retailers and suppliers speak to each other,” says Brandon Leong, RangeMe’s VP of Marketing and Growth. “If you are trying to have a B2B presence, trying to get into retail, this is the first place to go because many starting out are unsure about the questions a retailer would ask them. Some are just bringing the product to market, some are just trying to sell locally...it is a lot easier to get your products out in local retail versus mass.”

TIPS FOR SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS GETTING INTO RETAIL • Attend trade shows and networking events • Connect with other small businesses and chat with them about their experiences • Think about your competition and pitch what sets you apart • Research alternative retail opportunities that fit your product, including yoga studios, farmers markets, or coffee shops inside grocery stores • Learn who to reach out to at your local grocery stores and bodegas • Determine how much product you can handle putting on shelves • Get to know your retailers for optimum placement of your product

The coffee and tea industry has a lot of competition, says Leong. “Let’s say a large retailer…loves your product. Ask yourself, are you ready to distribute globally? Have you worked with distributors before? Do you have enough margin to look into it?” he says. “The competitive key here is differentiation: certifications, claims, ingredients, social presence, packaging, USPs are all things category buyers consider when they are sourcing new products.”

READY TO BE SHELF READY? If RangeMe isn’t the next step for you, some supermarkets have dedicated spaces on their websites to break down what is required (beyond being foodsafe) to apply to shelf your product. Because many retailers want new products coming in that reflect their mission, as a brand, it is important to highlight your own business values to determine what kind of store best fits your style. For example, Colorado-based Natural Grocers asks vendors if they fit the

company’s Grocery Standards, which states it prioritizes products that align with their company values, like sustainability and fair trade certifications, and highlights a list of ingredients it does not permit. And while getting someone on the phone might be tough, groups including Texas company H-E-B, which owns Central Market, ask potential suppliers to go through an online application to establish if a supplier is ready to be on its shelves, becoming the middle ground of supplier and buyer.

TRY LOCAL Still for others, online platforms or national retail chains may not be the best route. One Stripe Chai Co. began working with retailers not long after starting its operations in Portland, Oregon, and quickly learned that one size doesn’t fit all. Farah Jesani, co-owner of the single-origin chai company, says she felt it was hard to contact Whole Foods because of the size of the corporation and the redirection to product

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Small Business, Big Stores platform RangeMe. A member of a Google group for Pacific Northwest food and beverage business owners, Jesani says some business owners mentioned not having much luck with the platform. “I felt like [RangeMe] wasn’t going to work for us,” she says. “I went into Whole Foods and noticed there weren’t many local brands in the chai aisle, but I asked to speak to a manager. I asked how I could get my chai samples in, and they didn’t know but they suggested I follow what the Whole Food website says or reach out by sending some chai to the head office in Austin. They probably get thousands of samples and I would rather speak to a person.” One Stripe found that working with bigger retailers meant possibly working with a distributor to deliver brand goods, which can be financially difficult for brands because some require part of the brand’s margin, says Jesani. “You have to have a good enough margin to make money off of what you are doing,” she says. “Navigating all of that is hard. We don’t work with a distributor. That is a reason that many people don’t want to get into national retail because there are a lot of rules, from free fills where you need to give a store a free case and that might be a lot of product you are giving away or promotions that run that cut down your margin. I think

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a great choice is smaller, independent chains because they are easier to work with and you might not need a distributor.” One Stripe’s concentrated chai is currently featured in coffee shops up and down the West Coast, as well as a handful of cafes in the southeast. It’s also sold at Market of Choice and New Seasons, popular grocery chains in the Pacific Northwest. “Starting local is going to stretch your capacity, but you aren’t going to be bent out of shape,” says Jesani. Working with smaller chains also allowed One Stripe Chai Co. to develop relationships with their contacts, says Jesani.

“This past year, New Seasons had its large sale around the holidays. Our contact there worked with us and encouraged us to try it and told us it was the time to put our product on a heavy promo and get it into people’s hands,” says Jesani. “They really worked with us to be able to afford to do that. But they wanted more chai than we have ever made in our entire life. That entire month we were brewing because they needed about a hundred cases. But in the end, we sold more chai than we have ever sold. It was a great experience and I always thank our contact there, and it was a practice round for something we might need to do and made us think about our production process as a whole.” Beyond the retail shelves, for One Stripe Chai, being present at events and farmers markets means they instantly get customer feedback, says Jesani. “We opened up all these channels to help us with growth, and it gets our product in people’s hands,” she explains. “There are people who only shop at farmers markets that might not go to a grocery store. We want our chai available wherever possible and have it be as accessible as possible....Being in retail really puts your brand out there and even if [you] don’t buy it at the grocery store, you continue to recognize the product from being on shelves. That really helps.” FC

PHOTOS COURTESY OF ONE STRIPE CHAI CO.

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LITTLE RED FOX offers cold brew coffee, kombucha, and beer on tap.

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PHOTO BY MELISSA FORSYTH

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Beverages on Tap

hile nitro cold brew has been available for several years, many customers are still discovering its creaminess and novelty. As more coffee shops acquire coffee-on-tap systems, some are moving beyond nitro cold brew to include tea, kombucha, and other beverages on tap. “You can keg really anything,” says Shelby Van Slooten, director of marketing for Enhanced Beverage Solutions, which created a Nitro Infuser for cold brew coffee.

One shop, Java House Cold Brew Coffee in Carmel, Indiana, has served most of its beverages on tap, including coffee and tea, since opening in May 2019. “We don’t need an espresso machine to brew on site,” says co-owner and operator Michael Moe. “It made sense with the product that we have currently to serve from taps.” If, for instance, someone orders a mocha, “you will dispense a couple of ounces of concentrate from the tap along with the mocha sauce,” explains Moe. “Someone will steam milk and mix.”

Fresh Cup talked to Moe and others about the benefits of beverages on tap.

IMPROVE EFFICIENCY Perhaps the most obvious benefit is that pouring from a tap is faster than brewing espresso or pouring concentrate from a pitcher. “We can keep up with demand easier than if we had a standard coffee brewer,” says Moe. “We are more efficient. Everything is very fresh over here for up to 14 days.”

ON TAP: Java House’s nitro cold brew (left), Little Red Fox’s hibiscus lemon agua fresca (above), and a butterfly pea flower tea from Enhanced Beverage Solutions.

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PHOTOS (CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT): COURTESY OF JAVA HOUSE COLD BREW COFFEE, INSTAGRAM @LITTLEREDFOXDC, COURTESY OF ENHANCED BEVERAGE SOLUTIONS

Matt Carr, owner of Washington, D.C.-based Little Red Fox, which offers cold brew coffee, kombucha, and beer on tap, agrees. “It’s a lot easier to serve,” he says. “It’s a lot more efficient on register in terms of your movement. It’s physically efficient in the space. It’s easier to store [compared to one-gallon pitchers].” He notes that it’s also easier to clean the stainless steel interior of a keg versus washing pitchers. Keg storage could be a barrier for operators with limited space, but because Little Red Fox also serves food, they can store kegs in the walk-in cooler. With a sixth-barrel keg size (the thinnest standard size), Carr estimates that they might change out the keg of cold brew five to six times per week in the summer and three to four times in the winter. Since iced coffee is typically more popular in the summer, Van Slooten suggests kegging popular drinks such as iced caramel lattes. “Rather than putting that drink through an espresso machine, why not keg something that’s similar like a cold brew oat milk caramel latte?” she says. “Now it’s on draft and it’s new and exciting and it can be a special. Your speed of service goes up, which lightens up the work on the espresso machine.” Chai, matcha, and other lattes can be served from a tap (milk included), but Van Slooten recommends using non-dairy options like oat milk to avoid spoilage and minimize special requests. “You can hit all audiences if you’re choosing the right milk alternative,” she says.

CLEANING YOUR TAP SYSTEM

nce you introduce beverages on tap, you’ll need to clean your kegerator and other equipment regu-

larly to ensure a consistent and safe product. To find out more, Fresh Cup talked to Isaac Cohen, vice president of marketing, and Kofi Amoako, technical director, both at Urnex, which makes cleaning products for espresso and coffee machines. “For a closed system, regular cleaning of the dispensing valves and nozzle or faucet is crucial for maintaining a sanitary environment [and] preventing the buildup of yeast, mold, and bacteria,” says Amoako. “This regular cleaning assures that bacteria does not have the opportunity to reach levels that might cause off-flavors and shorten the shelf life of your drink. At a minimum, you should clean your tap lines and keg coupler once a week.” Mix a food-grade cleaning solution with some water and run it through the system for 15 minutes. “Flush it out with water until it rinses clear,” says Cohen. “Usually it’s a couple of times.” Sanitization to kill bacteria follows a similar process using a food-grade sanitizer mixed with water, except it doesn’t require a rinse. “If you’re brewing a batch of coffee, you don’t need to sanitize because the coffee is so hot, but cold liquid requires sanitization,” explains Cohen. Changing out kegs is a good time to spray down the inside of the kegerator. Amoako also recommends cleaning and sanitizing tap lines between each keg. “If they are not going to perform daily cleaning of the dispensing valve and nozzle we advise cleaning with [equipment cleaning wipes],” he adds. Learn more about Urnex’s new plant-based cleaning line on p. 45.

REDUCE WASTE Draft systems can also have environmental benefits. For instance, Carr serves excess retail coffee on draft with nitro. “We pull all our retail and turn it into cold brew,” he says. “It’s a way to not waste coffee.” He adds that “sealing the kegs with the nitro gas helps preserve it as well.” Draft system can also reduce packaging waste, “especially in a setting

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Beverages on Tap

where everyone can bring their own reusable container,” says Deanne Gustafson, cofounder of Kombucha on Tap, which distributes beverages on tap in Southern California. Some cafés and grocery stores allow customers to fill growlers of cold brew, kombucha, or beer, which is another sustainable option.

AMP UP VISUAL APPEAL Beyond the operational perks of draft systems, draft coffee brings a “cool factor, kind of like a bar,” says Moe. “Things that come from a tap oftentimes have that customer appeal that makes people want to take a picture of it and share it with their friend,” agrees Van Slooten. “Having tap handles is something that can draw people in and get their attention pulled more toward whatever’s on tap.” A common tap setup where the barista faces customers while pouring drinks provides an opportunity for more interaction, says Van Slooten. If a customer hasn’t tried nitro cold brew, seeing it in action can help pique curiosity. “They’ve never seen coffee look like this before and all of a sudden they’re having a conversation with their barista and they’re developing

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a relationship and then they want to come back,” she says. While it’s typically not efficient to make a small sample drink from an espresso machine, Van Slooten adds that cold brew on tap is easy to sample. “If you’re kegging something, you can easily say, ‘Have you had nitro cold brew? It’s creamier, it’s velvety, let me pour you a few ounces and you can try it,’” she says. Beyond nitro cold brew, nitro-infused tea is also gaining popularity. “When tea enters the equation, you can infuse things that are bright red and draws in the visual appeal,” says Van Slooten.

FOR THE FOAM: Kombucha collection from Kombucha on Tap (left), berry hibiscus tea (above), and cold brew coffee (below).

PROVIDE A SENSORY EXPERIENCE Beyond tempting the eyes, nitroinfused beverages also appeal to our senses of taste and smell. “Nitro gas makes drinks taste velvety and creamier,” says Van Slooten. “It’s the nitro bubbles dancing on your tongue.” Nitro gas also forms a foamy head that can tantalize customers’ sense of smell. “One thing that’s really vital about the head of that beverage is that it enhances the aromatics of your

drink,” says Van Slooten. “They’re smelling things that they haven’t smelled before. “Everything comes down to the theater of what the customer is experiencing,” she adds. “Customers want to be enticed by all of their senses.” FC

TOP LEFT PHOTO: FACEBOOK @KOMBUCHAONTAP, OTHER PHOTOS COURTESY OF ENHANCED BEVERAGE SOLUTIONS

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Accessibility at Trade Shows

still remember my first trade show: Coffee Fest Seattle, 2010. I was living in Portland, Oregon, at the time and had recently fallen head over heels in love with coffee while working at the Starbucks in Pioneer Courthouse Square. In that season, finding out the there was such a thing as “Coffee Fest” blew my mind, and the subsequent discovery of the Annual SCAA (at the time) Expo transported me to new heights. Trade shows can be tremendously valuable, in part because they provide a sense of community and camaraderie with the industry at large. After a decade of attending, volunteering, competing, judging, and teaching at these gatherings, I’ve developed more than a few friendships with people I only see at trade shows. I also appreciate the classes that go along with them; whether attending lectures or teaching them myself, I love the hunger that I see within the coffee industry to learn and grow. In addition, there are the connections with vendors selling new products, getting to try coffees or steaming pitchers that haven’t hit the market yet, and the overall sense of being a part of something bigger than oneself. It may seem trite, but trade shows have imbued a sense of legitimacy to my time carving a career in coffee. After connecting with hundreds of people who have also made coffee their life, I sense that I’m not alone in these sentiments.

TRADE SHOWS ARE HARD FOR EVERYONE For all their many benefits, however, there seems a hard edge just below the surface of the enthusiasm and fanfare: trade shows are hard for everyone, but they’re harder for certain groups of people. Attendees In 2019, there were over 35,000 coffee shops of various types in the United States alone. Whether a small business, franchise, or owned by a large parent company (e.g. Starbucks), most of these shops aren’t likely to pay for staff members to attend a local trade show. Only a fraction of the coffee industry is made up of companies that are able to— and regularly do— pay for their team members to attend; most trade show attendees foot the bill themselves—a cost that can be a serious hinderance. The price of the actual trade show, however, pales in comparison to another challenge: proximity. Because of their nature, these events take place far away from where many attendees actually live and work. Travel, food, and lodging quickly tips the scale from “doable” to “impossible” for people looking to attend trade shows, as well as for the numerous volunteers,

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instructors, and judges who are required to cover expenses incurred by traveling. Volunteer teachers, in particular, have to pay thousands of dollars on classes—on top of their annual membership fee—in order to be allowed to teach in the first place, creating a high barrier to entry and in turn narrowing the scope of educational topics.

Besides the “where” of an event, the “when” matters, too. Take, for instance, the fact that one of our industry’s largest trade shows has twice been held in Boston the same weekend as the Boston Marathon, making accommodations nearly impossible to find and adding hundreds of dollars to the total cost of the trade show. Vendors The question of how productive these shows are bears mentioning, and not just for attendees, but for vendors as well. Booth rentals range in the tens of thousands of dollars. Drayage fees, the union-dictated cost of moving materials within the convention center, can be $20,000 one-way, shares one industry insider. When confirming these numbers with Nathanael May of Pacific Foods, he says, “Yes. And depending on who is doing it, it can be a monstrous number. The weight of the booth matters A LOT.” If the move-in or move-out day is a holiday, drayage fees become time-and-a-half—that’s $30,000 to move materials out of the convention center. Says another insider of such fees, “They vary hugely for opaque reasons.”

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Accessibility at Trade Shows

The question for participants in the classrooms and vendors on the show floors quickly becomes: Is this worth it?

TRADE SHOWS ARE HARDER FOR SOME Although the aforementioned challenges are widespread and valid for many, there are additional barriers for certain groups of people. For anyone who has been “other-ized,” trade show accessibility can be much more difficult. People with Disabilities Awareness and sensitivity to physical disabilities is largely an area governed by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990. Convention centers and trade show organizers are required by law to meet certain requirements so that people with physical disabilities can access all areas of the show. What many overlook are the challenges faced by people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). “Specialty coffee has a tendency to build barriers for people with developmental disabilities,” says Tristan LeFever, head roaster at Happy Cup Coffee, a roasting operation in Portland, Oregon, that specializes in creating jobs for adults with disabilities.

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Although LeFever has attended trade shows over the years, Happy Cup has never sent a group of employees to a trade show for fear that they would be “other-ized” by the coffee community at the event in the same way they are at coffee shops around town. LeFever and the team at Happy Cup hope to change that this year with SCA being in Portland; they’re even working with their importing partners to discuss the opportunity of some of their staff with disabilities giving a talk at Re:co Symposium in the future. This, among other efforts, feeds into their mission to teach “self-advocacy,” the ability to stand up for one’s own needs, to their staff. Other Challenges Beyond disabilities, there are many ways in which a person can feel excluded from trade shows, as Erica Escalante, owner of The Arrow Coffeehouse, experienced at last year’s Expo. As a new mother still nursing her little one, she says she felt unwelcome at every level, even though her baby was in a carrier and not in danger of running around the show floor or getting hurt. The breastfeeding options were few and far between, and, at one point, a security guard barred her entrance to the barista competition even though

she had the expressed permission of the SCA Event Coordinators. (Fortunately, she had one of their cell phone numbers and was able to call in order to obtain entry.) Owner of the iconoclast Deadstock Coffee in Portland, Oregon, Ian Williams is admittedly not a coffee person. A former Nike employee, Williams opened Deadstock with the goal of creating a space for sneaker-heads to connect; coffee is the means to create that culture. Williams recalls his first time at a trade show and the challenges he faced in being taken seriously as an entrepreneur. “The classes that were there were extremely helpful,” he says. “But then [you] start to walk that trade show floor and nobody believes you, at least nobody believed me, and it was quite uncomfortable…and this is the same for all trade shows.” Williams learned from his earlier days walking the floor at sneaker trade shows that this kind of treatment is par for the course, regardless of the industry. “The bigger companies who have the 50x50 booth don’t want to say anything to you,” he says. “I was already kind of used to that, so when I went into the coffee side I was like, ‘Man, I didn’t think it was gonna be like this, but it is, and I’m used to it.’”

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Accessibility at Trade Shows In digging deeper, Williams says that the dismissal was sometimes an issue of being a small business owner and not being taken seriously by large vendors, while at other times, it was an issue of racial discrimination. His experiences notwithstanding, Williams still holds onto this sage advice: “I learned early, early in life, if you want something, there’s usually a way to get it.”

TRADE SHOW ORGANIZERS Lest we assume those organizing the trade shows themselves are the cause of all these woes, I spoke with the coordinators behind Coffee Fest and SCA Expo to learn about the challenges they face in addressing accessibility. Coffee Fest’s Erika Lowery and Renee Wulf affirm that accessibility in every sense is one of their top priorities, from the number of wheelchairs that will be provided by the convention center, to language translator options, to venue regulations they cannot control that might make a particular group of people feel excluded or less than. Specifically, Lowery elaborates, Coffee Fest looks at which cities attendees are asking the show to be held in, population of surrounding cities within driving distance, coffee shops per capita, ease of booking direct flights, and cost of lodging per night. To make matters more complicated, points out Wulf, many of the arrangements are being made up to five years in advance. There have been instances when accessibility options and availability of resources [like wheelchairs or nursing pods] have changed since the arrangements were made. Alex Bernson, Event Marketing Director for SCA, also states that accessibility at every level is of paramount importance. Part of the tension, Bernson notes, is that the SCA is “a community organization and we have to take all members into consideration.” That means looking at the cost to the vendors, to the attendees, and to the SCA itself. “Every stakeholder in the specialty coffee chain is part of our community:

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barista, roaster, technician, grower, NGO, exhibitor, sponsor, competitor, allied member, you name it!” adds Cindy Cohn, Chief Exhibitions Officer. It is no surprise that, with such a broad scope of accessibility, innumerable challenges arise. With respect to those challenges that affect everyone (price, proximity, and productivity), the SCA is working to address those as well. “We do know that attending a trade show costs money, and different groups within our community have varying resources available,” says Cohn. “We try to offer a number of options to help, including volunteering, which can translate into a free badge. There are also discounted group tickets available for NGO and producer groups. Our Sponsorship teams [are] also currently seeking sponsors for a new Expo scholarship to help more people attend the events.”

TAKEAWAYS Although the challenges regarding accessibility at tradeshows are many, raising awareness is often the first step. Realization that many cannot afford to attend has led to volunteer opportunities and scholarships. Proximity issues have given birth to hosting more shows in varied locations, so travel is not the barrier it was in the past.

Still, there is much to be done. “We periodically survey attendees at our events, and so are also proactively looking at what’s important to them,” says Cohn. Notably missing from the survey process, however, are those who chose not to attend, for whatever reason. In discussing this issue with several industry veterans, ideas abounded: tiered pricing structures for those who cannot afford admission; exploring non-convention center venues when possible to cut costs; lodging accommodations for volunteer instructors and judges; and simply being thoughtful and aware of how a rule, system, or structure might be perceived by someone with a different background than oneself. Trade shows can have immense value, which is precisely why they need to be made as accessible as possible. Somewhere, somebody promulgated the idea that we cannot love something and point out its flaws at the same time. That’s a false dichotomy; to love something and desire it to endure is inseparable from wanting it to be better and more accessible to everyone. It’s not either/or, it’s both/and. I love trade shows and, without diminishing the tremendous benefits they’ve added to my life and to the lives of so many others, I think they can and will continue to get even better. FC

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Counter Intelligence

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FRESH BUSINESSES & PRODUCTS

Whip It Good iSi Nitro Whip Baristaproshop.com Nitro brew is one of the fastest-growing trends in coffee today. Now, iSi has created a way for cafés to create nitro coffee, nitro tea, and nitro cocktails—without expensive setups. Adding nitrogen to cold brew coffee and cocktails initiates a spectacular cascading effect, making the beverage unique, attractive, and personal. A simple process for dispensing: just fill the Nitro Whip,

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charge with one iSi Nitro Charger, shake, and dispense. Bring the tap with you behind the bar, on the road, and everywhere in between with iSi Nitro Whip.

Biocaf.com Urnex is going au naturel with its newest line of plantbased products. Featuring an array of biodegradable, environmentally safe café cleaners, the new Biocaf line helps you keep up your green goals this year. Keep your espresso and bulk grinders clean (without disassembling) with Coffee Grinder Cleaning Tablets, get rid of residue in your superautomatic with Coffee Equipment Cleaning Powder or Tablets, or remove buildup from steam wands and frothing pitchers with Milk Frother Cleaning Liquid. Containing no phosphates and highlighting all-natural ingredients, Biocaf products help you feel good about cleaning.

FRESH CUP MAGAZINE [ 45

Trade Show & Events CALENDAR MARCH 5-7

MARCH 8-10

MARCH 12-14

NCA ANNUAL CONVENTION

COFFEE FEST

COFFEE & TEA RUSSIAN EXPO

Austin, TX

New York City, NY

INTL. RESTAURANT & FOODSERVICE SHOW

coffeefest.com

New York City, NY

coffeetea rusexpo.ru/en

ncausa.org

international restaurantny.com

Moscow, Russia

MARCH 13-15

MARCH 21-22

MARCH 28-29

AMSTERDAM COFFEE FESTIVAL

COFFEE & TEA FESTIVAL NYC

COFFEE & CHOCOLATE EXPO

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Brooklyn, NY

SOUTHWEST COFFEE & CHOCOLATE FESTIVAL

coffeeandtea festival.com

Albuquerque, NM

coffeeand chocolateexpo.com

APRIL 2-5

APRIL 9-12

APRIL 19-20

APRIL 21-23

LONDON COFFEE FESTIVAL

COFFEE EXPO SEOUL

NW FOOD SHOW

RE:CO SYMPOSIUM

London, United Kingdom

Seoul, South Korea

Portland, OR

coffeeexposeoul.com

nwfoodshow.com

recosymposium.org

APRIL 23-26

APRIL 24-26

MAY 4-7

SPECIALTY COFFEE EXPO

US COFFEE CHAMPIONSHIPS

WORLD BARISTA CHAMPIONSHIP

Portland, OR

MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL COFFEE EXPO

Melbourne, Australia

worldcoffeeevents.org

amsterdam coffeefestival.com

london coffeefestival.com

coffeeexpo.org

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uscoffee championships.org

chocolateand coffeefest.com

internationalcoffee expo.com.au

San Juan, Puerto Rico

MAY 4-7

MAY 8-17

MAY 16-19

JUNE 8-11

WORLD BREWERS CUP

KA’U COFFEE FESTIVAL

NRA SHOW

WORLD TEA EXPO

Melbourne, Australia

Ka’u, HI

Chicago, IL

Denver, CO

worldcoffeeevents.org

kaucoffeefestival.com

show.restaurant.org

worldteaexpo.com

JUNE 17

JUNE 18-20

JUNE 26-28

AUGUST 9-11

4C GLOBAL SUSTAINABILTY CONFERENCE

WORLD OF COFFEE

COFFEE FEST

Warsaw, Poland

Chicago, IL

Anaheim, CA

Warsaw, Poland

worldofcoffee.org

coffeefest.com

AUGUST 9-11

AUGUST 13-15

SEPTEMBER 5-7

SEPTEMBER 20-21

WESTERN FOODSERVICE & HOSPITALITY EXPO

HONG KONG INTERNATIONAL TEA FAIR

PARIS COFFEE SHOW Paris, France

THE CANADIAN COFFEE & TEA SHOW

Anaheim, CA

Hong Kong

pariscoffeeshow.fr

Toronto, Canada

westernfoodexpo.com

event.hktdc.com/fair/ hkteafair-en

SEPTEMBER 22-23

SEPTEMBER 24-26

OCTOBER 22-24

OCTOBER 24-25

FLORIDA RESTAURANT & LODGING SHOW

EXPO CAFE MEXICO

TRIESTESPRESSO EXPO

COFFEE FEST

Mexico City, Mexico

Trieste, Italy

Tacoma, WA

Orlando, FL

tradex.mx/expocafe

triestespresso.it

coffeefest.com

4c-services.org

coffeeteashow.ca

flrestaurantand lodgingshow.com

FRESH CUP MAGAZINE [ 47

Sustainable Matters PLASTIC-FREE TEAS Sustainable tea companies work to educate customers about their packaging. By Robin Roenker

ast fall, an academic study published in Environmental Science & Technology made headlines. Its finding: plastic tea bags can release billions of plastic microparticles and nanoparticles into tea during seeping. The study’s Montreal-based university researchers found that a single plastic tea bag placed into a cup at 95 degrees Celsius can release traces of both nylon and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) into the tea at a rate magnitudes higher than plastic levels previously reported in other food and drink scenarios. The researchers did not name the specific brands of tea that were tested. The resulting news blasts sparked a wave of consumer questions about safe tea packaging. Practically overnight, tea drinkers everywhere found themselves wondering, “Is my tea safe?”

CONSUMER EDUCATION

In the days and weeks following news of the study, employees of Metropolitan Luxury Tea found themselves fielding a steady stream of client questions about the safety of their tea packaging. News reports that summarized the study, in some cases, were “a little misleading,” says John Chaffey, sales manager with Metropolitan, because they seemed to suggest that all pyramid-style tea bags are made of nylon mesh; in contrast, Metropolitan’s METZ Tea uses pyramid bags made with only compostable, plant-based material. “We always focus on sustainability,” says Chaffey. “It’s part of our culture. We’ve never used nylon, ever. We try to be as natural as possible.” The company used the opportunity to quickly set the record straight about their pyramid bags, which are made from a woven material formed from strands of corn starch that’s naturally biodegradable and compostable. “We released a post about it on Instagram, to explain that our bags are plant-based, not plastic-based,” says

48 ] MARCH 2020 » freshcup.com

PHOTOS COURTESY OF METROPOLITAN LUXURY TEA GROUP

Chaffey. “We also sent a detailed news release to all of our clients, to help them understand the issue from a technical standpoint. We wanted our [wholesale] clients to be able to communicate the distinction properly with consumers.” The company took action to get ahead of—and alleviate—potential consumer fears. “There can be a sort of alarmist approach to certain media outlets, and quite often there is misleading information in the marketplace,” says Chaffey. “Because of that, we felt it was important to be transparent and communicate to our clients in a timely manner.” Like METZ, teapigs tea company uses no plastics in their pyramid tea bags, which teapigs calls “tea temples.” Facing frequent queries about packaging safety, the company has been using social media to help get the word out that their tea bags are plant-based and biodegradable. “Our social media posts about having plastic-free packaging have definitely been some of our most popular,” says teapigs cofounder Louise Cheadle. “Our tea temples are fully derived from plants—corn starch, to be precise. We are happy to say our tea temples have always been plastic-free and have been certified plastic-free by A Plastic Planet.” Even the inner clear bags in teapigs’ tea packaging are now plastic-free; they’re made from NatureFlex, a biofilm that’s derived from wood pulp, so it’s fully compostable. In addition to showcasing its plasticfree commitment on social platforms and its website, teapigs has recently introduced updated labeling to its packaging “to clearly communicate what our packaging is made of and how to dispose of it safely,” says Cheadle.

BROADER SUSTAINABLE PLATFORM While taking active steps to reassure customers that their teas are plasticfree, the broader message from both

PHOTOS COURTESY OF TEAPIGS

companies has been clear: Avoiding plastics is key, but it represents merely one component of their holistic approach to sustainability. Both companies work to share details of their broad-based sustainable platform whenever possible, often as part of their plastic-free messaging outreach. Winner of multiple awards for its sustainable production practices, Metropolitan Tea Group became carbon neutral in 2011, after planting 15,000 trees on abandoned farmland in Southwest Ontario. In 2012, it installed a 500 kWh solar array on the rooftop of its main Toronto facility, which generates more than five times the electricity required for production. The company also sources its teas ethically, working to ensure that farmers are fairly compensated and that harvest practices are environmentally sound. In addition to its green packaging— which is all recyclable, compostable, or biodegradable—teapigs believes in the importance of ethical sourcing and is a member of the Ethical Tea Partnership, a nonprofit that works to promote sustainable tea practices to benefit workers, farmers, and the environment. Its signature everyday brew is Rainforest Alliance Certified.

As important as all those steps are, plastic still remains front of mind for many consumers. “The consumer awareness surrounding plastic and the harmful effect that it has on our environment is a hot topic internationally,” says Cheadle, who works from the company’s Brentford, United Kingdom headquarters. “Many of our international accounts have stressed that plastic-free and sustainability [factors] are becoming key deciders when picking the brands they stock.” FC

FRESH CUP MAGAZINE [ 49

Advertiser Index

To view our advertiser list and visit the websites listed below, go to freshcup.com/resources/fresh-cup-advertisers

ADVERTISER

CONTACT ONLINE

alliance

888.538.8683 alliancebrewgear.com

Barista Pro Shop

866.776.5288

BitsyBear

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The Canadian Coffee & Tea Show

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Caravan Coffee

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Chobani Foodservice

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Custom Cup Sleeves

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Ghirardelli Chocolate

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Gosh That’s Good! Brand

888.848.GOSH (4674)

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Java Jacket

800.208.4128

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Malabar Gold Espresso

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Monin

800.966.5225

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Pacific Foods of Oregon

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SelbySoft

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SerendipiTea

888.TEA.LIFE (832.5433) serendipitea.com

Tea Trade Show

973.551.9161

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Theta Ridge Coffee

800.745.8738

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Toddy

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WaterWise

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World Tea Conference + Expo

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Your Brand Cafe

866.566.0390

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Zojirushi America

800.264.6270

zojirushi.com

50 ] MARCH 2020 » freshcup.com

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