Photo by Yoonjo Jung
Welcome To SUNDAY Coffee+: Coffee News That Made The Headlines
Each week, Craft Beverage Jobs compiles the top headlines for Craft Coffee News & Information. On Sunday morning we post those headlines in SUNDAY Coffee+ for your reading pleasure. Whether its industry growth, new business, job openings, profiles or human interest, you just never know what will tickle our fancy from week to week. We want to make SUNDAY Coffee+ a part of your Sunday morning coffee experience. Want Sunday Coffee+ delivered via email each weekend? Sign Up Here.
Ghost Roasting
Nom de Plume Ain’t Afraid-a No Ghost (Raost), by Zaida Dedolf – Phoenix New Times The term refers to Nom de Plume Roasters’ low-overhead business model. Rather than making the (cough, cough, crazy
photo by Zaida Dedolph
expensive) choice to open their own roasting operation, NdP rents roasting time from other local facilities. Most recently, they’ve been firing up their own selections at Press Coffee’s Roastery. Nom de Plume owners Harlin Glovacki and Niko Kovacevic decided to “ghost roast” for a number of reasons. Part of it was monetary. Scrimping on the brick-and-mortar has allowed them splurge on other things – chiefly, really high quality green coffee. But it was also a deliberate philosophical decision. These are gentlemen who clearly enjoy thinking, and also thinking about thinking: Harlin attended a small, non-conformist liberal arts college that emphasized Philosophy and History of math and science, Niko majored in Mathematics and English.
Q&A With Nancy Langer
One-on-One with Nancy Langer, by Jessica Dyer – Albuquerque Journal
Nancy Lager of Red Rock Roasters
When Langer and her husband David moved their family from California to New Mexico in the early 1990s, they unknowingly began laying the groundwork for today’s Red Rock Roasters. David, who had lived in Italy, started a business importing and selling espresso machines. The enterprise slowly evolved to include coffee distribution and then roasting. Langer, who had run her own Rio Rancho cafe for five years, came on board full-time in 1998. Today, Red Rock roasts 110,000 pounds of coffee each year at its Albuquerque facility, selling its product under private labels and its own label. Red Rock’s coffee is found in various restaurants, coffee shops and hotels around the state.
Espresso Americano Comes To Denver
Espresso Americano, a South American Coffee Chain, Will Open First U.S. Spots In Denver, by Chris Utterback – Denver Westword Colorado’s coffee-shop market may seem crowded, but a Honduras-based underdog is about to enter the fray, opening its first location in the U.S., right here in Denver. However, Espresso Americano is far from an upstart in Honduras, where 140 out of the chain’s 165 locations are located. “We’ve been in the coffee industry for generations,” says David Kubena, the company’s director for North America. “We have our own 2,000-plus acre farm in Valparaiso, Honduras. We have a roastery… Coffee is in our blood.” Kubena and crew are hoping that an upcoming location near the Denver Tech Center and another in the Landmark development in Greenwood Village will open the minds of local caffeine addicts.
Coffee Tech!
This Coffee Startup Wants To Use Data To Find You The Perfect Cup of Joe, by Madeline Stone – Business Insider
Coffee is so personal and subjective, but it’s a lot like wine in that people are intimidated
Courtesy of Craft Coffee
The tech world is known for having a bit of a coffee addiction. Square CEO Jack Dorsey, for example, is a longtime investor in San Francisco-based roasters Sightglass Coffee. And, of course, there’s Blue Bottle Coffee, which in January raised $25.7 million in funding from such big names as Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom, Twitter cofounder Evan Williams, and Silicon Valley investors Chris Sacca and Joanne Wilson. But not everyone knows how to navigate the complicated world of artisanal coffee. That’s where Craft Coffee comes in. By analyzing each subscriber’s taste and price preferences, the coffee subscription service moves users away from big coffee brand names and towards independent American roasters, including Sightglass. Subscribers receive three different roasts each month on Craft Coffee’s plan, which can be adjusted to fit each household’s needs.
Pier Coffee Owner Sells Minority Share
Seattle’s Pier Coffee Owner Sells Minority Share, Plans Operational Expansion, by Nick Brown – Daily Coffee News Citing increased demand and product growth, Erin Williamson has sold a minority share interest of her cold brew coffee company, Pier Coffee, which now becomes Pier Coffee LLC. Williamson, who formerly owned the Burien Press (Wash.) coffee shop, launched Pier Coffee as a nano cold brewery in 2012, developing a flagship cold concentrate. With the deal, the new principal owners of Pier Coffee are Joe Traverso, former COO and president of WW Metal Fabrication in Portland, Ore., and Will Logan, owner and senior broker at Kimbal Logan Real Estate in Vancouver, Wash. “It feels great, and I think it was time,” says Williamson, who is retaining a majority share in Pier Coffee. “By adding business development expertise, sales acumen, and an infusion of capital, Pier Coffee is in position to take a major step forward. I am grateful to be working with two partners who have such a passion for innovative business and speciality coffee.” 
photo credit: Yoonjo Jung, find Yoonjo on Google Plus