The Nature of Collaboration: A New Way to Partner (in Coffee)

What does it mean to be a business that operates outside of the transactional norm?  What does it mean to be a business motivated by a desire to serve others rather than serving itself? This is the path we want to follow, and this is the way we hope to lead.

Starting a business, owning a business, running a business–it’s all daunting.  Most of the time it seems like educated guesswork, where we all just do the best we can and hope for a good result.  So if you’ve had an experience, sought insight, and gained wisdom, what better way to share the fruit of that labor than by teaching others how you cultivated for the harvest?  

We meet you starting from the ground up.  You have the plans from the architect, and you’re trying to envision the space.  It helps to see a quick 3D design based on the architectural drawings and walk through the ordering process, the barflow, storage etc. so that you can envision day-to-day operations in a more tangible way.  We do that for you.

What kind of equipment do you need?  Let’s talk about what you plan to serve based on your target market, and we can help you develop a list of equipment and supplies that fits your budget.  Plus, as a wholesale provider we can be an avenue for discounted rates.  Are you new to coffee?  We also train you and your staff with our knowledge and experience, so you can feel confident in the final product.  We want to be at your opening for an extra boost of confidence and backup.

Why develop this business model?  Because we care about people–the people working at the farms and overseeing the processing, and the people running transportation logistics.  We care about your employees brewing and serving, and the guests appreciating the end result.  We want to see everyone flourish.

So this is the path.  It’s what you can do if you want to have an impact on lives and on the way industry runs.  You can be intentional and seek others who want the same.

How does it work?  Say we were buying (for the sake of simplicity) 150lbs of beans per week from producer Fuadi Pitsuwan at Beanspire in Thailand.  We partner with you, opening a shop, and now you are buying 15lbs of Fuadi’s beans through our wholesale relationship.  Now we are ordering 165lbs.  The farmers Fuadi works with just had their demand from us increase by 10%.  And because that coffee now exists in a broader market, other shops and other roasters are more likely to learn about Beanspire and Thai coffee.  In this way, the greater implications of how we affect the market become exponential.

Now the entrepreneur is fulfilling their dreams, and the coffee farmer knows there are more people wanting to pay a worthy price for their crop.  The outward expression of our daily grind shines when our partners walk through their day feeling encouraged, motivated and inspired.  

Yet it’s a two-way road.  We want to learn by talking with our partners and our guests in humility.  What can we learn and how can we improve?  What do you need, and are there ways we can pivot to incorporate your needs into our production?  When we seek to partner with you, we seek a relationship first, because a friend will tell us the truth.