Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders

Too many times we confuse giving feedback with lecturing our staff which easily shuts down the person we were intending to communicate with. Feedback is critical to your culture but, As past guest and friend of the show,Tom Henschel has said, "Feedback is not a lecture, it is a conversation.

Today on Shift Break we will be breaking down this statement, what it means, and how to apply it in your cafe.

If you are a cafe owner and want to work one on one with me to bring your shop to its next level and help bring you joy and freedom in the process then email [email protected] of book a free call now:

https://calendly.com/chrisdeferio/30min

Listen to related episodes:

• Reasonable Expectations
• Proactivity in the Owner - Manager Relationship
• Blood Sucking Bosses!
• Things the Owner Can't do for You
• 427 : Encore Episode: What you MUST Know About Employee Culture w/ Stan Slap
• 366: A Conversation w/ Chris Baca of Cat and Cloud Coffee
• 291 : What to do if Your Baristas Wont Listen to You
• 067 : 6 Truths About Power : The Responsible Approach to Power Dynamics in the Cafe

Thank you to out sponsors!

Everything you need for back of the house operations https://rattleware.qualitybystainless.com/

The best and most revered espresso machines on the planet: www.lamarzoccousa.com

Developing the wholesale arm of your coffee roasting company boils down to the value can you offer your potential customers. Beyond the coffee itself, your wholesale customer needs assistance in their own coffee journey and your company, specifically the reps, need to be able to be equipped to deliver that help. At the heart of what makes a wholesale program successful is relationships. Todays guest has been doing this now for 13 years and walks the talk of delivering value through services and relationships with wholesale coffee clients with one of the nations best roasters.

Honor Forte has been the Director of Wholesale at Olympia Coffee since 2011. He has worked as a Barista, Delivery Driver, and Trainer at Olympia Coffee, in addition to working in coffee on the East Coast from 2009 until 2011. He also serves as a Head Judge and Competition Committeemember at the US Barista Competitions since 2013.

In our conversation we discuss how Honor developed as a coffee professional to focus on sales, what it took to get clients and grow partnerships long term, what makes a good sales rep, and what you need to know to take the next step in building your own wholesale program either from the ground up, or to the next level.

Links:

www.olympiacoffee.com

Olympia Coffee Roaster : https://www.instagram.com/olympiacoffee/

Honor Forte IG: https://www.instagram.com/honorforte/

Related Episodes:

• 246 : Selecting a Wholesale Coffee Provider
• 133 : 5 Keys to Successful Wholesale w/ Sarah Richmond
• 303 : Create Authentic Partnerships w/ Marc Gessler of Cat & Cloud Coffee

Thank you to our amazing sponsors!

Get the best brewer and tool for batch espresso, iced lattes, and 8 minute cold brew! www.groundcontrol.coffee

The world loves plant based beverages and baristas love the Barista Series!www.pacificfoodservice.com

Welcome to another episode in the live from Coffee Fest interview series!

This is a series of 4 conversations with presenters on the show floor at Coffee Fest NYC.

The topics range from how to connect with community, running a successful mobile coffee operation, getting your coffee into grocery stores, and how to approach roastery workflow and architecture.

1. First up is Sarina Prabasi, co-founder of Buunni Coffee in NYC. We talk about how to truly connect with your community through your coffee shop.
2. Next we talk with Eric and Destiny Rowell, founders of Grit and Grind Coffee. We discuss the keys to success in coffee trailers and mobile coffee
3. Our next conversation will be with Asia Bites Consulting founder Sara Vettori about what we need to know in order to get our coffee in grocery stores.
4. Finally we wrap up talking with Vice President of Mill City Roasters, Angie Davis all about roastery workflow and architecture

Links:

www.buunnicoffee.com

www.millcityroasters.com

www.gritandgrind.coffee

Asia Bites Consulting" Sara Vettori

Related episodes:

• 367 : Designing Your Coffee Shop for Community w/ Dr. Lisa Waxman
• 230 : Making room for Community in your Shop
• 422: Coffee Truck Success w/ Vincent LaVolpa of Green Joe Coffee School
• 384 : How to Run a Successful Coffee Cart w/ Sarah Naylor of Daybreak Coffee Cart
• 196 : Understanding Customer Preferences w/ Peter Giuliano Transcript
• 361: Managing Roastery Relationships and Logistics w/ Corey Turner of Andytown Coffee Roasters
• 285 : Better Systems, Better Connections w/ Jon Ewald of RoasterTools
• 152 : Essential Advice for Starting a Roastery w/ Jen Apodaca

Sponsor:

www.coffeefest.com

How many times have we fallen prey to assumptions about one another in the cafe that end up creating needless strife and hold back progress at maybe the most critical point in the supply chain? Answer, too many times to count. We create these characterizations and generalizations at our own peril and wonder why there is toxicity in the coffee shop.

Today on Shift Break we will be talking why this type of thinking from both owners and baristas is so common and what we can do about moving past it to actually work together for a more positive coffee culture.

If you are a cafe owner and want to work one on one with me to bring your shop to its next level and help bring you joy and freedom in the process then email [email protected] of book a free call now:

https://calendly.com/chrisdeferio/30min

Listen to related episodes:

• Reasonable Expectations
• Proactivity in the Owner - Manager Relationship
• Blood Sucking Bosses!
• Things the Owner Can't do for You
• 427 : Encore Episode: What you MUST Know About Employee Culture w/ Stan Slap
• 366: A Conversation w/ Chris Baca of Cat and Cloud Coffee
• 291 : What to do if Your Baristas Wont Listen to You
• 067 : 6 Truths About Power : The Responsible Approach to Power Dynamics in the Cafe

Thank you to out sponsors!

Everything you need for back of the house operations https://rattleware.qualitybystainless.com/

The best and most revered espresso machines on the planet: www.lamarzoccousa.com

Being technically skilled as a leader is a small part of what makes one effective. The larger part of cafe effective leadership has to do with emotional skill and how we either create or destroy relationship in the daily life of our coffee businesses. The impact of our over-focus on technical skill leads to many cultural issues that eventually show up in the partial or total downfall of your business.

Today I am please to welcome back to the show Jonathan Raymond, who is the author of the book Good Authority, which we discussed on this show 5 years ago. He is back to help us learn about emotional leadership and the insights here are nothing short of revelatory.

Jonathan is best known for his bookGood Authority, How to Become the Leader Your Team is Waiting For. The book, awarded theAxiom Business Book Award Silver Medal in 2018, delves into the psychology and leadership required to be a successful manager. It introduces the groundbreaking concept of the Accountability Dial — a five-step model for addressing performance issues while nurturing personal growth in team members.

Fueled by the book’s success, Jonathan establishing Refound. At its core, Refound seeks to empower modern managers by addressing the crux of workplace discord – leadership authority left untapped. Jonathan’s vision extended further with the inception ofRefound Academy, a virtual learning platform designed to transform managers into confident people leaders.Refound most recently introduced “Ren”— an AI-powered on-demand coach, serves as a 24/7 mentor programmed with two decades of Jonathan’s leadership wisdom.

Links:

www.refound.com

Related Episodes:

• 074 : The Life Changing Power of Good Authority w/ Jonathan Raymond
• 368 : Walking the Line Between Leadership and Friendship
• 232 : Rebuilding your Staff with Excellence w/ Dave Stachowiak
• 067 : 6 Truths About Power : The Responsible Approach to Power Dynamics in the Cafe

Thank you to our amazing sponsors!

Get the best brewer and tool for batch espresso, iced lattes, and 8 minute cold brew! www.groundcontrol.coffee

The world loves plant based beverages and baristas love the Barista Series!www.pacificfoodservice.com

In the world of cafes there are many ways to be excited about coffee. Some of those ways can alienate a customer instead of welcoming them into this magical world of sensory experiences. Today we are re-airing an episode with someone who exemplifies the kind of excitement we need more of in coffee. The kind that wants to share the love and joy of coffee in an approachable and sincerely caring way.

Emi Fukahori is the 2015 Swiss Barista Champion as well as the 2018 World Brewers Cup champion. Emi Fukahori and Mathieu Theis founded MAME Coffee in Zurich, Switzerland in 2016.The couple met at a coffee tasting in 2013 and became fascinated by the world of specialty coffee.They quit their corporate office jobs to start MAME, which means "beans" in Japanese, to promote specialty coffee and its flavors and terroirsShe and partner Mathieu. They serve excellent and refined coffees across a spectrum of flavors with a focus of welcome, care, warmth, and excitement to share coffee with others.

In this encore episode from 5 years back we explore Emi's professional evolution, winning Brewers Cup routine, founding and growing Mame, and the philosophy of care and focus on others that guides how and what they serve.

The lessons and ideas Emi shares are exactly the kind of things we should all strive for in our shops. Whether you are a champion matters not, what matters is championing the customers coffee experience.

Enjoy!

Links:

www.mame.coffee

Related Episodes:

• 196 : Understanding Customer Preferences w/ Peter Giuliano Transcript
• 411 : Excellence, Approachable Coffee, and Always Learning w/ Kenneth Thomas of Umble Coffee and Coffee 101 Podcast
• 430 : Embracing “Unreasonable Hospitality” w/ Will Guidara | Thank You NYC + The Welcome Conference
• 282 : How to Listen to your Customers
• 318 : Why Your Shop is Key to the Success of Coffee

Thank you to our amazing sponsors!

Get the best brewer and tool for batch espresso, iced lattes, and 8 minute cold brew! www.groundcontrol.coffee

The world loves plant based beverages and baristas love the Barista Series!www.pacificfoodservice.com

Business success leaves clues. Metrics such as labor percentage, COGs, Employee Turnover Rate, and more are all measurements we use to both guide how validate past decisions and guide future decisions. But what about the intangibles that the numbers themselves have a hard time showing?

On this Shift break episode we will be talking about why we need to focus on the numbers as well as the deeper meaning and intangible areas of the life of the business that contribute in a way that often cannot be tracked, but NEED to be invested into for the coffee shop to thrive.

If you are a cafe owner and want to work one on one with me to bring your shop to its next level and help bring you joy and freedom in the process then email [email protected] of book a free call now:

https://calendly.com/chrisdeferio/30min

Listen to related episodes:

• 227 : Connecting with Hearts and Minds
• 302 : Data’s Roll in the Success of your Shop w/ Mark Calhoun and Jim Strarcev of Perfect Cube
• 009 : How to Approach Data and Metrics w/ Simon Ouderkirk : Simon shows us how we should be thinking of numbers and their relation to our shops, baristas, and businesses
• 405: Beyond the Schedule w/ Wil Brawley of Schedulefly
• 311 : Why Your Coffee Shop Needs Open Book Management w/ Larry Chase
• Vanity Metrics
• 341: How to Think About Success

Thank you to out sponsors!

Everything you need for back of the house operations https://rattleware.qualitybystainless.com/

The best and most revered espresso machines on the planet: www.lamarzoccousa.com

The goal of business is ultimately to provide for people. Firstly a business is stared as a means for the owner to provide for themselves and their family by providing a service and product to customers and thereby providing a demand for the actors in the value chain of coffee that came before them. This is all carried out by the group of people we provide a wage to in that service. The barista.

The compensation that baristas receive can vary based on skill, experience, performance, and all of it is funneled through the constraints of two things. 1. The business model 2. The mindset of the owner. In order to retain the best staff we need to start with a generous mindset that asks the question, how do we raise barista wages?

Today I am airing an collaboration episode recorded during SCA Chicago with the guys at the Valor Coffee Podcast addressing and unpacking some of the nuances of this question. In this interview we discuss models, mindsets, actions and frameworks, and next steps to help you begin to raise wages in a way that helps you to continue to provide for all the people in your cafes circle.

Links:

Valor.Coffee

Valor Coffee Podcast

Related episodes:

• 437 : The New Age of the Barista: Mindsets + Habits for Success
• 339 : What Good Barista Training Produces
• 172 : Why Tracking Performance is a Must!
• Investing in Financial Education
• 402 : Innovating a Generous Wage Structure w/ Mike Schroeder of Oddly Correct

Want to run an amazing coffee shop?

Hire Keys to the Shop Consulting to work with you 1:1 to transform your coffee shop operations, quality, and people.

Custom consulting for your unique business.

Schedule a free discovery call now!

https://calendly.com/chrisdeferio/30min

Thank you to our amazing sponsors!

Get the best brewer and tool for batch espresso, iced lattes, and 8 minute cold brew! www.groundcontrol.coffee

The world loves plant based beverages and baristas love the Barista Series!www.pacificfoodservice.com

How do we help? A few thoughts have been swirling in my mind since the SCA expo in Chicago, and one of them has to do with the best contribution we can make to help each other in the industry with our respective parts of the supply chain. It seems that many are majoring in things that are not directly related to their business, and therefore letting their business slip into disrepair.

On this Shift break episode we will be talking about the power of tending to the effectiveness of our businesses, in particular, the café, as a means to truly help the farmer, and everyone in between in a sustainable way.

If you are a cafe owner and want to work one on one with me to bring your shop to its next level and help bring you joy and freedom in the process then email [email protected] of book a free call now:

https://calendly.com/chrisdeferio/30min

Listen to related episodes:

• Sustainability Series #1 : The Farm

• Sustainability Series #2 : Importing & Roasting

• Sustainability Series #3 : The Cafe

• Sustainability Series #4 : Consumer

• 301 : Hiring and Training for Excellence

• 447: Understanding the Business of Coffee w/ Maxwell Colonna-Dashwood

• 453 : The Craft of Operations

Thank you to out sponsors!

Everything you need for back of the house operations https://rattleware.qualitybystainless.com/

The best and most revered espresso machines on the planet: www.lamarzoccousa.com

When we read about amazing hospitality stories in restaurants, it can (and should) inspire us to pursue hospitality in our our coffee shops. Trouble comes though, when in our pursuit of the next level hospitality experience we can easily start to generate an unhealthy fascination with singular experiences at the expense of celebrating and maintaining good and normal, maybe even "unremarkable" moments of hospitality that make up much of our day. In addition to this, there is a push for cafe owners to build their spaces according to the market vs their environment and context. There is wisdom in some of this for sure, but often, like fixating on luxury examples of hospitality, it can rob us of the joys one gets being rooted in place and in regular relationships.

Today we will be exploring what I am calling unremarkable hospitality and cafe terroir (a taste of place) and why in an ever connected industry, focusing on our place, people, and the consistency of our care, can itself be remarkable.

Links to related episodes:

• 430 : Embracing “Unreasonable Hospitality” w/ Will Guidara | Thank You NYC + The Welcome Conference
• 424: Developing Menu and Hospitality Guides
• 421: Encore Episode: Simple, Powerful, Hospitality w/ Philip Paul Turner
• 343 : Founder Friday! “Curated Edition” | Hospitality + Meeting People Where They Are
• 337: Founder Friday w/ Diana Martinez of Cafe Calle, Los Angeles

Want to run an amazing coffee shop?

Hire Keys to the Shop Consulting to work with you 1:1 to transform your coffee shop operations, quality, and people.

Custom consulting for your unique business.

Schedule a free discovery call now!

https://calendly.com/chrisdeferio/30min

Thank you to our amazing sponsors!

Get the best brewer and tool for batch espresso, iced lattes, and 8 minute cold brew! www.groundcontrol.coffee

The world loves plant based beverages and baristas love the Barista Series!www.pacificfoodservice.com