

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
Chris Deferio
A coffee podcast providing coffee shop owners and leaders, with insights, inspiration, and the tools you need to grow and advance your coffee business or coffee career. We learn from experts both in and outside the coffee industry as they deliver specific, practical, and actionable advice about ownership, optimization, profitability, barista work, employee culture, management, scaling, leadership, personal development, and anything else that will help you achieve success in the coffee shop.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Mar 27, 2023 • 53min
SPECIAL: Coffee Fest Live! NYC 2023 Part 1 w/ Jordan Brown and Anand Patel
It is time for the first the 2023 series of Coffee Fest Live interviews! In these interviews I sit down with stellar presenters and lecturers to dig deep into a range of relevant and important topics that will help make you and your coffee business better. To start us off we are going to talk with Jordan Brown followed by Anand Patel Jordan Brown has been on the distribution side of Coffee for close to a decade. He is all about bringing products and helping shops. Reset culture . Currently he serves as the Vice President of sales for Shoreline Supply Co and hosts a podcast " Drinking Coffee While Talking Coffee With Jordan Brown." I got to talk with Jordan about how we can go about knowing what product are right for our shops and our values. Next we chat with Anand Patel. Anand is the co-founder of Hidden Grounds Coffee. Back in 2013, Anand and his team of coffee crusaders decided that the world had suffered enough from the scourge of bad coffee. They took it upon themselves to become the ultimate taste testers, sacrificing their taste buds so their customers don't have to suffer the same fate. They've been able to expand their coffee business to 7 retail locations and in our conversation Anand gives us his secrets to scaling mindfully in order to achieve lasting success. links: www.shorelinesupplyco.com Drinking Coffee, while Talking Coffee Podcast www.thehiddengrounds.com www.coffeefest.com

Mar 23, 2023 • 1h
401 : Founder Friday! w/ Jack Benchakul of Endorffiene Coffee Bar in Los Angeles
Creating a moment of delight and excellence is what we all want to do when we set up our shops and make coffee for others. We also want to be delighted ourselves with the things we create and feel a sense of pride in each and every drink. Given the range of beverages we serve, that is pretty rare to find. But at least one place manages to strike this balance and has been doing so with singular focus for the past 8 years. Today we get to talk with the owner of the Award winning cafe, Endorffeine in Los Angeles, CA, Jack Benchakul! Jack is a biochemist who turned to small business to find more meaning and fulfillment in work. This set him on a path to pursue craft first through the pastry arts and finally in the coffee industry after one life changing cup of coffee. Jack learned all he could at home then as a barista before starting Endorffiene with his cousin Ttaya Tuparangsi in 2015 with the goal to pursue a balanced and refined coffee experience unlike any that was currently available. Jack's integrity, knowledge of craft and science, and constance in this pursuit has not only gained Edorffeine nority from famous food writers like Jonathan Gold and Bill Addison, gained Endorffeine, but also recognitions such as "Best Coffee Shops in the U.S. from Food and Wine and on of the "101 Restaurants, Dishes, People, and Ideas from The LA Times. Beyond these things, Endorffeine is firmly established in the coffee community and garners the respect of their industry peers world wide. In today's conversation with Jack we will be exploring the story of Endorffeine and their unique approach to creating beauty, balance, and community one cup of coffee at a time. We cover: Jacks Journey from Biochemistry to pastry to coffee The coffee epiphany that set his course Establishing Endorffeine and its mission Staying consistent over time Pursuing customer facing work as an introvert Values based Menu curation and refinement What is the "deep fight" Pride in operation and ownership What the pandemic revealed Connecting with customers Advice to other owner on integrity and patience Links: www.endorffeine.coffee Instagram: @endorffeine Related episodes: 375 : Founder Friday! w/ Roland Horne of WatchHouse 359 : Founder Friday! w/ Nigel Price of Drip Coffee Makers NYC 252 : Founder Friday w/ Klaus Thompson of the Coffee Collective, Denmark Interested in leveling up your coffee shop or setting up 1:1 coaching? Click here to schedule a free consulting discovery call with KTTS Click here to book a formal one-on-one consulting call! Visit our amazing Sponsors! www.groundcontrol.coffee www.pacficfoodservice.com

Mar 22, 2023 • 12min
Stop Glorifying Chaos
Ever find yourself saying or hearing things like "Well, we go through it!" or "That was so crazy, welcome to Saturdays!" or "That's just the way it is here!" and many other phrases that draw attention to some very difficult situation of common happening on the bar? I certainly have and often these things are said with a ting of resignation by people in positions who may actually have the ability to do something about it. In today's Shift Break we will be talking about how we tend to glorify and resign ourselves to chaos and dysfunction and why we find ourselves embracing these problems as inevitable or even rites of passage, versus using our influence and abilities to try to innovate ways to alleviate needless stresses. Related Episodes: Facilitating Success Fix the Small Stuff! : Management, Morale, Coffee Bar Culture 067 : 6 Truths About Power : The Responsible Approach to Power Dynamics in the Cafe 373 : The Owner's Role: 5 Behaviors for Effectiveness Visit our Sponsors!!! The best espresso machines in the world! www.lamarzoccousa.com Custom branded mobile apps for your shop! www.espressly.co

Mar 20, 2023 • 1h 1min
400 : The Values of Speed and Service w/ Jaime Denney of Scooter's Coffee
The market place of coffee has seen rapid expansion of drive thrus and concepts focused on quick service. There is no doubt that customers appreciate speed when it comes to their coffee, better than speed though is speed plus service. These are the areas that today's guest is focused on delivering and continually enhancing in one of the country's fastest growing fast coffee concepts, Scooter's Coffee. Jaime Denney joined Scooter's Coffee as the Vice President of Franchise Operations in November of 2022 to focus on initiatives aimed at increasing the speed and effectiveness of drive-thru service. Denney is a highly energetic and passionate, results-oriented operations leader with a proven record of achievement in the quick service restaurant industry. She has experience leading large cross-functional teams, delivering business results, and implementing foodservice solutions. Prior to joining Scooter's Coffee, Denney was Vice President of Brand Operations at Jamba, where she worked cross-functionally with teams to drive franchise operational excellence and deliver quality training and support. She helped successfully migrate Jamba to a new POS system and implemented digital enhancements to set franchisees up for success during the COVID-19 pandemic. Denney, who has 15 years of coffee industry experience, also held leadership roles with Starbucks, Tropical Smoothie Café and Aramark. With 613 locations and no sign of slowing, there is a good chance you have a Scooters Coffee near you. Today we are going to get an inside look into what makes this company tick, the values that drive its drive thru empire, details about how Scooter's Coffee operates, and what we in the independent cafe community can learn from our corporate counterparts. I hope you all enjoy and learn a lot! We cover: Choosing markets for expansion Training managers Setting goals for speed Competing in the local market place Managing costs amid inflation Keeping things simple to help speed and service The limits of speed as a value Service and consistency Serving franchisees Wages, benefits, and culture Networking and tools for refinement Links: www.scooterscoffee.com Related episodes: 127 : Passion and Curiosity: A conversation w/ Starbucks Global Sr. Project Manager, Major Cohen Episode 121 : Working from Your Strengths 161 : Founder Friday Drive-Thru Edition w/ Jasmine Diedrich Wilson of Diedrich Espresso 384 : How to Run a Successful Coffee Cart w/ Sarah Naylor of Daybreak Coffee Cart 163 : Lessons from Crush the Rush w/ Josh Little Field Interested in leveling up your coffee shop or setting up 1:1 coaching? Click here to schedule a free consulting discovery call with KTTS Click here to book a formal one-on-one consulting call! Visit our amazing Sponsors! www.groundcontrol.coffee www.pacficfoodservice.com www.coffeefest.com

Mar 15, 2023 • 11min
More Power To Them
Your staff need you to empower them. We like to think that we do this but many times it amounts to surface level communication and resourcing that is out of step with the day to day reality your staff live. In today's Shift Break we will be talking about a few questions you can ask yourself that will help you truly empower you staff to succeed in their work and give you peace of mind in the process. Related Episodes: A Shift Break...on Shift Breaks Helping Managers Avoid Burnout Communicate, Duplicate, Repeat : Key habits that make information stick Empowering Staff to make the right Call Visit our Sponsors!!! The best espresso machines in the world! www.lamarzoccousa.com Custom branded mobile apps for your shop! www.espressly.co

Mar 14, 2023 • 38min
399: Encore Episode! How to Change Things in the Cafe
From the first day you open the doors to your coffee shop one thing confronts you as a constant. Change. In order to run a healthy business we have to embrace changing things in the cafe in order to provide for the needs of the people and the operations that support them. The problem we run into though is when we act as though change is a nusance and in response we either refuse to change things, or we rush changes in order to get them over with. Inevitably this results in a lot of needless frustration and lost potential. On today's episode we are re-airing an old episode (episode 80 for Feb of 2019) talking about how we should go about changing things in the coffee shop with respect to what your people need and in a way that makes the change actually stick. I would encourage you to listen to this episode and have in mind a couple changes that you know need to be made in your shop. After listening, take the first step to make these changes using the workflow and see the difference it makes! Related Episodes: 191 : Retraining your Staff on new Standards 194 : Encore Episode! Leadership in the Cafe: 10 Steps to being a People First Leader | Aired January 17 2017 339 : What Good Barista Training Produces 307 : 10 Simple ways to Level Up your Coffee Shop 291 : What to do if Your Baristas Wont Listen to You Interested in leveling up your coffee shop or setting up 1:1 coaching? Click here to schedule a free consulting discovery call with KTTS Click here to book a formal one-on-one consulting call! Visit our amazing Sponsors! www.groundcontrol.coffee www.pacficfoodservice.com www.coffeefest.com

Mar 9, 2023 • 15min
Are You Open?
This is not just a question asked by an over eager customer haunting the front entrance 10 minutes before you open the shop. It is also a question a customer asks to themselves when they encounter a lack luster, apathetic, and seemingly disengaged staff and space. In today's Shift Break we are going to discuss how the way we p[resent ourselves and our cafes to the customers will convey a lot about whether we are really and truly open. Related episodes: Authenticity and Performance 367 : Designing Your Coffee Shop for Community w/ Dr. Lisa Waxman 340 : Encore Episode of "10 Reasons to Love the Customer"! Pre-Closing Madness Ignoring the Customer Spiders ! Visit our Sponsors!!! The best espresso machines in the world! www.lamarzoccousa.com Custom branded mobile apps for your shop! www.espressly.co

Mar 8, 2023 • 38min
398: The 5 Biggest Mistakes Coffee Shops Make
Coffee shops can have everything going for them on paper, but it is what is practiced in the day to day that determines whether you are successful. The truth is, mistakes happen. They are unavoidable. Certain mistakes, though, have a greater likelihood of causing damage and ruining what we have built. Today we will be talking about 5 things that I would consider some of the biggest mistakes that coffee shops make. Each of them are not simply isolated accidents, but practices that we are prone to develop if we don't work hard to avoid and replace them with something better. We will discuss: Comparison vs inspiration Isolating and not evolving Under resourcing the important things Failing to develop intentionally Passive leadership Related Episodes: 173 : 5 Areas of Focus for Retailers 101 : Avoiding Legal Pitfalls in Retail w/ Specialty Coffee Attorney, Marshall Fuss 384 : How to Run a Successful Coffee Cart w/ Sarah Naylor of Daybreak Coffee Cart 341: How to Think About Success 227 : Connecting with Hearts and Minds Interested in leveling up your coffee shop or setting up 1:1 coaching? Click here to schedule a free consulting discovery call with KTTS Click here to book a formal one-on-one consulting call! Visit our amazing Sponsors! www.groundcontrol.coffee www.pacficfoodservice.com www.coffeefest.com

Mar 2, 2023 • 1h 1min
RoR #19 : A Vision of Sustainable Roasting w/ Arno Holschuh of Bellwether Roasters
Sustainability can become more of a reality if we determine to use the tools at our disposal wisely. Perhaps even more so if the tools we use to roast evolve to better address the many concerns we have in the coffee industry. That is what Bellwether hopes offer. With their all electric, ventless coffee roaster their goal is to empower any business to roast incredible coffee in-house and do so in a way that leads efforts in sustainability. In this episode of Rate of Rise we are going to be talking with, Arno Holschuh. Arno Holschuh is the Chief Coffee Officer at Bellwether Coffee, which manufactures the world's lowest-carbon coffee roaster. A veteran of the industry, he was one of the first employees at Blue Bottle and went on to manage their coffee operations and product. For the past eight years, he has been working with Bellwether to build a delicious, profitable, and sustainable future for coffee roasters, farmers and drinkers. In our conversation we discuss important and direct questions about this new tech and its impact on both sustainability efforts and traditional coffee roasting. My goal is that you leave this conversation with more clarity and better informed about your options when it comes to creating better sustainability outcomes through technology. In our conversation we cover: Scaling and wholesale Trades offs and energy Who the machine is for What Bellwether aims to solve in coffee Tackling objections Responsible consist sourcing Innovation and collective effort Evolving traditional roasting Links: www.bellwethercoffee.com Related Episodes: Sustainability Series #2 : Importing & Roasting RoR #17 : Evolving Our Approach to Cupping w/ Charlie Habegger of Royal Coffee Special! "Thinking Differently" Series | Radical Sustainability w/ James Combs of Combs' Coffee RoR #6: Buying Less and Doing More w/ Ever Meister 286 : Coffee Roasting Best Practices w/ Scott Rao Visit our sponsor ROAST MAGAZINE and subscribe!

Mar 2, 2023 • 13min
Slow is Fast?
You have heard this many times from managers and trainers alike. The idea being that if you want your work to go at a quick and consistent rate then you have to work with purpose. On today's Shift break we will explore this idea and its validity to produce results we want to see on the coffee bar, as well as how it can be used to produce results that we do not want to see. Related episodes: Excellence In The Things We Hate Working Clean : Tips for keeping the bar looking and working well while you work Speed is not the Goal 163 : Lessons from Crush the Rush w/ Josh LittleField 167 : Handing off the Shift : 4 Tips to Avoid Chaos 002: Master Your Workflow w/ Ryan Soeder Visit our Sponsors!!! The best espresso machines in the world! www.lamarzoccousa.com Custom branded mobile apps for your shop! www.espressly.co


