Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders

Welcome to the first in a series of three episodes focused on "Thinking Differently" brought to you by Ground Control! On today's episode we are going to be talking with the owner of Teofilo Coffee Company, Ron Dizon. Teofilo started as a farmers market stand roasting and serving Filipino coffee. Having been born in the Phili[oiines and raised in the U.S. in a Filipino household, Ron turned the obsession of Filipino Coffee into a passion built to give back to the Philippines. Over the years as Teofilo has grown, Ron has learned a lot about operating what is now his brick and mortar shop as well as his pop-ups and roasting operation. In our discussion with Ron we get to hear about his journey in starting, growing, and running Teofilo and the extraordinary opportunities that have resulted from his relentless pursuit of doing hard things and thinking differently about coffee and business. We cover: Understanding Filipino coffee Approaching business differently Big ideas and small beginnings Sourcing and opening up opportunities for Fillipino coffee Evolution of quality control in roasting and brewing Working with and supporting the community Striving to be better and trying to fail Inspiration from community Be sure to check out the bonus content only available on www.groundcontrol.coffee/ktts as we continue the conversation with Ron and hear some pretty amazing advice for operators and owners who also want to make a difference with their business! Links: https://www.teofilocoffeecompany.com YouTube Instagram Want to brew things differently? Visit our Sponsor! www.groundcontrol.coffee/ktts

U.S. Coffee in Good Spirits champion Matt Foster is here to guide you to specialty drink success! We all want to have a menu that includes unique signature beverages that we love making and customers love drinking. Trouble is, making creative specialty drinks that in your shop that are delicious, practical, AND profitable is not an easy task. It requires intentionality, knowledge of ingredients, and discipline to consider all the areas of the business you menu will impact. As we set our sights on future seasonal and signature drink menu plans I thought it would be great to have the specialty beverage champion himself, Matt Foster of The Annex - Coffee and Foods in St. Louis ! Matt is a long time specialty coffee pro whose fascination with beverages and coffee started at an early age even before becoming a bartender and barista. On top of being a barista he was also the wholesale trainer for Kaldis Coffee in St. Louis and is now the FOH - and Beverage Manager for The Annex - Coffee and Foods. In 2019 Matt won the U.S. Coffee in Good Spirits Championship, a competition combining his two favorite things - coffee and cocktails. Obviously Matt has a deep knowledge of both these areas and knows what it takes to be successful when creating a menu. In this episode we dive into a ton of practical information, best practices, and advice that will not only help you create and execute a successful menu, but help you strengthen your team and community in the process. We cover: Early career and inspiration Competition shaping creativity Finding yourself and authentic expression through creativity Meeting people where they are while expressing yourself Difference between barista work and bartending work Depth vs breadth of knowledge Bridging the gap between industries The most common hurdles to making great creative drinks First steps and considerations to implement a great menu Workflow considerations and keeping it practical How to propose new drinks to your boss What Matt's perspective on what we need to be focusing on right now in the industry to be inclusive and find common ground. Links: Matt's Instagram The Annex - Coffee and Tea Related Episodes: 117 : Coffee and Cocktails w/ Amanda Whitt 002: Master Your Workflow w/ Ryan Soeder 163 : Lessons from Crush the Rush w/ Josh Little Field 031 : Essential Advice for New Baristas : Tips to help you successfully navigate and thrive in your new coffee career The BEST in commercial coffee equipment! www.prima-coffee.com/keys Want the best plant based beverage for your coffee drinks? www.pacificfoodservice.com

I am thrilled to get to feature Anne Lunnel and Charles Nystrand of Koppi: Fine Coffee Roasters on this month's Founder Friday! Founded in 2007, Koppi not only established itself as of Sweden's preeminent third wave coffee companies but also as one of the world's best roasters. Both Anne and Charles have one the Swedish Barista Championship and additionally Anne has won the Swedish Brewers Cup finishing 6th in the world. Their business was established as a roaster retailer in their home town of Helsingborg where they focused on sourcing and serving amazing coffees through a dense of relationship and sustainability. After 1 years they made a dramatic with to only roasting that both simplified their life and their business resulting in an even more healthy company. In today's conversation with these world class roasters we will be exploring their story from founding through present day and the lessons, experiences, and values that have guided them along the way. We cover: Early days of barista work and competition The learning curve to starting a retail/roaster Principles of quality and doing coffee differently in Sweden Sourcing values of relationship and accessibility The move to close the retail shop Lessons in personal and professional balance Advice and hopes for the coffee industry today Links: www.koppi.se Instagram Related Episodes: 252 : Founder Friday w/ Klaus Thompson of the Coffee Collective, Denmark Founder Friday! w/ Adam Obrátil of Industra Coffee, Brno, Czech Republic 171 : Founder Friday w/ Matt Chitharanjan and Namrata Asthana of Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters in India The BEST in commercial coffee equipment! www.prima-coffee.com/keys Want the best plant based beverage for your coffee drinks? www.pacificfoodservice.com

We need systems in the coffee shop. As we pursue them it can be easy to complicate the process and end up with something that was meant to be helpful but ends up being intimidating or not useful at all. Today we are going to talk about the virtues of keeping your systems simple and how doing so will actually create more momentum for positive change. Related episodes: 057 : SOP's FTW! Success through Standard Operating Procedures Systems as Care Interested in over the phone consultation? Reach out! Chris@keystotheshop.com Elevated batch brew and so much more! Ground Control Cyclops Brewer Your Own Branded App! www.espressly.co

How we talk about coffee, relay information about coffee, and represent coffee to our customers and consumers in general, not only determines their attitude toward coffee but will literally shape the coffee industry. Often we get bogged down with details, side tracked with minutia, and overwhelm people in our bid to show them how precious coffee is to us. What is needed is a distilled and approachable treatment of the industry the opens up opportunities to more learning. That is what today's guest has accomplished through his new book Coffee for Dummies. I am thrilled to welcome back to the show, Major Cohen! Major Cohen is a coffee lover who has enjoyed a dream realized. After being a teacher of photography and film at the high school level for 20 years, his second career brought his passion for teaching and passion for coffee into alignment and he worked as a coffee educator for more than 25 years for Starbucks. His work for Starbucks began in 1995 when, as a Barista, he leveraged his passion and curiosity for coffee and business and after 8 years in operations in 5 roles was invited to move to the Seattle headquarters and join the coffee team. In the next 17 years he had the opportunity to be part of some of Starbucks most innovative efforts, and during his final 7 years traveled extensively in Asia as a coffee educator and brand ambassador. Although recently retired from Starbucks, Major is continuing his involvement with education in his role as an Authorized Specialty Coffee Association trainer, AST, and has written his first book, Coffee for Dummies. In today's conversation with Major we get to hear the story of how this book came to be, what went into deciding its content and we dive deep into discussion about communicating with consumers about the drink we all love! We cover: Connecting past and present day industry Creating impactful and simple content Distilling the topics The danger of making coffee too precious What makes information valuable Opening doors to further learning How we can effectively communicate with customers Links: Buy the book here! Wiley Link to Starbucks video: https://coffeeexperiences.starbucks.com Related Episodes: 127 : Passion and Curiosity: A conversation w/ Starbucks Global Sr. Project Manager, Major Cohen 242 : A Conversation with James Hoffmann 198 : The Evolution of the Coffee Shop w/ Prof. Jonathan Morris 215 : Communication and Marketing Master Class w/ Spencer M. Ross, PH.D. The BEST in commercial coffee equipment! www.prima-coffee.com/keys Want the best plant based beverage for your coffee drinks? www.pacificfoodservice.com

Going from a single store store to multiple locations brings with it the question of how to replicate the culture and values across the shops. Making continuity between your various retail expressions a reality will take some purposeful planning and actions. Today on shift break we are going to talk about a couple key actions you can take to scale your companies values as you grow. Related episodes: Are you Excited? Bridging the Values-Actions Gap Example > Words Before you Expand Interested in over the phone consultation? Reach out! Chris@keystotheshop.com Elevated batch brew and so much more! Ground Control Cyclops Brewer Your Own Branded App! www.espressly.co

One of the most neglected areas of the bar happens to also be the most important. The register. Not because it is where we handle money (although that is important) but because it is where we make first impressions and guide the experience of both the customer and our coworkers. The register controls everything but we treat this station as though it is simply a place to avoid when on shift or a place to hastily put new underprepared baristas. If we hope to win people over to specialty coffee and deliver a great experience then we need to start focusing at least equal amounts of energy on how we prepare ourselves and others to working this station with the respect it deserves. Today we are going to be discussing behaviors and habits that are core to creating an excellent service and work experience beginning at the cash register. We cover: The status quo for register work How the register steals the experience Skewing positive Urgency Being detailed Communication Warmth and Empathy Related Episodes: 122 : How to be a Cash Register Hero : 6 Essential Skills Episode 45: Simple. Powerful. Hospitality. w/ Philip Paul Turner Shifting the Shadow Shift 167 : Handing off the Shift : 4 Tips to Avoid Chaos The BEST in commercial coffee equipment! www.prima-coffee.com/keys Want the best plant based beverage for your coffee drinks? www.pacificfoods.com/food-service

Hiring a great team is the aim of every cafe. Often when we look for the right person we end up looking for the perfect individual vs the perfect fit for the team and culture of our shop. We want an all-star team but what we get can often just be a big collection of egos that don't work well together. Today we will be talking about the myth of the all star team and how we can approach hiring in a way that creates harmony in the work. Related Episodes: 121 : Working from Your Strengths w/ Strengths Finder Guru, Lisa Cummings 232 : Rebuilding your Staff with Excellence w/ Dave Stachowiak 226 : The Art of being Indispensable at Work w/Bruce Tulgan 221 : Building your People Program w/ HR Consultant Dana Goodwin Interested in over the phone consultation? Reach out! Chris@keystotheshop.com Elevated batch brew and so much more! Ground Control Cyclops Brewer Your Own Branded App! www.espressly.co

Coffee roasting legend Mark Michaelson is back on the show! Mark has spent the last 9 years as the Head Roaster for onyx Coffee Labs in NW Arkansas whee he was instrumental in helping them forge a path to being one of the worlds most respected coffee companies. One top of this Mark is the 2017 U.S. Roasting champion and top 12 finisher in the World that same year. Mark is an active member of the Roasters Guild and in addition to being a champion himself has roasted coffee for other champions including the Colombian Brewers Cup champion and also for 2020 U.S. Champion and Co-Owner of Onyx Coffee Labs, Andrea Allen. So suffice it to say, Mark has had a very successful career in coffee roasting and has been an inspiration to production roasters all over the world. In this conversation, as Mark Ventures out in his own Consulting business, we are going to be taking a look back at his time in front of the roaster and learning a great deal about how he has developed as a professional and gaining some wonderful and practical insights into the world of production roasting that will definitely help you on your own coffee roasting journey. We cover: Trust the process What he has learned in 9 years of roasting Most common new roaster mistakes Quality control approach Including the team in feedback and trusting baristas Roasting trends Mark loves and trend Mark hates Listening to customers Investing in people Links: www.michaelsonconsulting.com Instagram Related Episodes: 026 : What Your Roaster want you to Know w/ U.S. Roasting Champion, Mark Michaelson, Onyx Coffee Lab 196 : Understanding Customer Preferences w/ Peter Giuliano The BEST in commercial coffee equipment! www.prima-coffee.com/keys Want the best plant based beverage for your coffee drinks? www.pacificfoods.com/food-service

Andi Trindle Mersch, Director of Coffee, Tea, and Sustainability at Philz Coffee, brings over 26 years of specialty coffee experience. She discusses the importance of contingency planning in the unpredictable coffee industry, especially post-COVID. Andi provides practical tips for small to mid-sized business owners, emphasizing the need for proactive strategies and collaboration. She highlights the value of developing strategic partnerships and conducting dry runs to ensure preparedness during emergencies. Plus, get insights on streamlining offerings based on customer preferences!