Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in food and beverage but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Matt Higgins, Founder of Coava Coffee Roasters, located in Portland, OR, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
Coava Coffee Roasters' core competency is sourcing and roasting the finest coffees possible since 2008. You can find our products online, in your local café or grocer that we may partner with, or in our own physical cafes. The amazing humans that choose to partner with us or enjoy our coffees are in search of the highest-scoring coffees out there. Coava's repeat business is testimony to our coffee quality.
Tell us about yourself
I personally got started in coffee in the early 2000s and always wanted to showcase the absolute highest-scoring coffees that the world may never have been introduced to yet, which is why I alone created Coava Coffee Roasters in 2008. I've logged more than five years of collectively traveling outside of the United States, sourcing and building our long-term relationships abroad to provide the cup and offerings we roast and sell today. Simply put, Coffee is what I do; it's all I do. I'm a roaster, a green buyer, a barista, a trainer, a manager, an engineer, a CEO, and a janitor, lol. I stand behind our quality 110%, and I've cupped A LOT of coffees in my life. I've been working in coffee for 23 years and have owned Coava for 15 years, and waking up and drinking these amazing coffees from our amazing producers and watching them benefit and grow is what keeps me going every day.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
Coava's largest accomplishment is our consistent quality. Most coffee diehards already know who we are and what we do. Any high-end roaster can sell a high-scoring coffee now and then, but can all their coffee offerings be high scoring all the time? Customers who want the best tend to seek us out. We ONLY do quality. We are 100% privately owned and financed and continue to go toe to toe with much, much larger companies with much, much larger budgets. We are one of the few still hammering quality and truly innovating our craft as buyers and roasters, such as our owned densiometric sorting table or owned photoelectric eye laser sorter. In a coffee world where success can sometimes be bought with shiny marketing, purchased SEO, and social media followers, everything we've accomplished, from our quality to our growth and longevity, has been 100% earned by our highly experienced team, our quality, and our producers. Between myself and four other key Coava members, we have over 100 years of working in Coffee. Simply put, we are a home of true professionals, and our quality and experience are huge driving factors in our continued mission. We are where you come to work if you want a career in the best coffee possible. We are whom you want to partner with abroad if you want to grow the best coffee possible. We are who you partner with as a roaster if you want to drink the best cup possible consistently.
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
Being malleable to change and having the tenacity to stay in business even when it's downright rough out there. Most who never owned or operated a business before do not realize that it is 100% liability before anything else, especially profit. It is not all fun and games; it is hard work, dedication, and sacrifice to make it work and survive year after year. I'd love to operate a coffee college that does not require a year-end profit, but someone has to pay the bills to enjoy these coffees. The fact that we have been in business for 15 years, or that I've been awarded Oregon's Small Business person of the year award in the past, or the countless 90+ coffees we've sold, is testimony to our careful and surgical presence and approach within the ever-changing landscape of specialty coffee. You have to be able to change with your market and adapt live time, or you will be left behind. You also have to put on your grownup pants and properly run line management, Human Resources, operations, sourcing, manufacturing, and strategic management to remain relevant. We absolutely did not invent specialty coffee, but we sure do source and roast some of the BEST coffees in the world alongside any of the best Roasters out there.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Everything costs twice as much.
- Everything will take four times as long.
- Always, and I mean ALWAYS, trust your gut.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://coavacoffee.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/coavacoffee/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coavacoffee/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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