Hi nguyen-coffee-supply,
This past weekend, we activated our first *real* booth at the New York Coffee Festival. The last time we were there was 2019 when we rented a small table on the second floor. In 2019, we were the only company brewing 100% robusta coffee, and people either knew of robusta (and called it inferior) or had no idea at all. This year, our booth was proudly themed “Rolling With Robusta.” We had a skeeball game, brewed robusta coffee, and released new “Powered By Robusta” merch (coming to the website soon – here's the cream version!). Best of all, we had people coming up to our booth all weekend asking, “Are you brewing robusta? I want to try robusta.” WOW! The noticeable shift in consumer awareness and appreciation was humbling.
Here are 3 things I learned about the coffee industry at New York Coffee Festival:
- The future is rooted in exploring underappreciated regions, varieties and cultures – and this includes robusta, as well as our friends working with their respective communities like Mighty Peace in Congo and Don Carvajal in the Dominican Republic.
- Consumers are eager to find new experiences within coffee that can increase joy while delivering convenience. From new introductions like our Phin Filter to new technology like the Terra Kaffee TK-02, balancing new learnings with accessibility and approachability was a sweet spot for a majority of coffee drinkers.
- Personalization > Purism. While standards within coffee will maintain for QC/QA purposes, at the consumer level, there’s less of a care for purism and mastery than there is for personalization – simply, how to make the most enjoyable cup for me!
In addition to the learnings, the best part of this weekend was connecting with community. From our industry peers to our team to our supporters, it felt amazing to celebrate each other!
Cheers,
Sahra Nguyen
Founder
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