The industry’s uncertainty-addled climate is enough to make anyone feel tired. Might it be time to caffeinate your operations?
As many small breweries shift toward becoming more generalized beverage businesses, adding coffee to the repertoire has some appealing benefits. Consider:
- There’s no alcohol-related regulatory red tape involved with coffee.
- You can expand or make the most of your business hours, attracting more guests during the daylight hours.
- You can court a new audience of enthusiasts.
- Your production team can play around with creative new beverages and collaborations beneath your own roof.
Of course, adding a worthwhile coffee program comes with its own challenges. Navigating them takes some commitment and dedication—as with adding any program, from food to NA beer—so it’s best if there’s passion behind the effort, to keep the energy up when hurdles appear.
There are also several different routes to sail into java, from partnering with local roasters to taking on the whole process in-house. The right one for each brewery depends on capacity, space, budget, know-how, and interest.