Really Good Coffee Sourced with Respect to our Coffee Producers
We strongly believe that quality is worth paying for.
Choosing to spend your money at Coffee Emporium means you are choosing to support a small, independent, locally owned business. It means that you are supporting dozens of smallholder farmers from around the world, who we personally know.
Together, we are helping to ensure those farmers see a sustainable future in growing specialty coffee, which benefits us all.
At Coffee Emporium we have a direct trade sourcing strategy. This means that we want to know the coffee farmers that we purchase from and we want to pay a price that rewards them for the quality of their coffee. Over the years we have built relationships with many of our coffee farmers.
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Green coffee prices have increased substantially.
The term “supply chain issues” seems like it has become an everyday part of our conversations since the beginning of the pandemic. But what does it mean for specialty coffee exactly? Last November, Arabica coffee prices rose to multi-decade high average prices -- substantially above pre-pandemic numbers. Brazil produces over 35% of the world’s coffee. A combination of drought and frost in Brazil have wreaked havoc on the global coffee industry contributing to the lowest global coffee reserves in over twenty years. At the same time, coffee consumption in the US has hit a record high with Americans now drinking more coffee than any other beverage. In short, when there’s less coffee and plenty of people who want it, prices go up.
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Higher freight costs
Rising freight costs have affected virtually every industry, causing the price of consumer goods to rise across the board, and coffee is no exception. North American and European port and cargo depots saw huge workforce disruptions causing shipping containers to start piling up.
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Labor shortages
Ohio and the tristate area lost more than a quarter of restaurant and coffee shop jobs during the pandemic with many people choosing to leave the industry altogether.
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Higher employee wages
Restaurants and coffee shops must pay more to attract great people – which is awesome for the workers – and it also means that the end customer will have to pay more for their bag of coffee.
Relationships from Seed to Cup
We believe in investing in relationships from seed to cup. We buy coffee directly from farmers to ensure that they receive top dollar for their hard work and quality coffee. We have developed friendships over the years with our farmers and take pride in working with such driven, hardworking people. We prioritize working with women in the coffee industry because of their willingness to provide economic and educational opportunities to enrich and advance their communities. The late Angèle Ciza, the Kalico owner in Burundi, says, "If you want to develop Burundi, you develop the women."
We roast our coffees in small batches at our Roasting Haus, located in Over-the-Rhine. We honor the hard work put into each bean by the farmer by carefully roasting each coffee with an unhurried attention to detail to bring out the unique nuances and rich flavor of coffees from Central and South America; Africa and Indonesia
Our most important relationship is the one we have with our customers. Our team members will do their best to provide our guests with a coffee experience that is unintimidating, inclusive, genuine and uplifting. We want everyone to have a cup of really good coffee, whether you are a fellow coffee snob, a casual coffee drinker, or just starting to dip your toes in this amazing world of coffee.
Whenever we can, we buy our coffee directly from farmers to ensure that they get top dollar for their hard work and quality product. Here are some of the people we work with:
Olga Hazard – Guatemala, Finca Los Andes
Angèla and Ivo – Colombia, Cafe Tio Conejo
Bill McAlpin – Costa Rica, Hacienda La Minita
Peixoto Family - Brazil, Sitio Santo Antonio
Phyllis Johnson - BD Imports
RuthAnn Church - Artisan coffee Imports
