February 2010
Branding a local coffee experience.
By Tim Newcomb
Creating a local coffee brand with high-quality roasts is crucial for independent coffee retailers, says David Morris, CEO of Sumner's Dillanos Coffee Roasters.
Morris decided to enter the world of roasting after quickly moving beyond the Buckley espresso cart he opened in 1992. Now, he creates branded "coffee experiences," which include roasts ranked in the top three nationally by Roast Magazine in the last four years. He says that melding traditional Italian roasting techniques with current technology "coaxes the finest flavors out of each bean."
Along with top-notch taste, Morris gives independents the support he never received. Dillanos offers brand coaching to all its clients (75 percent of its roasts are sold under the retailer's brand), which helps them create a local experience. "It is about the branding," he says. "How it looks, everything the customer touches, feels or sees. It's an overall experience, of which coffee is a part."
Dillanos has cashed in on being from Washington. Its clients are located in all 50 states, range from small stands to 160-store chains and include, locally, Pacific-based Big Foot Java, with more than 20 locations. Dillanos pulls in $20 million in annual revenues. Across the country, building an intensely local brand is the strategy to beating out the big boys.
But Morris isn't against Starbucks. He likes the stores and credits the company with opening the door for independents. "We are all riding the coattails of Starbucks," he says. However, his focus now is beating them, with branding and the "third wave" in coffee: high quality. "People are growing to love true specialty coffee," Morris explains. "Starbucks' quality has declined and allowed locals to compete."
Morris defines "quality" as a complex cup of coffee that gives customers "pause in their day." There is room for more independents that stress the local and quality coffee, he says. Those two things create success.
