Filed under: Coffee Business
Starting up a business in a down economy can be a grind – particularly when your business is organic coffee beans. But when local businesses help each other, everyone benefits.
In this time of economic challenges (to put it mildly), it is especially difficult for start-up businesses to get off the ground.
Companies like Emerald Frog, for example, have the benefits of the enviable mix of a solid product in the form of organic coffee beans; a good cause under the umbrella of Fair Trade; and an offering that is a consumer staple – coffee.
On the other hand, everyone is tightening their belts these days – and the area of upscale, gourmet products are no exception. Coupled with people’s natural tendency toward out-of-site / out-of-mind … it can certainly be a grind to maintain solid growth.
Emerald Frog Coffee is based in the Chicago suburbs – Naperville and Elgin, to be exact. And while these are pretty big suburbs, it is still possible to find family-run shops that are willing to give their neighbors a chance. Emerald Frog found this neighborly attitude in the form of Casey’s Foods – a local Centrella grocery chain.
Casey’s Foods is a family business that grew out of a history as a butcher with a desire to provide the best cuts of meat, paired with a fine, upscale grocery store. In fact, I had been hearing from neighbors that they “buy their meat at Casey’s and their coffee from Emerald Frog.”
Like Casey’s, Emerald Frog grew out of a long history in the coffee business, and the desire to build a family company while moving upstream. The fit made sense, and the buyers at Casey’s think so, too.
So starting June 27, 2009, Emerald Frog coffee will be available on Casey’s shelves in Naperville. They opened their doors to their coffee purveyor neighbors.
Whether or not you live in the Chicago area, remember to support your neighborhood shops and stores. You never know when they may be able to return the favor.
