What's Velodrome Coffee Company?
It's time to change the way we drink and understand specialty coffee. Velodrome Coffee Company is not the next pretentious coffee shop where you have no clue what to order, how to ask for it, or even know what you're drinking by the time you have a cup in your hand... Velodrome Coffee is a new approach to understanding the best coffee this world has to offer.
Right now, Velodrome is just getting started. We've decided to build and fund this business organically. We're going to let sales and support from people interested in great coffee be the factors that set our trajectory. Velodrome is completely independent, we don't have, and will never have investors pushing for profits or even the pressures of having to repay large debts which will always result in compromise.
So how is this possible?
First, we are focusing on an online presence. Currently we are establishing and defining our brand which stands for uncompromising standards. We value transparency, education, and attainability. We hope our clean and intentional brand aesthetic also points to our attention to detail.
Next, we're going to open an online presale! A presale will allow us to sell before spending money on inventory or equipment. We've worked out an agreement with a local roaster in Franklin, TN to allow us to roast and package all the presale units for a percentage of sales. We will use our years of specialty coffee roasting experience to source a truly special and incredible coffee and roast it in a way to bring out its most interesting nuances. The presale will start December 1st 2016 and continue through April 30th 2017, all presale units will ship May 8th. During this presale we will start to offer other options such as presale subscriptions and merchandise which will ship immediately.
Following the presale we will launch our full scale online coffee roasting and wholesale operation. At this point we will also start to rollout our online educational series. It's one thing to get great coffee into people's hands - it's another thing to offer the right information to help them get the most out of it.
From here the goal is to create a brick and mortar business so that we can be tangibly involved in a community. We've selected Marquette, Michigan - our home! We will be purchasing our own roaster and operating out of Marquette by September 2017. Yes, we want to bring the concept of Specialty Coffee to uncharted territory and to a group of millenials attending Northern Michigan University that really care about sustainable business and craft goods. The online aspect of Velodrome will continue forward completely unchanged by the business operation relocation. From this point on we will simply grow as more people get involved with what we are doing.
Growth progression plan once roasting in MQT....
- Set up a small roastery and simple pour over bar to start introducing people to this new approach to coffee. Create a "third space" where people can come and belong away from home and school/work
- Launch free local coffee delivery by bike!
- Get out in the community - set up at festivals, demo, serve at popups, meet people, learn the needs of the locals.
- As profits allow, continue to expand and build out the space to eventually accommodate a full sized cafe and educational space.
- Start intentionally traveling to origin to meet with farmers we buy coffee from.
- Thoughtfully consider further expansion and permeation into Marquette.
That's our basic plan... actually that's the whole master plan. Told ya we're transparent!
If you want to see something like this come to fruition - let us know! It starts with you, it grows by you, and will only be sustained by people like YOU! So we're now trying to start, help us by placing a preorder today!
Give us a chance to provide you with coffee that becomes an experience that surpasses the beverage itself.
coming next:
- The Couple Behind the Brand
- Brand Dissection
- Roasting Approach