FROM THE EDITOR
Shanna Germain
RECENTLY, I’ve been thinking a lot
about size. Maybe it’s because I’ve been
training to walk the Portland marathon and 26 miles
seems like a distance that is just way too long. Or
maybe it’s just that I’ve had too much
time on my hands—do you know how long it takes
me to walk 10 miles? I’m ashamed to tell you,
but I will admit that I probably spend too many of
those—cough—hours thinking. Still, if
I had to guess, I’d say that the real reason
I’ve been mulling this topic is because I’ve
been editing articles for this issue that have size
as their theme in one way or another: writer Nickolas
Butler explores the very small side of the industry
with his article on micro-lots, while Terry Davis
helps you decide whether it’s time to move up
to a larger roaster. And I look at whether grocery
stores are a good way to grow your business or just
another one of those things that you feel like you
have to do if you want to be successful.
In our culture, it seems like bigger is always better.
Whether we’re talking about cups of coffee,
our business growth or…well, other things…the
general consensus is that size truly does matter and
small is not where it’s at. As consumers, we
want everything bigger, and ideally for cheaper. The
same is true of our business philosophy: grow, grow,
grow. After all, if $500,000 in yearly sales is good,
then isn’t a million dollars twice as good?
If you have one retail-roastery, wouldn’t a
dozen really be the epitome of success?
For some, the answer is a resounding yes. For others,
the right answer is more complicated and it takes
time to figure it out. After all, bigger sales and
more stores don’t guarantee success. They have
their own rewards to be sure, but they also mean a
more complex business model, less control, more potential
for quality loss and often a need for an increased
input of time and money. To be frank, the whole thing
reminds me of Goldilocks and her visit to the bears’ house,
where she finally found her perfectly sized chair
through the process of elimination: “This one’s
too small, this one’s too big, and this one’s
just right.” Sure, she’s picky, but in
the end, that turns out to be a good thing. (At least
it does in the modern version of the story—in
the historical version, the ending is a bit different.
Let’s just say the bears get a chance for revenge
on their porridge-eating guest).
Not surprisingly, many members of the specialty coffee
industry are already “playing Goldilocks” to
figure out exactly how large they need to be in order
to balance out revenue and expenses, to make their
losses less than (or at least equal to) their gains.
And it seems that while the world around us is continually
pushing us to expand, many in the roasting community
are eschewing this “bigger is better” philosophy
and are purposefully narrowing their focus. Buying
and selling small quantities of top-quality coffees
in the form of micro-lots is just one example. Roasters
who are selling off the retail side of their business
to focus on roasting and wholesale is another. And
then there are the companies who start small, stay
small and have no desire to get any larger—ever.
Bigger isn’t bad, but it isn’t necessarily
better. What’s better is finding the size of
the thing—be it a roaster, a lot of coffee or
a business model—that fits you perfectly and
allows you to say, “Yep, this one is just right.”
Keep the flame burning,
Shanna
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