Today we’d like to introduce you to Jeff Bagwell.
Jeff, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Ten years ago, our founder Brian Holland, started a church in a local pizza place. The goal of this new church was to help people who were broken, hurting and in need of help. The question we asked ourselves as a church was “can we give more money away to help people than we keep to run the church?” In order to accomplish this goal of helping people, we needed to create a revenue stream. Over the course of three years we landed on coffee. We were introduced to a family who owned a coffee farm in Nicaragua who believed in helping others using their coffee and the profits from their sales. This family had to close their coffee business in the United States to focus on running the farm back in Nicaragua. After several meetings to get to know each other, they offered us all their coffee roasting equipment and everything we needed to start a coffee business. Little did they know that 18 months before we had begun praying for the funds to buy a roaster so we could begin a coffee business. When we opened up the storage unit to receive the coffee equipment they had sent us for little cost, we discovered the roaster was the exact make and model we had identified and been praying for some 18 months. We saw this as confirmation that we were supposed to be in the coffee roasting business. Here we are 7 years later with coffee customers from Washington state to Miami, Florida.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
One of our biggest challenges is having enough money to buy beans each year to supply upcoming coffee demand. You have to spend lots of money up front and then receive your profit on the back end. And for us, we pay a higher than average price for our beans so our farmers can pay their workers fair, living wages. It can put some financial pressure on the business but God always provides.
Getting our product out there and communicating why our coffee is different has its challenges.
Some people will tolerate a bad cup of coffee for a good cause, but not for long. We strive to provide and excellent cup of coffee for a great cause. As we grow, finding farmers who share our values and believe in what we do can have its challenges as our need for more quality coffee grows. We have to take the time to visit these farmers and make sure they are doing what they say they are doing for fair wages and investing in their communities. So our challenge is not just a quality bean but a missional farmer.
Please tell us about Phoenix Roasters.
We hold unwaveringly to the belief that no cause is worth drinking a bad cup of coffee.
Someone might try it once, but unless the coffee is excellent, they would be reluctant to come back for more.
We sell 100% Arabica coffee, grown and rated as specialty coffee. While most of our coffee is single origin, our blends take into consideration complementary flavors and tastes, avoiding blends of lower quality beans.
Aware of the importance of accountability and relationships, at Phoenix Roasters we purchase our coffee direct from the coffee farm at a price substantially more than the “fair-trade” minimum. Purchasing direct ensures maximum compensation to our farmers and their workers resulting in daily wages over 300% more than other farms.
Each bag of Phoenix Roasters sold also resources domestic relief projects such as ending the commercial exploitation of children, ending homelessness, restoring abuse victims, supporting single mothers, and much more. We call it The Cycle of Relief.
We believe coffee should taste great, but more importantly, the best coffee makes a positive impact. The positive impact we focus on is both domestic and international. At Phoenix Roasters, we describe our impact as the Cycle of Relief. From the cup you brew, to our roasting facility, to our international farmers, to their indigenous workers, your purchase fuels this cycle.
>Employing Indigenous
In most cases, people do not need a handout. What they need is a job that promotes dignity and equips them to provide for their family. We believe in paying a socially responsible amount for our coffee which creates financial margin for our farmers to pay their employees an ethical wage.
>Empowering Farmers
We raise the bar when it comes to coffee with a cause. Not only do we pay our farmers an ethical wage, we empower them to do likewise. Our farmers are not only paying their employees an ethical wage, they are also involved in relief efforts in their community.
One, for example, involves feeding the single mothers and widows weekly at a Panamanian Hospital.
>Our Coffee Partners
As more people join the Phoenix Roasters, our relief efforts continue to grow. Not only are we championing relief in the coffee industry, we’re championing it in our own backyard. We do this by supporting organizations that are fighting sex trafficking, ending homelessness, and providing relief to single mothers.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I don’t think we would change much. Our journey has made us who we are today. If anything, we could have done a better job building the company’s infrastructure earlier. It just would have made for easier growth pains with the business.
Pricing:
- 12 oz. bags are $12.95 except flavor and decaf which are $13.95. We also supply 2 lbs .($24.50) and 5 lbs. bags ($59.95).
- K-cups that can be recycled are $10.95 for 12 pods or $39.95 for a box of 50.
- We cater events with 5 gallon cambros of coffee for $100 which includes cups, creamers, sugar and stirrers.
Contact Info:
- Address: 2650 Chattahoochee Drive,
Suite 400
Duluth, GA 30097 - Website: phoenixroasters.coffee
- Phone: (770) 884-1496
- Email: jeff@phoenixroasters.coffee | greg@phoenixroasters.coffee
- Instagram: phoenixroasters
- Facebook: @PhoenixRoastersCoffee
- Twitter: @PhoenixR_Coffee
Getting in touch: VoyageATL is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
