Today we’d like to introduce you to Ben Smith.
Hi Ben, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
After moving around the country during my early and mid-twenties following work, I moved back to West Central Illinois, where my roots are. I found a new appreciation for this area I was born and raised in. The Elm City Coffee journey started when I visited a local fresh pressed juice shop that also happened to roast their coffee. The gentleman roasting, Richard Dunseth, had been a dear friend and mentor for years, and I knew he had the best coffee, so I’d frequent this spot where I knew I could find the best coffee in the area. After many conversations with him picking his brain while trying to roast, he finally asked if I’d like to learn the process. I gladly took the opportunity and began roasting coffee for this local shop. After a few months, the opportunity came up to purchase the business. We rebranded within a few months and with the help of committed family members and friends. Elm City Coffee was quickly moved from a freshly pressed juice bar that offered coffee to a complete single-origin specialty coffee roastery where we not only focus on our brick-and-mortar operations but also expand into new markets via supplying other coffee shops, retail outlets, and grocery stores with our locally roasted beans. With opportunities such as a coffee shop in the Illinois State Capitol, partnering with other creative endeavors like tea shops (Whimsy Tea), bakeries (Three Twigs & Beelzebunz), and kombucha bars (Cloud Mountain), farmer’s markets, and locally owned farms and grocers (Mueller Family Farms & Grab n Grow Greenhouse), we’re able to extend our roots into areas that a traditional coffee shop can’t. We’ve been able to share our love for the craft of roasting and preparing coffee with people within our community, and through our ability to sell our beans to different outlets and ship our beans, our coffee has reached people in 25 states and three countries. Now, just over two years into operation, we’ve seen the appreciation that our communities have for specialty coffee grow more and more as we continue to work to do our small part in helping the Midwest become a coffee hub for the US.
Alright, let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what challenges have you had to overcome?
Every new business has to struggle. It’s part of earning your stripes and makes you better. The ability to view the struggles as nothing but learning opportunities has been invaluable. This is my first time running an operation like this and managing my business. You learn a lot, and you mess up a lot. The road bumps you hit also allow you to have grace and understanding for others in your sphere because you know how hard it can be. We’re all learning and trying to be better every day. We’re incredibly fortunate to have the best team and network around. With commitment and teamwork, we’ve been able to overcome every obstacle. Our friend Gordon at Whimsy Tea in Springfield, Illinois, said it best when we were chatting about feeling underprepared for a big opportunity given to us. He said, “You might not have the business infrastructure right now, but you have the people infrastructure,” and he was right. Our network of people has been invaluable in helping smooth the road when it becomes pretty bumpy.
We’ve been impressed with Elm City Coffee, but for folks who might need to be more familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart?
Elm City Coffee is a single-origin specialty coffee roastery. We roast coffee for our shop and a growing list of wholesale and retail clients. We are known for our light roast coffees. We tell people it’s “light and bright.” This unique roasting method can bring out unique flavor and nuance that typically gets lost in darker roasts. Our goal is to taste the coffee, not just drink it. We aim to highlight the country of origin, the region, the processing type, and the bean cultivar with every coffee we offer. I’m proud of our brand’s ability to stand apart from other coffee operations in its standard of excellence, allowing conversations between seasoned coffee aficionados while also aiming to be completely approachable and welcoming to even the most novice coffee drinkers. I want readers to see Elm City Coffee as not only a craft specialty coffee company that prides itself on attention to detail and excellence in our product but also something that can be indulged in every day, no matter how you prepare your coffee. We can share our brand and product with everyone with no hurdles through our shipping options.
What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
Patience. This is a lesson that I’m still learning. I see with great detail where I want our company to go and what I think we can do, and I have to remain patient and not rush the process. As someone who always wants to put my foot on the gas, taking things slowly and letting them unfold naturally is a much wiser option. When moving too fast, it’s easy to overlook details and signs showing themselves, whether knowing when to part ways with something or when it’s time to move forward with something else finally. Patience and knowing when to slow things down have been lessons that this caffeine-powered company has found extremely important.
Pricing:
- 12oz Retail Bags of our single-origin coffee are $16 and can shipped anywhere for a flat rate of $4.
- We offer a recurring coffee subscription. The bi-weekly or monthly bags option is available for $28 plus $4 flat rate shipping.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.elmcityroastery.com/
- Instagram: @elmcityroastery
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ElmCityRoastery
Image Credits
Brandi Wharton (Brand New Perspective Photography), Brittany Troxell Photography, Rachel Marie Photography
