Propeller Coffee Co. Brews Multiple Revenue Streams

Propeller Coffee Co. redefines multi-use spaces. Losel Tethong was one of the founders. He took an old factory in Toronto’s industrial area and transformed it into a coffee roasting facility, cafe and event space as well as a space for education and training.

Losel states, “We can have the cafe, roast the coffee, and do the lab work.” It is used as an event space for weddings and chef dinners.

Propeller Coffee’s space enabled them to maintain their core values of quality, sustainability, community. Propeller Coffee’s space serves a number of important functions, including training baristas. This helps to strengthen its relationships with wholesale customers.

Losel states that in the last 35-40 seconds of a bean’s life, it is possible to either make or ruin that coffee. It’s an important part of what we do at the cafes, restaurants, and offices we work with. We share our knowledge and skills to help people get started on their journeys.

Losel believes that this education helps his customers enjoy the best coffee. It all begins with the beans themselves. Propeller Coffee partners with coffee farmers around the globe, including those in Ethiopia and Guatemala. They are committed to sustainable initiatives such as water projects and soil remediation.

Losel states that great coffee is produced by farmers who are concerned not only about the environment and plants, but also their workers and the communities in which they grow their coffee. It’s important to build long-lasting relationships with the same farmers and the same communities.

Despite all the work Propeller Coffee did at its headquarters, and with its farmers it was losing almost all of its business when the pandemic struck. Wholesale was 80% to 85% of the business. The business collapsed almost instantly in March 2020.

Losel states that if Shopify hadn’t been available when the pandemic started, it would have prevented us from being here. “It enabled us to respond quickly to the huge surge in e-commerce demand we received in late March and early April 2020.

Propeller Coffee Co. launched a subscription program and a loyalty programme for its growing direct-to-consumer operation.

Listen to Losel’s full interview Shopify Masters to hear how Propeller Coffee continues to diversify its revenue streams. Also, what’s in store to make a future cafe brand owned and operated entirely by baristas.

 

source https://www.shopify.com/blog/propeller-coffee-wholesale-and-dtc