In this episode, Luke interviews Philipp Schallberger, the co-managing director of Kaffeemacher. Philipp recounts his studies of smallholder agricultural supply chains, which provided the framework to analyze and seek to improve coffee supply chains. Schallberger shares his perspective on the responsibility and joy that we hold on the consuming side of the industry.

A hallmark of Kaffeemacher is their commitment to sharing knowledge and growing their business through generously sharing what they have learned. This can be seen through their extensive library of coffee educational material on YouTube, podcasts, their blog, and the classes offered at their academy. He also describes the company's unique structure, which allows them to make unconventional decisions, such as investing in a coffee farm in Nicaragua for learning purposes, without the pressure of traditional business structure and expectations. Ultimately, Philipp underscores the significance of storytelling in connecting people and fostering a sense of responsibility and joy.

In this interview, Kenzel Fallen, the CEO and co-founder of Three Keys Coffee, shares how her background in risk management informs her role as an owner and leader of a roastery. Fallen emphasized her appreciation for how coffee brings people together and the community that forms around it, rather than focusing solely on tasting notes. One of the things that make Three Keys Coffee special is its inspiration stemming from music, and Kenzel shares how they connect music to every coffee they release.

She also shares that, as a company, Three Keys is committed to quality, sustainability, and community engagement, which informs how they source their coffee, the equipment they use, and their approach to education. Finally, she shares what it’s like to manage a business with her husband and what it means to work collaboratively by leveraging each other's complementary skills.

In this conversation, we heard about Christina Chin’s journey through cruise ship sales, international travel, a bakery, and a roastery that ultimately led to forming Favor Coffee.

Christina kept returning to the concept of hospitality as the reason they are in coffee in the first place, and she also reminded us of the need to engage thoughtfully with the greater coffee community to keep our tanks full as entrepreneurs and solopreneurs.

We wholeheartedly agree that keeping our tanks full in hospitality, coffee, and life requires being intentionally engaged in the community. Thank you for modeling this intentionality and thoughtfulness for us, Christina!

If you missed the podcast recommendation, it is:

• Boss Barista

Buy coffee here: favor.coffee

Follow them: @favor.coffee

In this conversation, we heard about Ben’s journey that led him into coffee and the genesis of Long Miles as coffee producers.

Over and over during this interview, Ben kept coming back to the fact that people are the reasons we do the work we do in coffee and creating meaningful relationships are the backbone of what we know to be specialty coffee.

Couldn’t have said it better Ben! Thank you, for modeling Ubuntu for us and the rest of the coffee industry. We need it!

If you missed his book recommendations, they are:

- The Art of Possibility

- Unreasonable Hospitality

Thank you Patrick and the rest of the @savorbrands team for leading our industry by example in Pono…doing what is right.

I (Luke) am leaving this conversation reminded once again that there is more work to in making our industry and our world a better place.

“How much do you need and can I pay more?” - @proleteriat

These kinds of questions we should be asking in our industry to begin to create real conversations around equitable prices.

Thank you Xavier for leading by example, putting your money where your mouth is and reminding us to not lose sight of caring for the people around you today in an effort to make a larger impact on the industry tomorrow.

“Would my mom feel comfortable here?” - Sarah Fillmore

Such a great question to ask when evaluating an environment or experience.

In this interview, we got to chat with Sarah from @good_intentions_coffee about what a good cafe experience looks like, how she got into the coffee industry and the good she’s bringing into the world through her company.

One of the phrases that stood out to us was, “I came for a job and left with a career.” This sentence and sentiment is so familiar to us here at The Lev Co and one we hear often with the folks we work with. The coffee industry is a special place and one that needs all kinds of folks to bring their unique perspectives and gifts to.

Thank you, Sarah, for bringing your unique perspective to our industry through @good_intentions_coffee.

Our 🔑 takeaway from our interview with Chris of @keystotheshop is- perspective provides clarity.

Seeking the perspective of our community & team should provide us with the clarity to helps us make decisions from a place if need filling vs. making decisions based on comparison.

Thanks for sharing your story and insights with us Chris!

“It wasn’t the coffee, it was the experience that drew me in.” - George of @musecoffeestudio

We couldn’t agree more and see this expressed in the way that you welcome guests and make them feel like family as they go about their day.

The big takeaway from this one for us is to get comfortable with what you don’t know and seeking out advisors who can help you along your journey:

George, thanks for joining us and for sharing about the work you do! Can’t wait to stop back in for a delicious seasonal drink.

Book 📕 recs:
- the fire next time
- atomic habits

The big takeaway from this #GFDGW is to build relationships with the folks you are working with where they be business partners or vendors because the, “Relationship is the guarantee.”

Thanks @marzachan & @ethandarla for sharing how you came together to form @tanbrowncoffee and the beautiful future you are building through it.

Luke had the privilege of chatting with Chloe (@campingwithclo) to hear about her path through coffee, fashion, social media to design and travel that led her to The Lev Co.

Luke had the privilege of chatting with Sean (@hondurancoffeealliance) to hear about his journey from aerospace into specialty coffee.

Luke had the privilege of chatting with the owner of Yaggy Road Roasting Co, Benjamin Montgomery (@yaggyroad) to hear about their path to coffee roasting and their desire to showcase the good work producers are doing at origin.