When you think about where specialty coffee belongs, a bank probably isn't the first place that comes to mind. But what if the best coffee in your city happened to be served inside a Capital One branch?
That's the audacious vision of Verve Coffee, the Santa Cruz-based coffee roaster that was started in 2007 and now has over a dozen cafe locations across California and Japan. Harris Nash, the company's Senior Wholesale Manager, has spent the last two years helping Verve Coffee take over the more than 50 Capital One Cafe locations across 18 states, converting customers from Peet's to specialty coffee in places like Herald Square in New York and shopping malls in Kansas.
Harris brings a unique perspective to this challenge. He's worked nearly every role in the coffee industry—from barista to importer to getting stuck on a Chinese coffee farm during COVID lockdowns. But this Capital One project has pushed him out of his comfort zone even further with training 600 baristas to represent Verve's brand in locations they don't directly control, creating systems to maintain quality across a massive geographic footprint, and proving that specialty coffee can thrive in unexpected places.
WHAT YOU'LL LEARN
CHAPTERS
WHERE TO FIND HARRIS NASH
MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE
The Coffee Think Tank podcast is a show about trends, ideas, and innovations in coffee by Fresh Cup, hosted by Garrett Oden. Subscribe to Fresh Cup for more industry insights at
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With quality coffee more widely available than ever, roasters can no longer rely solely on their beans’ excellence to drive growth. As Raina Roberts, Business Development Director at Partners Coffee in Brooklyn, NY, puts it, “When everyone’s special, no one’s special.”
Raina oversees 250+ wholesale accounts and has guided Partners’ expansion beyond the Northeast. She’s seen how grocery buyers now demand more, charge hidden fees, and issue dispute codes that can wreck margins if you’re not prepared.
In this Coffee Think Tank episode, we unpack what it really takes to break into grocery, the costs you can’t overlook, how to support rollouts across regions, and how to win wholesale accounts when you’re not local. If you handle B2B growth or expansion at a roaster, this one’s for you.
WHAT YOU’LL LEARN
CHAPTERS00:00 The changing landscape of coffee biz-dev03:02 Raina’s journey in coffee06:08 What a Business Development Director really does08:51 Distribution and logistics landmines11:57 First big Midwest win: Fresh Thyme Market15:07 Marketing a new region from afar18:02 How grocery sales actually happen21:06 Data management and transparency headaches24:10 Tariffs and price shocks28:07 Pricing strategy under grocery pressure31:12 Understanding and fighting disputes35:43 Region-specific marketing tactics39:05 Serving wholesale customers that aren’t local45:11 Protecting brand integrity while scaling51:07 Product innovation — cold brew, instant, and more55:48 Trends shaping coffee’s next five years
WHERE TO FIND RAINA ROBERTS
MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE
The Coffee Think Tank podcast is a show about trends, ideas, and innovations in coffee by Fresh Cup, hosted by Garrett Oden. Subscribe to Fresh Cup for more industry insights at freshcup.com.
In this episode of Coffee Think Tank, Bailey Manson, Director of Innovation at Intelligentsia Coffee, shares the story of the Illumination Bar in Pasadena—a bold experiment that replaced traditional espresso machines with freeze‑dried instant coffee for all espresso‑based drinks.
Launched during the pandemic in 2020, this radical service model lasted until January 2025 before evolving again.
We discuss how Bailey and his team convinced themselves to pursue such a crazy idea, the tools and workflow required to serve coffee this way, how baristas and customers reacted, and why the bar just replaced the freeze‑dried setup with an innovative—but more classic—espresso workflow.
What You’ll Learn
Chapters
Where to Find Bailey Manson
Mentioned in the Episode
Artificial intelligence tools are transforming how businesses operate. But in an industry built on human connection and craft, coffee business owners must balance taking advantage of new tools with preserving the soul of their business.
That's why I wanted to talk with Melissa Villanueva, someone I consider to be a sharp operator with a keen eye for how to use AI effectively.
Over the past decade, Villanueva has grown Brewpoint Coffee from a Craigslist purchase into a thriving company with three cafes and a roastery in the Chicago area. Now, she's navigating how to thoughtfully integrate AI tools without compromising what makes Brewpoint special.
00:00 Introduction to AI in Coffee Business
03:11 Exploring AI Use Cases in Brewpoint
05:54 The Role of AI in Writing and Content Creation
08:47 Customer Engagement and AI Tools
12:11 Operational Efficiency with AI
14:49 Philosophy and Future of AI in Business
28:56 Navigating AI's Ethical Boundaries
30:43 Preserving Human Creativity in Business
34:25 Empowering Teams to Use AI Effectively
39:50 The Role of AI in Policy Creation
42:33 Key Characteristics of Business Success
49:43 Reflecting on AI's Impact on Entrepreneurship
56:15 Future Goals and Strategic Planning
Coffee sourcing is undergoing a quiet, tech-enabled revolution, and there are few people better equipped to talk about than Kat Melheim.
Through her roles at Black & White, her time on a Hawaiian coffee farm, and now at Algrano, Kat has been part of a shift toward greater transparency and accessibility, especially in the roasting and green buying realms.
The digitization of coffee sourcing isn't just a convenience play - it's fundamentally altering who gets to participate and how value flows through the supply chain.
I wanted to understand if we're witnessing a true disruption or just a repackaging of the same old power structures with a tech interface. Kat's perspective, from someone who's operated at multiple points in the value chain, offers some great clarity on what's really happening here, and what roasters who are just coming onto the green buying scene need to know about sourcing digitally.
What You'll Learn00:00 Breaking Down Coffee Roasting Secrets
07:00 Modern Coffee Sourcing Evolution
15:15 Defining Direct Trade vs. Direct Sourcing
21:03 Algrano: Simplifying Coffee Trade Logistics
24:10 Digital Marketplaces vs. Traditional Importing
30:22 Current Challenges for Coffee Importers
34:01 How Technology Transforms Producer Relationships
37:33 Overcoming Forward Buying Hesitation
40:09 Algrano's Transparent Business Model
44:06 Building Meaningful Producer Connections
46:01 Kat's Origin Journey: Farm to Roastery
53:34 Creating Immersive Origin Experiences
58:08 How to Connect with Kat and Algrano
Where to Find Kat MelheimMentioned in the EpisodeThe Coffee Think Tank podcast is a show about trends, ideas, and innovations in coffee by Fresh Cup, hosted by Garrett Oden. Subscribe to Fresh Cup for more industry insights at freshcup.com.
We’re in a change or die moment across the industry, and even more established companies are having to rethink everything to make sure the numbers all add up. The rising c-market price, in particular, is throwing everyone for a loop, but there are other pressures that are forcing leaders to stay on their toes.
I asked Anne Djerai, CEO of Metropolis Coffee, to come on the podcast and talk about what it’s like to be what we end up calling a ‘wartime CEO’.
We talk about how to respond to changing conditions effectively. We talk about planning for a possible $5 green price, and how that affects their different business lines. What happens when your green coffee broker defaults, how to make hard choices as a business leader, and how the distinctions between commercial and specialty coffee are being chipped away over time.
If you’d like to learn what it’s like to lead your coffee business right through the storm effectively, this episode is a must listen. And if you like the podcast, make sure to hit subscribe wherever you’re listening.
Thanks to this season’s sponsor, SumUp, a modern point of sale system for cafes.
Chapters
00:00 Navigating Change in Specialty Coffee03:00 The Journey to CEO: Challenges and Growth06:11 Market Dynamics: Specialty vs. Commodity Coffee08:47 Responding to Market Pressures and Price Adjustments12:01 Looking Ahead: Trends and Predictions for 202515:05 The Impact of Rising Costs on Business Models25:46 Navigating Coffee Pricing and Market Challenges28:02 Leadership in Wartime: The CEO Experience31:35 Building a Trusting Team During Tough Times33:10 Empathy as a Leadership Tool35:07 The Complexities of the CEO Title36:37 Understanding Broker Defaults and Their Impact39:46 The Role of AI in Coffee Supply Chain44:20 The Churchill Duck: A Symbol of Leadership47:31 Advice for Emerging Leaders
Where To Find Anne
Metropolis Coffee on Instagram
Metropolis Workshop (the co-packing arm of Metropolis Coffee)
Mentioned in the Episode
Gemini for Google Suite (the AI tool Anne uses for email management and organization)
EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System) (a management framework by Geno Wickman)
Churchill Duck (the rubber duck)
The Coffee Think Tank podcast is a show about trends, ideas, and innovations in coffee by Fresh Cup, hosted by Garrett Oden. Subscribe to Fresh Cup for more industry insights at freshcup.com.
Everyone wants recurring, predictable revenue, and the pull of reliable income has been strong enough to turn nearly everything into a subscription program: toothpaste in glass bottles, delivered meal kits, toys for dogs, and of course—coffee beans, or coffee pods, or frozen coffee pods. There are many kinds of coffee subscriptions.
But subscription models for coffee shops—like actually visiting a shop in person—haven't really caught on. There's no winning framework for coffee shop subscriptions like there is for subscribing to a roaster online. But the dream of recurring revenue for the in-person cafe experience is alive and well among operators and leaders.
That's why I wanted to talk with Patrick and Krystal Burns. For nearly a decade, they've run Palace Coffee in Amarillo, Texas and built out a membership program that goes beyond discounted drinks. They've refined their program a lot over the years, and it's fascinating to learn how they've adjusted pricing, perks, marketing, and operations to keep the program going and profitable.
Thanks to this season’s sponsor, SumUp, a modern point of sale system for cafes.
What You'll Learn
- How Palace Coffee transformed a traditional "mug club" into a sustainable membership program that generates predictable revenue
- The economics behind pricing an in-person coffee subscription and the calculations that make it profitable- Why community events became a powerful differentiator in their subscription model
- How to balance discount structures without sacrificing profitability
- The recent evolution from an annual membership to a monthly subscription format- The technology and operational systems needed to manage a coffee shop subscription program
Chapters
00:00 Introduction to Palace Coffee and Community Focus
05:58 Building Community Through Membership Programs
12:13 Adapting to Change: Lessons from COVID-19
18:00 The Future of Palace Coffee's Membership Program
31:49 Navigating Customer Engagement and Feedback
39:40 Expanding Community Connections
47:21 The Origin Story of Palace Coffee
53:09 Theater as a Reflection of Life
Where to Find Our Guests
Email Patrick -- patrick@palacecoffee.co
Mentioned In The Episode
Per Diem (mobile ordering app w/ subscription management)
Cinemark Movie Club (inspiration for their subscription model)
*The Coffee Think Tank podcast is a show about trends, ideas, and innovations in coffee by Fresh Cup, hosted by Garrett Oden. Subscribe to Fresh Cup for more industry insights at freshcup.com
