Armando Cardenas, Quail Street Coffee Roasters
Quail Street Coffee Roaster's Armando Cardenas joins the Coffee People podcast to talk about the double-edged sword that comes with jumping into a coffee roasting business without a net.
Role(s): Co-Founder and Head Roaster
Location: Escondido, CA
What he drinks: A drip or a cortado. If the latter, barista's choice on the espresso.
Full video posted below, or watch and/or listen to Coffee People on:
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KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THE PODCAST
- Armando keeps pushing because any day could be the day that the world (or a Kardashian) discovers his coffee. The right social share, and a brand can blow up...at least for awhile.
- His wife Nikki handles the books. They're a literal Mom & Pop business.
- Currently, Quail Street is a wholesale and e-commerce roasting operation, but the original plan was to have a retail space and cafe. They didn't go that route because they had a finite amount of money, and they didn't want to take out loans. They launched using $20,000 out of savings to buy a roasting machine, table, and some green coffee.
- Initially, there was a bit of disappointment that they launched without retail. It was October of 2019. It turned out to be a blessing. They would have lost everything during the Covid-19 shutdowns. Instead, the pandemic helped their brand grow online because people were really effort-ing to support local, and other local businesses were using their unused budgets to buy coffee gifts for customers.
- That small business/pandemic support moment...has it passed? There seems to be a hesitation to continue supporting small businesses, not because people don't want their neighbors to succeed, but because there is an attitude of, "Oh, they're good now. They don't need us. We can go back to cheaper more convenient products."
No judgment. There are real economic concerns creating hesitancy to continue purchasing luxury items on tight budgets, and there are (anecdotally) significantly more friends and family businesses to support! The pandemic created a new generation of entrepreneurs and job insecurity has created a need for side-hustles. There are only so many dollars to go around. - Even before Quail Street was open, Armando and Nikki were very vocal about their plans and forthcoming business. When the time came, there were a lot of people already going to be potential customers.
- A craft hiccup for business is creating an audience that wants to continually be trying new things, as opposed to one that is loyal to a singular product they buy repeatedly.
- The Quail Street Roasters sale list always has a coffee from every continent. Armando wants to explore fun coffees, but he also wants to meet customers where they are.
- He got into coffee for the community.It's been seven years since the business opened, but even so, as a roaster, he struggles with imposter syndrome. He pushes past because customers of his and other roasters that he respects have taught him there is room for roasters offering different flavor profiles.
- We all have doubt. We just have to live with it.
- Armando and Nikki own about 32 Moka pots.
💡
Coffee Smarter: Not knowing what you don't know is a double-edged sword. You'll take risks because you don't realize the gravity of the decision, and it forces you into action. If you had done all the research you'd have talked yourself out of the opportunity. Then, perhaps, you'd be looking back with regret...or relief.
I asked a question on social today: How do you still make money in coffee, selling coffee, running a cafe, when the economy is slowing down? What keeps you solvent? If you were advising a friend dreaming of opening a corner cafe or a specialty roastery...what advice might you offer them about surviving (or even thriving) during times of economic slow down or instability?
Some insights have already rolled in.
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