Business: Coda Coffee (wholesale coffee roaster)
Address: 1751 E. 58th Ave. Unit B3, Denver
Hours: 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
Founded: July 2005
Contact: Order online at www.codacoffee.com or call at 1-877-234-CODA (2632).
Employees: 16
Interview with Tim and Tommy Thwaites, co-presidents
Q: How did you get involved in this business?
A: Tim and Tommy Thwaites, brothers from America's coffee heartland, left the Seattle area in search of adventure and prosperity. They took different paths but reconnected in Denver. Over the years they had acquired a significant amount of experience in the specialty coffee industry. They have studied all facets of coffee from the origin characteristics of green coffees, to the art of roasting, through drink preparation and retail interface. As young entrepreneurs with a combined 24 years of industry experience, they partnered with Tom Sr. to develop the Coda Coffee Company. The mission is simple: to set the standard for coffee excellence through education, advocacy and partnerships.
Q:What distinguishes you from other businesses in your category?
A: Coda's commitment to quality, social responsibility and environmental responsibility set it apart from other companies in its industry.
Quality: Not only does Coda choose to roast the highest quality coffee, they work with coffee farmers to ensure they're offering the best product around.
Social Responsibility: Coda chooses to help those in need. They donate much of their time and money to local charities and events.
Environmental Responsibility: Coda tries to limit its impact on the environment. Beyond composting and recycling, Coda delivers all of their coffee in a van run on bio-diesel, has a state-of-the art training room built with renewable resources, and is one of the world's first eco-friendly roasters.
Q: What do you like best about your line of work?
A: A lot of our customers are start-up entrepreneurs with little or no coffee experience. It is very rewarding to help them from initial training (seeing them make their first latte!) to opening their stores and being successful.
Q: What is your business' biggest challenge?
A: To get the everyday consumer/coffee drinker to understand what the farmer, roaster and retailer does to produce a great cup of coffee. There are so many things that need to be done right to produce an amazing cup of coffee, and only one thing needs to go wrong to produce a bad cup.
Q: Something people might be surprised to learn about you/your business:
A: Coda Coffee offers extensive training and education for its customers. A lot of people new to the industry think making coffee is a pretty simple task. To us, it's a very in-depth scientific process with many variables. Often times while training, we start talking about "thermal integrity of equipment" or "proper extraction techniques" and people stop us and say, "Wow I had no idea coffee could be this technical!" We take that as a compliment. While training, the focus is never to confuse people, but to offer an in-depth perspective about how to make the best cup of coffee to help make their business successful.
