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Perking up the Northwest’s Winter Grays A Look at Washington’s Coffee Industry |
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Written On: January/February 2004 |
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Written By: By Scott Carlson |
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What would you have gotten in 800 A.D. if you crossed Arab exiles, an Ethiopian monk, a hyperactive herd of goats and small red berries? Not much separately, but the combined contributions of each created a concoction called coffee that forever changed the way men and women, friends, relatives and associates gathered to discuss major events or quietly enjoy each other’s company.
Okay, let’s start at the beginning. The year is approximately 800 A.D. and Arab exiles led by a man named Omar were banished to the desert to starve. Instead of perishing under the blazing sun of the Middle East, Omar ordered his followers to boil little berries from a bush the group came across and eat them. The berries saved Omar and his group; their survival was attributed to God himself. The berries became revered by all.
Roughly around the same time and a whole continent away from Omar and his hungry friends, an Ethiopian man tending a herd of goats noticed his flock acting abnormally hyper late at night. Then it dawned on him that they always took on this peculiar behavior when they moved into a new pasture and ate the fruit of a small, pretty shrub. The berries varied in color from hard green ones, to a more ripe and yellow, or a fully-mature, brilliant red. The goat herder scooped a handful of the invigorating berries into his mouth and was amazed at how energized he was after their affects kicked in.
A monk happened by the herder and took some of the berries home to study their effects. The monk mixed the berries into boiling water and drank one of the first cups of coffee to ever grace the pallets of mankind.
Over the next 1,171 years, coffee evolved and branched out in several directions encompassing the globe and landing in Washington state. In 1971, a hip little coffee shop called Starbucks opened in downtown Seattle’s Pike Place Market. From then on, Seattle would become synonymous with espressos, lattes, mochas and everything coffee.
Starbucks Employs 70,000 People
Today, the Seattle-based company has become one of the most successful business ventures ever launched. With more than 70,000 employees worldwide, the company continues to grow despite recessions and budget shortfalls. In fact, tomorrow, three to four new Starbucks coffee shops will open somewhere in the world and 200 more employees will be hired to dish out plain cups of java or caffeinated drinks with near-scientific names to 25 million weekly customers worldwide.
“Coffee retailing was born in Berkeley, California, but grew up in Seattle,” said Mike Ferguson of the Specialty Coffee Association of America.
Coffee retailing is nothing to scoff at. Nationally, the coffee industry (cafes, kiosks, carts and bean roasteries) generated $8.4 billion in revenue last year, up $100 million from the year before.
According to Ferguson, Washington state has more coffee bean roasters per capita than any other state in the union. Association of Washington Business members Starbucks and the Batdorf and Bronson Coffee Roastery operate roasteries in Washington – Starbucks in Kent and Batdorf and Bronson in Olympia.
“There’s a lot of coffee being roasted to keep up with consumption,” he said. “My theory on that is Northwesterners have cold weather and mobility.”
Western Washington’s lack of fluffy white in the winter and abundance of gray wet keeps cars on the highways and byways and pulling into roadside sheds to purchase coffee.
The number of coffee bean roasters also has to do with evolution, Ferguson added. But not exactly the Darwinian evoluton that causes a stir in any mixed crowd or social situation.
“We know that coffee consumers evolve, and the way they evolve is toward quality,” Ferguson said. “Coffee begins to go stale as soon as the roaster’s done. So, what you get is a lot of fresh coffee. That’s what you extrapolate from that number of roasters.”
This is where companies like Batdorf and Bronson come into play. Supply and demand calls on this small company to roast their product locally and get it into the mail before the little brown beans have cooled.
Batdorf and Bronson: Small Roasters
However, Lois Maffeo from Batdorf and Bronson in Olympia said Washingtonians have fallen for fresh roasted coffee for perhaps the same reason they have taken to micro-brewed beer so well.
“I think people in Washington have a natural interest in handcrafted foods,” Maffeo said.
Handcrafted foods coupled with Seattleites being a well-educated, hip city of people has fanned coffee’s flame of popularity.
Why is Starbucks so popular? It may start with the corporation’s treatment of its employees.
“We are committed to providing a great work environment for all of our partners [(employees]),” said a Starbucks spokesperson. “All partners, with just 20 hours per week, are eligible for comprehensive medical, dental and vision coverage, stock options, 401(k), a free pound of coffee per week, employee discount on beverages and merchandise, and free beverages while working.”
This infectious level of stature has spread from state to state and beyond America’s borders.
In fact, back to the Middle East 1,203 years later, while serving in Kuwait this summer, Coast Guard Petty Officers 3rd Class Robert Eastman and Rushford Guy from Port Security Unit 313, based in Tacoma, were afforded the opportunity to accompany a fellow service member to the Kuwait City International Airport for his flight home. While in the airport terminal, the two Coast Guardsmen strolled into the local Starbucks for a long-awaited and hard-earned coffee, or rather, one that did not taste as if it were brewed in a boot. Even though visiting a Starbucks during a war was strange enough, the two American young men ran into a local Kuwaiti man in the coffee shop who had once lived in Puyallup and loved Starbucks’ coffee.
Perhaps it is not military troops the U.S. should be sending to that region to sway local opinions of the West.
In the end it is needless to say, coffee is a growing industry in Washington state. Just how far Starbucks’ long arm of popularity and influence will stretch remains to be seen. Batdorf and Bronson’s fresh beans will continue to grace grinders in kitchens, espresso stands and cafes across the nation and beyond as their customer base keeps growing.
So, the next time you buy a cup of coffee on your way to work or on a cold Sunday morning as you read the sports page, don’t forget to thank Omar, the goat herder, and a hyperactive group of goats for helping pick up your day, even if just a little.
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