Today we’d like to introduce you to Len Geiger.
Len, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
The California Roasting Collective (CRC) was born from the desire to fill a need found within our Southern California coffee community. Everywhere we went we would meet people that wanted to roast their own coffee, whether for personal enjoyment or to create their own brand for a cafe, but they didn’t know where to start. High startup costs and lack of training opportunities were key hurdles to becoming a coffee roaster. In 2019 we opened our co-shared coffee roasting collective to help people realize their dream of becoming a coffee roaster and eventually opening a shop. It has grown a lot in just a few short years. From just renting roasters, we have evolved into an incubator that supports almost every area in the world of coffee. From cold brew production to private label and toll roasting services, green coffee sourcing, to SCA training and education, consulting, and shortly, a CCOF/USDA certified organic facility.
The California Roasting Collective currently supports over 25 cafes/coffee shops around Southern California.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
We opened the doors of our 4000 sqft warehouse November of 2019. Covid hit and we had to completely close up to new business, choosing to protect the few customers we had during that period of great unknown. We had invested a lot of time and money into the California Roasting Collective, and having to close to any new business for 3 months was very stressful. Because we were a new company and didn’t have any employees at that time, EIDL loans and PPP help was very minimal. Rent and equipment loans still had to be paid. Lucky for us, once we opened back up for new customers, there were a lot of people that realized during the Covid lockdowns that they wanted to do something new in their lives, and opening a coffee shop or becoming a coffee roaster was one option.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
The California Roasting Collective started out as a part of Steady State Roasting. We quickly realized we needed the CRC to become its own business and now the two are completely separate. Running Steady State Roasting helps us figure out what the next steps are for growing the CRC and where we can assist cafes as they grow. For example, Steady State Roasting wanted to get into canned cold brew. We launched our cold brew brand and at the same time turned that into a co-shared space so every roaster at the CRC can use the equipment to launch their own cold brew business. Steady State Roasting had a desire to release USDA-certified coffees. We are finishing up the certification, but shortly, any roaster at the California Roasting Collective will be able to launch their own certified organic coffee line.
Pricing:
- Roaster rentals start from $20/hour
- Cold-brew canning starts from $2.00/can and drops with volume
- Toll Roasting starts at $2.50/pound and drops with volume
Contact Info:
- Email: contact@caroastingcollective.com
- Website: www.caroastingcollective.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/californiaroastingcollective
