This weeks episode – roasting coffee in Bournemouth triangle
In this blog post, get a round up of this weeks podcast featuring Joel from Bad Hand Coffee including time stamps if you’re looking to learn about something in particular.
Hear how Joel spent three solid months ripping out skip-load after skip-load of junk, to convert an abandoned stable/brothel/crack den into his perfect coffee home.
He also touches on plant-powered diets, the benefits of delivering everything by bike and the real difference between a coffee that costs £2.40 and one that’s £3.00. And there’s a morality tale on what happens when you pick the wrong word for your business name. Let’s just say ‘roast’ can be confusing…
Show notes
00:00:00 Mark’s introduction to Bad Hand Coffee and setting the scene
00:05:07 Transforming and old stables into a hipster coffee roaster
00:09:58 Talking vegan and plant-powered
- 00:11:17 “I think vegans do a disservice to the healthy eating. I think the whole kind of plant based health and environmental benefits and the benefits of planet earth.”
00:16:26 Sharing a roastery with other suppliers – Barefaced brewery, Green Labelled Chef
00:17:28 Opening Cafe Bosconova ten years ago, and what inspired Joel to do so
- 00:19:56 “So low commitment dining is more that you just turn up and maybe eat for 10 minutes, maybe sit there for three hours.”
00:21:22 Selling Cafe Bosconova and moving into full-time coffee roasting
- 00:21:31 “I had lost the passion, still loved the place. The place is still vibrant and doing really well, but I was too busy with other projects. Like this warehouse is taking up every penny and every moment, and you can’t be in too many places at one time and the cafe was never quite as good as I wanted it.”
00:24:23 Why did Joel decide to start roasting coffee?
- 00:28:06 Fairtrade and farming coffee – what tastes good?
- 00:31:29 “So every time a Starbucks opens up, yeah, there’s more room for speciality customers. The more people start drinking coffee at Starbucks and Costa, the more of their customers are going to start looking for – ‘what’s a better cup of coffee?’ Sort of thing. So our sector just grows with it, so you can’t slate Starbucks and Costa if you’re in speciality coffee, because what they’ve done for our end of the industry has been phenomenal.”
0:34:21 Opening South Coast Roast – roasting coffee, not beef or pork!
00:35:24 Changing the name to Bad Hand Coffee
- 00:38:31 “We can flex up down, we can change your roast for you. We can be there. Have you called us with a breakdown? We can be there really bloody quick.”
00:39:59 What has Joel learned on his journey? What has been the biggest challenge?
- 00:42:06 A bit about reusable packaging and Bad Hand being environmentally friendly
00:44:55 Is Bad Hand thinking of expanding?
00:49:09 Independents and chains in the industry – the worry of chain venues posing as an independent
- 00:53:12 “But I think a lot of it’s about getting customers to accept there’s a risk involved. If we’re going to cook interesting different food every day, we might not hit the nail every single time. And if you’re not charging extreme prices, then I think customers should be prepared to take that.”
01:00:17 Selling the cafes, focusing on the roastery
- 01:01:25 “I spend a lot of time driving back and forward and I never feel like I spend enough time focused on work or enough time focused on the family. And that’s the hardest balance”
01:04:39 Starting a cafe is hard, and bad advice Joel has received
01:09:24 What’s next for Bad Hand?
01:12:24 Parting thoughts and Marks sign off
Want to learn some more? Go and listen to the full episode, or check out Bad Hand Coffee on their social channels:
Website: https://www.badhandcoffee.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/badhandcoffee
Instagram: @badhandcoffee