Mainebiz

P H O T O / T I M G R E E N WAY Craft coffee roasting heats up in Maine As competition simmers, micro-roasters percolate distinctive strategies But their bet that coff ee lovers would welcome more options paid off . Last year their company, Tandem Coff ee Roasters, pulled in about $1.5 million in revenue, half from wholesale coff ee sales and the other half from their two retail coff ee shops in Portland. e Pratts say they hope revenue will hit $2 million this year, and they plan to hire another four or fi ve people. e company is profi table and currently employs 19 people to whom it will off er health insurance starting June 1. is calendar year, they plan to hire four to fi ve more people and have a revenue goal of $2 million. Will Pratt says they have 50 wholesale accounts, including Duck Fat, Hugo's, Eventide, Gelato Fiasco and East Ender. ey're distinguishing themselves by the atmo- sphere in the cozy East Bayside roastery and coff ee shop, where regulars from nearby Rising Tide and other businesses drop by to sip coff ee made at the drip bar and chat. eir other location on Congress Street — a former gas station then laundromat — has a bakery. Most recently, they added an option to their coff ee subscription service to also get a vinyl album. e music part of it is curated by Joe Kievitt's KMA online record store. May was the fi rst month for the $30 subscrip- tion, which came with two 8-ounce bags of coff ee and John Coltrane's "Blue Train," fi rst released in 1958. Subscribers only discover the album of the month when they receive it, so Will Pratt would not reveal the name of the vinyl that will be sent out on June 1, describing it only as "Japanese psychedelic Brazilian" music. No coffee break While there aren't available statistics for the coff ee market size in Maine, the number of micro-roasters in the state has grown from a handful two decades ago to at least 28 today, according to industry insid- ers and a compilation by Mainebiz. ere's still plenty of opportunity for specialty roasters, says Bob Garver, who with his wife Carmen owns Wicked Joe Coff ee in Topsham, as well as Bard Coff ee in Portland and Benbow's Coff ee Roasters in Bar Harbor. "Most of the coff ee sold in Maine isn't sold by Maine coff ee roasters," he says, adding that a lot of offi ces buy coff ee made elsewhere. "So there's a tremendous growth opportunity for local companies," Garver adds. "Having more great cof- fee roasters raises the bar. We like that. Coff ee is a fun, interesting, vibrant and dynamic industry." He adds that every coff ee shop also has a diff erent personality. » C O N T I N U E D F R O M C O V E R Tandem Coffee Roasters 122 Anderson St., Portland Founded: 2012 Co-founders: Will and Kathleen Pratt Business: Wholesale coffee roaster, coffee shops and bakery Investment to date: $400,000 Revenue (2015): $1.5 million Employees: 19 full-time Contact: www.tandemcoffee.com contact@tandemcoffee.com VO L . X X I I N O. X I I M AY 3 0 , 2 0 1 6 12 Tandem Coffee Roasters co-owners Kathleen and Will Pratt in the production area at the Anderson Street roastery and coffee shop in Portland.

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