Opening Notes is a new content series from La Marzocco focusing on the information everyone should know before they open their first café. Over the next few months, this series will examine topics that cover business practices, marketing ideas, and café operations, each featuring a coffee expert in that field.
Sandra Loofbourow is a consultant and educator who primarily works in green coffee quality and sales through her company, Loupe Coffee Consulting. She’s a Q Grader and Q instructor, as well as an assistant instructor in Post Harvest Processing. She’s also currently studying in a graduate program for coffee science at ZHAW University of Applied Sciences in Zurich, and was just featured in the 2025 Sprudge 20. Additionally, she collaborated on futures.coffee with her husband, Tom Schluep. Lastly, Sandra is part of Raise the Bar, whose upcoming Level Up coffee event aims to give baristas necessary training opportunities. We talked with her about how to pick the right coffee roaster to partner with for your café.
What are three key things a café owner should consider when looking for a roasting partner?
It’s important to ensure that a roasting partner aligns with your goals and offers the level of support you need, including training, marketing, equipment, and technical support. But the three main things I suggest are:
- Product, price, timing/shipping
- Brand Alignment and customer support
- Quality control and product reliability
It’s important to ensure that a roasting partner aligns with your goals and offers the level of support you need, including training, marketing, equipment, and technical support.
What are some advantages to running a multi-roaster café?
A multi-roaster café offers a lot of advantages, like:
- You don’t have to manage green coffee inventory, roasting, or quality control for roasted coffee.
- You can have a flexible and exciting menu.
- You can build relationships with multiple suppliers.
- You can expose the customer to multiple types of roasters and coffees.
What are the advantages of having an exclusive roasting partner?
The key advantages of an exclusive roasting partner relationship are reliability and support. You’ll likely get very used to working together and supporting each other, developing a closer relationship and direct lines of feedback with the roaster.
How key is it to work with a roasting partner who is local?
Working with a local partner offers a ton of benefits. To start, you can participate in cuppings at the roastery or utilize any tech or training services that the wholesale roaster offers. Plus, supporting local is just good vibes! Ideally, your two businesses support each other mutually.
What are some advantages to working with a roasting partner who is not local?
Offering coffee from non-local roasters can offer you an edge on the market, since you’ll have a product others likely don’t have access to. Getting access to a roaster with some brand recognition can even help elevate your own brand.
How should a café owner pick out which coffees from a roaster’s lineup to brew in their café?
Be clear about your needs: how you will serve the coffee, your desired flavor profiles, and what price range works for you. Then think about what additional support you’re looking for: do you want help sourcing equipment or training your team? Do you value marketing assets and shared promotional material? Finally, consider brand alignment: what kinds of roasting partners would you love to work with? What are some deal breakers for you? What values matter to your company, and how would you like to see those values reflected in your business partners?
How much variety should a coffee menu offer?
There are challenges to both a minimalist and a maximalist menu. I suggest trying things out, seeing what customers respond to, and finding your sweet spot (ideally, aim for less than 10 drinks!)
Where should someone start to look when deciding on a roasting partner?
Find a brand whose products you love!
What is your best piece of advice for anyone starting a café who isn’t sure what coffee they want to use yet?
Do plenty of product research – go to tons of cafés and roasteries to see what people are ordering most, what works and what doesn’t, and most importantly, what excites you!
To learn more, you can contact Sandra Loofbourow through her website and buy tickets for Level Up on its website. You can also learn more at futures.coffee, loupe.coffee, and openflor.coffee.
