So It Begins…
Hey Beanheads,
James here from SweetBeans Coffee Company. I’m the Operations Director for this brand-spankin’ new coffee company in Omaha that, in the words of our customers, “is unlike anything else in the area.” This blog will take you on the journey with myself and my staff as we grow what I hope to be a new standard for coffee shops and roasteries in the heartland.
I started working on the concept of SweetBeans after being approached by our silent investor to help diversify his companies. He knew I had a background in food and restaurant operations (more on that later) and wanted me to consider steering the ship to create a coffee company. It’s funny that, just a few months before, my husband and I had been talking about doing that ourselves, but when we looked at the numbers, the output of capital was just too much for us to handle yet. And now, here is this golden opportunity to create a company from the ground up and form it according to my idea of what the perfect coffee shop should be. Yes please! Sign me up!
That was in February, 2024. Initially I wanted to call the company “CoolBeans” because, let’s just be honest, that’s cool! But after researching trademarks I found it was taken. So I started thinking about what it was that made coffee what we know and love. You see, the process of taking coffee from a grower (what is called “green coffee”) to what we drink in our cups involves several chemical alterations that occur in the bean during roasting. Green beans taste nasty. Don’t try it. Really. Ok, I warned you. Tastes about like you’d imagine - like chewing alfafa, grass, hay and corn stalks. But when the beans are roasted, they undergo a process of caramelization called the “Maillard reaction” - it’s the same process that a steak undergoes when you sear it, or that vegetables undergo when you roast them. The sugars start to brown and sweeten, so for coffee, that means that the coffee goes from being “green and vegetal” to “sweet and lushious”. Thus, they become SWEET BEANS.
I started working with our staff graphic artist, Hayden, to design our logo. Let’s just say that we had about 50 various logos, some with coffee branches, some with latte art, some with….well, you get the point. Eventually we decided that simple is best. We chose a font we loved, he designed the cup in the center, and SweetBeans was born.
It’s taken several months to make the company a reality, but we’re here! And we’re rockin’! (I’m from the 70’s - do you still say that?) Our beans are flying off the shelf, people love that we have both a drive thru AND a beautiful, comfortable seating are. I mean it when I say we have THE freshest coffee in Omaha. We roast several days a week, and I guarantee that our beans both on the shelf and in our coffee served here will NEVER be older than 3 weeks. We have an AMAZING in-house bakery. We fly our bagels in from the BRONX! Yo! And we absolutely LOVE our customers. Warm smiles, cups of yum, and beautiful bites. That’s what SweetBeans is all about.
In the future, we will be starting a podcast, so look out for that. And our postings and podcasts will cover a variety of topics in coffee, including sourcing beans, roasting, blending, barista techniques and more. And if there is something you want to know about, use our contact form and let us know! I’m ALWAYS open to suggestions.
I look forward to sharing this amazing journey with you, dear BeanHeads! Until next time….
Sip Happens!