By John Riley
Staff Writer
NORTHAMPTON - Two brothers feel they have the answer to local
coffee drinkers' sophisticated palate. And forget Seattle and
Starbucks - they have beans roasted in San Francisco.
Darren Pierce has drink enough of other people's mud to know when
something different comes along. When coffee roaster Jeremiah
Pick filled his mug in the Golden Gate city a couple of years ago,
good taste and aroma quickly spun into a business opportunity.
With his brother, Sean, Pierce has brought the roaster's coffee to
East Coast palates, and a year of tasting s and attempts to carve out
store shelf space have scored promising sales.
On Northampton's cafe row, The Haymarket Bookstore and Cafe serves
Jeremiah's Pick, the name brand that plays on the roaster's name.
The coffee is good, said the cafe's owners, Peter and David Simpson,
"It's nice working with a couple of guys rather than a big old
corporation," David Simpson added.
Serio's Market on State Street has just installed a large bulk
display replacing a small rear shelf. At the |
Although the brothers
still hold onto day jobs, they have big hopes for Pierce Brothers
Gourmet Distributors.
University of Massachusetts, the Newman Center
cafeteria will brew Jeremiah's Pick and install a kiosk cart, the
Java Hut.
Cornucopia Food in Northampton, Harvest Valley
restaurant in Easthampton, and Pizzarama in Amherst are several
other places that serve Jeremiah's Pick.
Although the brothers still hold onto day jobs, they have bi9g
hopes for Pierce Brothers Gourmet Distributors.
"There's been some major stresses but we try to block those out,"
said Darren Pierce, 28, and Amherst native who now lives in
Belchertown.
Along the way they've learned that their commitment to service, the
one advantage of being small, does pay and that developing a track
record is important.
From the start they've tended to their accounts, now numbering a
dozen, each week, dusting at the stores, replacing stock and
talking to the managers, said Sean Pierce, 26, "even though at one
store we sold only five bags a week." |
Neither had business sales experience, relying on
retailers to coach them on the more obvious marketing techniques,
such as having plenty of Irish Cream-flavored coffee for St.
Patrick's Day and hazelnut for the Christmas holiday. Still
the flavor is what's bringing in sales, they say.
"My father's not a coffee connoisseur and he's drinking the Zabari,"
said Christina Cavallari of Serio's, who sells Zabari, Vienna,
Kona macadamia and a dozen other blends and flavors of Jeremiah's
Pick. As the brand has caught on, especially at the
Haymarket, sales have increased.
"It amazed me the number of people who came in the door asking for
it," Cavallari. Three weeks ago, she changed bulk coffee
vendors, and gave the Pierce's business a more prominent space.
The coffee sells for about $8 a pound, a Serio's employee said.
How Pick picks
From his headquarters in San Francisco this week, Jeremiah Pick
said of his |
|
company's roasting abilities: "There's no real
secret or divine knowledge from the Himalayas, no alchemy. It's
the courage to buy the best green beans and not worry what it will
cost."
Pick met Darren Pierce in 1992 when Pierce was bartending in
several of San Francisco's smart restaurants and Pick was still
selling coffee for Cafe Trieste, a small coffee shop that roasted its
own and sold wholesale.
Two years ago when Pick decided to form his own company, Pierce
asked if he could sell Pick's coffee on the East Coast, starting in
Amherst. The first shipment began last June.
Pick is roasting 20,000 pounds of beans a month, with sales
primarily in California, except for here in the Pioneer Valley where
"the brothers," as Pick calls them, sell about 1,200 pounds a month.
"From a business point of view, selling our coffee - the shopping,
the ordering - it's not the easiest thing to do, and these guys are
committed to it," Pick said.
After 14 months of sales the brothers realize that, but also feel
they have turned the corner, "We had to prove that we were serious,"
Sean Pierce said. |
