By Cris Carl
Daily Hampshire Gazette
Sunderland - Two brothers who have grown their coffee
business from a "hut" at the University of Massachusetts to a
long-term fixture in Sunderland, are now focusing on charitable works
- with a caffeine kick.
"If you don't give back, especially if you have succeeded, shame on
you," said Sean Pierce, co-owner of Pierce Bros Java Coffee Roasters.
Sean, 39, and his brother Darren, 37, strongly believe that
"without the community, you don't exist."
Though they are phasing out the Java Hut in the Squire Village
Plaza, the brothers are looking to benefit both local and
international organizations via their wholesale coffee business.
Roasting coffee at their new Greenfield warehouse, the brother's
package specialty blends developed for a wide range of organizations
that benefit from a percentage of the profits.
The coffee is not only certified organic, 100 percent Kosher, and
Fair Trade, meaning beans are purchased from farmers under stringently
monitored criteria regarding cost and sustainability, but the beans
are air roasted.
The brothers believe they may be the only roasters in the country
to meet all those standard. Air roasting coffee beans is a
process that blows very hot air on them, levitating the beans and
roasting them evenly.
"There is no fire involved, so they are never burnt or bitter,"
said Darren Pierce.
The brothers began their wholesale business and coffee roaster at
the Java Hut location, but the space became too small to accommodate
their expanding endeavor. "We also learned over time, too, that
it is just too hard to run both a retail and wholesale business at the
same time, " said Darren Pierce.
One of their first charitable accounts was the Food Bank of Western
Massachusetts, which continues to sell large quantities of three
blends developed for them. The Food Bank specifically sells Red
Eye Express, Rejavanate and Swiss water Brew Moon. |
| Daily Hampshire Gazette photo |
Sean and Darren Pierce, owners of Pierce Bros Coffee Roasters.
If you don't give back,
especially if you have succeeded, shame on you.
Sean Pierce
co-owner of Pierce Bros Java Coffee Roasters
Pierce Bros has a Web site that lets
customer select the organization or charity they want to support
through their coffee purchase. They also sell coffee to food
cooperatives throughout the country, which ultimately supports a
wide range of charities.
Another organization, EM2, which promotes improved sustainable
community economics, has a Pierce Bros blend call EM2 Community
Coffee. The blend has been tested successfully at the Big E
Market in Easthampton and will soon be available throughout the
area.
The Pierce brothers, who grew up in Amherst, had their start with the
coffee business in 1995.
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"Nobody here even knew
what a Starbucks was then," said Sean Pierce. The brothers
came together with the idea of a coffee business after a number of
year working at other professions that they both ended up feeling
"burned out" on. Darren Pierce worked in the food and
bartending industry in San Francisco when he met a man who ended
up teaching them about coffee, the roasting process, and providing
the "green" beans for them in the early years of their business.
Though they knew they were taking a risk, they opened their first
warehouse on Main Street in Amherst. They built a special
cart and from 1995 to 2000 they sold coffee, cookies, and light
pastries at UMass.
"We literally started out using credit cards," said Darren Pierce
with a laugh.
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True to their
philosophy, the cart used at UMass is now used by special need
students at Amherst High School as part of a program that teaches
about running a business.
Sean Pierce, who lived at Cliffside Apartment in Sunderland in the
1990's, had seen the drive-through at the shopping plaza empty for
several years and decided that would be a great place to start the
next level of their businesses. From 1997 until the present,
the brothers operated Java Hut, selling gourmet coffee, sandwiches
and baked goods.
Eight months ago the brothers moved their wholesale business and
roasters to a warehouse on Hope Street in Greenfield, where they
look forward to continuing their expansion.
For more information on Pierce Bros products and charities go
online to:
www.piercebroscoffee.com |
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