What We’re Up To
Posted on October 12, 2023
I’ll let you in on a secret.
When Bob and I started One Bigg Island in Space in 2018 and took on the mission from BIGGBY COFFEE to be 100% Farm-Direct by 2028, we didn’t know what we were doing. And we certainly didn’t know how we were going to do it. But we got started anyway.
It’s been like flying a rocket ship while you are building it in space.
We’ve learned a lot over the last five years. And we learn more every day from our Farm-Direct partners and prospects, and the people we meet on our travels.
Some of the most important things we’ve learned that underpin our operating philosophy and guide our decision-making sound like marketing slogans: People, Planet, Community; Boots on the Ground; Farmshare; Full Circle; A Name, a Face, and a Place for Every Coffee we Serve.
As we approach the half-way mark of being 50% Farm-Direct by mid-2024, I thought it might be useful to put some flesh on the bones of those “sound bites” and illustrate how these central tenants play out on the ground.
But first, I want to tell you why we’re doing it. After all, it’s a lot easier, and probably a little cheaper, for a chain of cafés to buy coffee the way almost every other coffee shop in the world does it… by calling a broker or a roaster, and ordering it for the lowest price possible for the quality and quantity that you need. No mess, no muss, no fuss. The coffee magically appears on your doorstep.
No matter how you do it, the way coffee is purchased impacts the world. And I can tell you from first-hand experience that the status quo is having a disastrous affect on the planet and on people.