Circles of Change: Conversations with Dr. Zara Larsen
on Change Leadership and Career Fulfillment
December 17, 2008
“Arbuckles’: The Coffee that Won the West”
Guest: Denney Willis
www.arbucklecoffee.com
Anchoring Points:
- John Arbuckle was an industry pioneer, essentially launching the US coffee business in 1865 from New York. Ever the inventor and entrepreneur, his manufacturing and marketing innovations were behind the formulation of one of the strongest and oldest consumer brands, to the point cowboys across the West referred to a cup of coffee as “an Arbuckle’s.”
- The international coffee trade industry is second only to oil as a commodity, and has a culture into itself with the US as the largest consuming nation.
- Dry roasting equipment and sealed one pound packages/100 pound crate packaging systems led the way for the Arbuckle flying angle trademark to be synonymous with the expansion of the western United States – signature tags redeemable for merchandise, numbered trading cards, wood shipping containers turned into furniture and building siding in settlers’ and Native American homes on the frontier during times of scarcity.
- I know what it means to serve up a great cup of coffee to keep customers coming back to the counter, having spent years in the restaurant business from small town diners to a network of establishments in the Midwest. In 1974 my wife and I purchased the Arbuckles brand and moved to Tucson due to our children’s health, with a goal to bring back history to expand the commercial footprint. It was fears of Y2K that really tripped us forward.
- Utilizing fair trade and organic coffees imported from 20 to 25 countries above and below the Equator, we currently service local Arizona commercial establishments with equipment and consumables, plus deliver roast-to-ship orders and specialty teas to retail customers in over 25 countries. We do not package ahead, preferring to control variation and quality through to express shipping of each order.
- We know our importers and farms from which the coffee beans are harvested; yet do not travel there often in order to maintain our objectivity, selecting and developing blends based on blind taste testing or “cupping,” with the door closed between evaluators and without prices. There is a lot of learning to tasting, which really are the aromas.
- Our business is based solidly on customer service and providing superior products at mainstream prices. We remain true to the Arbuckles brand, yet have gone beyond the mainstay Ariosa coffee and the technology to offer a full line of products (30 to 40 varieties), including popular flavored coffees.
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