How Verve Took Over Capital One Cafe w/ Harris Nash [Verve Coffee Roasters]

Описание: When you think about where specialty coffee belongs, a bank probably isn't the first place that comes to mind. But what if the best coffee in your city happened to be served inside a Capital One branch?

That's the audacious vision of Verve Coffee, the Santa Cruz-based coffee roaster that was started in 2007 and now has over a dozen cafe locations across California and Japan. Harris Nash, the company's Senior Wholesale Manager, has spent the last two years helping Verve Coffee take over the more than 50 Capital One Cafe locations across 18 states, converting customers from Peet's to specialty coffee in places like Herald Square in New York and shopping malls in Kansas.

Harris brings a unique perspective to this challenge. He's worked nearly every role in the coffee industry—from barista to importer to getting stuck on a Chinese coffee farm during COVID lockdowns. But this Capital One project has pushed him out of his comfort zone even further with training 600 baristas to represent Verve's brand in locations they don't directly control, creating systems to maintain quality across a massive geographic footprint, and proving that specialty coffee can thrive in unexpected places.

What You'll Learn

Why Capital One switched to serve Verve Coffee from Peet's across 50+ locations
The challenge of training 600 baristas to represent Verve's brand in locations they don't directly control
Why customer redirects became crucial for converting Peet's customers to specialty coffee drinkers
How Verve developed granular training systems and learning management platforms to maintain quality at scale
Why Verve partnered with local coffee trainers in each market to facilitate the transition
How the partnership enabled Verve to support more coffee producers than ever before
The technology and operational systems needed to manage coffee quality across 18 states
Why Harris believes specialty coffee's future lies in making high-quality coffee more approachable
How Verve created the exclusive Daybreaker Blend with a give-back component for Capital One Cafes

Chapters
00:00 Introduction to the Capital One Cafe Project
03:11 Harris Nash's Journey in Specialty Coffee
05:48 Transitioning from Peet's to Verve Coffee
08:58 The Role of Training in Specialty Coffee
12:09 Challenges of Brand Transition and Customer Experience
15:10 Staff Training and Overcoming Resistance
18:02 Infrastructure and Support for New Locations
20:53 Maintaining Brand Standards and Quality Control
24:03 Collaboration with Capital One and Operational Challenges
27:06 Integrating Verve's Identity into Capital One Cafes
34:12 Building a Brand Identity
39:13 Collaborative Marketing Strategies
46:06 Innovating Specialty Coffee
51:50 Future of Partnerships and Products
56:36 Experiences in China and Coffee Origins

Where to Find Harris Nash
Follow Harris on Instagram:   / harrisnash  
Verve Coffee website: https://vervecoffee.com
Verve Coffee on Instagram:   / vervecoffee  

Mentioned in the Episode
Capital One Cafe https://www.capitalone.com/local/
Dwell Dripper https://www.vervecoffee.com/products/...
Pink House Alchemy https://www.pinkhousealchemy.com/
Swift Coffee https://www.swiftcoffee.com/
Farm Level Foundation https://www.farmfoundation.org/
REI Foundation https://www.reifund.org/
Torch Coffee https://www.torchcoffee.asia/
Black and White Coffee https://www.blackwhiteroasters.com/

The Coffee Think Tank podcast is a show about trends, ideas, and innovations in coffee by Fresh Cup, hosted by Garrett Oden. Subscribe to Fresh Cup for more industry insights at https://freshcup.com