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C Rich Stauder, Head of Coffee Quality
Photo / Ryan Castelaz
Launching an events business, like a mobile pour
over or espresso bar, is another alternative source of
revenue for cafe owners, and is a model we have pursued
heavily over the last 18 months to hedge our investments
in active retail spaces. Corporate events, weddings, farm-
er’s markets, and street festivals all have significantly
better margins than day-to-day retail service, and large
scale events can bring in weeks worth of profit in one fell
do, they in turn tell their friends and family, creating an
swoop, with little to no waste or under-utilized labor.
infinitely self-propelling marketing engine that frees up
While a tremendous fiscal model, events are a feast or
company capital to continue to make investments in train-
famine business and can quickly fall to the wayside, rob-
ing, research and development, and new technologies.
bing the cafe of executing its’ long-term vision.
Finally, and perhaps most significantly, it has attract-
To us at Discourse, the two best ways for a cafe to
ed and retained the region’s best talent. Once you have
ensure future relevance are curation and innovation. If
established a reputation as an innovator in your market,
you don’t roast coffee, serving as a coffee discovery plat-
baristas interested in taking the next steps in their career
form should become one of your quintessential roles in
will see you as perhaps the only option to continue their
the lives of your guests. Providing education and access
journey locally. In what has been a difficult time to hire
to incredible new coffees from around the world, and new
for many small businesses, Discourse has maintained a
and improved ways to brew them, keeping your guests
backlog of extremely qualified applicants with a strong
engaged with your cafe, even if they decide to brew the
desire to work in a creative framework that empowers
coffee themselves at home. Our incredible Head of Coffee
them to express themselves through drink. Coupled with
Quality, Rich Stauder, lovingly cups dozens of coffees each
a competitive compensation package, a focus on innova-
and every month to curate our rotating monthly roaster,
tion can ensure your cafe is able to hire and retain your
and then selects four coffees from their catalog to share
area’s best talent.
with our guests. Not only does this provide a steady flow
of retail coffee sales, it empowers the barista team with a The Future Is Now
variety of coffee profiles to build their creations around.
Innovation has been the through line of our success
There has never been a better time, or a more nec-
since our inception in 2017, guiding us through five years
essary one, to empower your cafe with this framework.
as a destination coffee shop, and empowering us to open
three locations and two cocktail bars in three years here
1.) Teach your team the power and promise of play
in Milwaukee. This focus on innovation has yielded three
2.) Embrace a “feet on the ground, head in the clouds”
primary benefits for our company.
mentality
First, it has served as a significant point of differen-
3.) Build trust with your guests and grow your drink
tiation from strong local competitors. Instead of compet-
making tool belt
ing on sheer cup quality, we’ve introduced menu offerings
4.) Encourage your baristas to dream without borders
that can only be experienced at our cafes, ensuring that
and express themselves through their creations
if guests want to experience those profiles and prepara-
5.) Reap the benefits of your investments
tions, they have to stop at Discourse.
Second, it created a snowball effect of word-of-mouth
We don’t believe this is the only way, or the right
advertising. While the bar and cafe market at large is
way, for our industry to evolve into the future. It’s simply
expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of
our way. We will continue to play and to share our stories
5.4%, in 2023, our average year-over-year revenue growth
with anyone who chooses to engage with us, and if the
was a stunning 35%. We are tracking to continue this
metrics are any indication, we’ll be blessed to share them
exponential growth trajectory in 2024, with January 24’
for a very, very long time.
seeing a 73% growth in revenue from the January prior.
We have invested $0 into traditional advertising in
that time frame. As guests have indelible experiences with
our drinks, they share them with their friends and family,
and build excitement around the brand. When they inev-
itably come to experience the shop, they are already
primed to have an exceptional experience, and when they
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