Where does your money go when you buy coffee or gear from Loam Coffee Roasters?
Businesses need to be profitable to survive. We all get that. At Loam Coffee Roasters, we strive to be as profitable as we can. Yet, at the same time, we are taking a portion of our profits and investing them into our social impact objectives. Namely, we're about incubating startups and creating jobs in overlooked communities.
Listed below are the 3 different ways (in progression) that we're investing our profits into.
BUY A HOME IN the copper corridor in ARIZONA
To be part of the community means living in the community. We want to buy a home (a fixer-upper) in town.
BUY OR LEASE A ROASTERY SPACE
Next is to buy or lease a space to set up a commercial roastery and cafe space. We’ll be able to roast, fill orders, and serve customers in our own cafe.
ESTABLISH STARTUP INCUBATOR
We’ll then set up a space, which could be in our roastery, to hold classes on startups. We’ll run classes and mentoring to help people start businesses.
TRANSPARENCY
We’re excited for this opportunity to share with you how we’re spending our profits.
What are you trying to fund?
There are three initiatives in the Copper Corridor we’re going to fund through the sales of coffee and goods. (1) To buy a home to live in. (2) To buy (or lease) and renovate a commercial space for the roastery, cafe, and startup incubator space. (3) To build out and equip this space.
How much money goes to doing good?
Costs per bag of coffee are roughly $5-$7 … green beans, bags, labels, etc. If the bag sells for $15-$18, it means $8-$12 is "profit." However, part of that goes towards operational expenses like the coffee roaster (and upkeep) and paying staff for roasting, bagging, and shipping. We need to factor this in, especially since we'll be hiring and paying a coffee roaster in the Copper Corridor. To make it simple, we're dedicating $2 per bag to fund our initiatives.
Are you trying to make a profit?
Absolutely, yes! We are a for-profit business. Therefore, we want to be successful in what we do and how we do it. Also, the more successful we are, the more funds we can allocate toward our social impact initiatives.
Wait, buy a house? How is that part of being a social enterprise?
Obviously, any purchase, like a home, comes from income earned. Why is it important? So we can be part of the community.
How much will it cost to set up a roastery and cafe space?
That’s a great question, and we’re still working on those details.
Why a social enterprise?
We believe that businesses are under-utilized resources for solving problems. Not that we have the answers, but we want to leverage assets derived from a for-profit business to make a social impact. The business model means not being dependent upon donations. Therefore, the more successful we are, the more we’ll be able to fund our initiatives.
We're not limiting the scope of our work to one place. The long-term dream is to multiply locations. However ... we are taking one tiny step at a time.