In a world of fast-paced routines and an overwhelming amount of digital noise at our fingertips, people crave moments of connection. One of the most powerful— and delicious— ways to foster moments of connection is through craft coffee. Coffee is more than just a beverage. It represents ritual, culture, and community. It’s a conversation starter, a comfort, and now more than ever, a lifestyle.
If you’re looking to create a space where people come together over quality coffee, you’re not just opening a café or workplace kitchen. You’re also building a community.
And when it comes to crafting that experience, Tradecraft is your ideal partner. We do everything from sourcing exceptional roasters to designing coffee programs that fit your unique space, and we specialize in making coffee culture accessible and meaningful.
In this blog, we’ll explore how to cultivate a vibrant community centered around craft coffee and how Tradecraft can help every step of the way.
Why Coffee? Why Now?
Since people first started drinking coffee, there has always been a social aspect to it. Coffee has been bringing people together for centuries. And we’re not just talking about third-wave cafés in Brooklyn and Portland in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Coffee played a crucial role in ceremonies, like the Jebena Buna ceremony, in ancient Ethiopian culture. In the early 20th century, Italian espresso bars created a culture of gathering around coffee and developing a social hub where people can collaborate and share ideas.
Now, the craft coffee movement is emphasizing the importance of community building surrounding coffee with many coffee spaces hosting events like open mics, art shows, and fundraisers.
And where are people trying to build these coffee-centric communities? All over! Craft coffee is thriving in:
- Workplaces: Employees appreciate specialty coffee in their workplaces and are more likely to take breaks and commune around coffee to collaborate and socialize.
- Colleges and Universities: Whether looking for a study spot or a place to grab a latte on the way to class, students tend to flock to on-campus coffee shops.
- Hotels: Craft coffee complements any hotel stay as guests prioritize starting their day with great coffee drinks.
- Restaurants: If your restaurant serves breakfast or dessert, it should serve coffee too. Customers are looking for great coffee that pairs well with their food.
- Cafés and Bakeries: The most obvious location for specialty coffee is likely a café. Who doesn’t love a good cup of coffee alongside a baked good?
- Residential Buildings: As residential buildings like apartment complexes and condominiums prioritize amenities for residents, there is a bigger focus on providing quality food and drink offerings like premium snacks, craft coffee, and specialty tea.
Six Steps to Creating Your Coffee Community
Step 1: Define the Purpose
When you’re creating a craft coffee space, you should keep in mind the kind of community you’re trying to create. Think about your ideal audience and who you want to attract to your café. If you’re trying to appeal to working professionals, you might want to make a professional networking hub where coffee areas in office buildings can serve as casual, organic meeting spots.
When looking to provide a cozy place for building residents to meet others, providing a small coffee space in the lobby encourages other occupants to gather and socialize.
If you’re wanting to showcase local products and talents, you might turn your coffee space into more of a community-centric hub of activity. The coffee you curate for your coffee program can reflect local value and tastes, showcasing regional roasters. You can also host community events to keep people engaged.
Understanding your “why” will shape every other decision you make, from the type of coffee you serve to the events you host.
Step 2: Choose the Right Coffee and Share Its Story
Today’s consumers value craft coffee, and craft coffee is all about quality, origin, and narrative. People want to know the story behind what they’re drinking. They’re interested in who made their coffee and what the brand behind the coffee stands for, whether it’s fair trade and ethical wages for farmers or sustainable coffee curation.
More and more, customers are voting with their dollars and putting their money behind causes they believe in. Not only do consumers like to see their values reflected in the brands they support, but they also like to see themselves in brand narratives. This is another reason buyers want to support relatable, local coffee roasters.
This is where Tradecraft shines. We work with a curated network of the best specialty roasters across the country. This gives you the ability to select from a large portfolio of coffee distributors with a local presence in your area and core values that align with your client base. At Tradecraft, we maintain relationships with our roasters. This way, you can focus on catering to your clients while we honor and nurture our connections. As liaisons between our roasters and our clients, we ensure a perfect fit based on your location, goals, and audience preferences.
We also help you tell your and the roasters’ stories. By providing signage, menus, and digital materials, we highlight the origin and anecdotes surrounding the coffee your clients love. Whether it’s breaking down the roast profile and tasting notes of a specific coffee offering or exploring the origins of the farmers behind the coffee beans, we outfit your café space with the materials that tell a narrative your guests will connect with.
When people know the story, they care more. And when they care more, they come back.
Step 3: Build the Space
Now that you have the right products and are telling the stories behind them, it’s time to lay out the space where it’s all happening.
If you want to foster a community of like-minded thinkers that will build up your regular client base, you need to put some thought into the design of your café space.
Design matters, not only for the aesthetics, but also for comfort and functionality. No one wants to spend time in a bleak and drab environment. They want to be enticed to stay a while as they enjoy their coffee. Great design facilitates great moments.
When you’re putting together plans for your café, consider:
- Comfortable Seating: The right seating makes guests feel welcome and encourages them to linger and enjoy casual conversation.
- Accommodating Tables: Implement large seating areas where groups of people can share experiences. Break them up with small tables for anyone riding solo, working remotely, or writing the next Great American Novel.
- Aesthetic Design: From the materials making up the floors and countertops to the art on the walls, the overarching aesthetic of your coffee bar and dining area sets the tone for your space. Think about your brand’s visual identity and implement styles that complement it, whether that’s industrial chic or rustic cottagecore.
- Thoughtful Flow: If you want people to spend extended periods of time in your coffee space, its floor layout should flow easily. It shouldn’t be cramped and make people feel rushed. It should be open, easily accessible, and accommodating for anyone who might stop in.
If you need help rethinking your space, Tradecraft’s design team can help you refigure what you have or create something from scratch. We’ve worked with coffee shops, hospitality brands, office buildings, and more to build coffee places that bring people together. Take a look at some of the work we’ve done in our portfolio.
Step 4: Make It Interactive
Don’t just think about what will draw your audience in. Think about what will keep them there and keep them coming back time and time again. People in your coffee space shouldn’t just show up for a drink and leave without sparing a second thought. After all, a thriving community is one that participates.
Events, activities, and other activations are great ways to increase engagement in your coffee and tea establishment. Events can also be a great way to further immerse your audience in the coffee’s brand history and make them feel that much more connected to your offerings.
Here are some ideas of events and activations that could work well in your space:
- Coffee Tastings: Bring in featured roasters and have your guests try new and classic roasts. You can even take it a step further by bringing in a Q grader to explain how to identify the tasting notes in the coffee.
- Latte Art Competitions: Engage your baristas and your audience all at once! Have a latte art tournament that puts their skills to the test. This idea also gives you some great content for your social media pages. Who doesn’t love looking at latte art?
- Sustainability Workshops: If sustainability is a core value for your patrons and your organization, consider hosting a workshop that celebrates how we can consume coffee more sustainably. Explain the importance behind compostable cups, recyclable coffee pods, or the direct trade practices that help people and the planet. You can even send people home with coffee grounds for their gardens to help their plants grow.
- Roaster Spotlight Talks: Connect consumers with the people behind their favorite brews. Bring roasters in to share the narratives behind their coffee and meet the people who love their products.
- Brewing Classes: The daily latte can stack up against someone’s wallet. Pass along some knowledge and teach your regulars how they can make great brews at home.
Tradecraft has a comprehensive education program for your staff that will make them the coffee and tea experts your community members can rely on. They can then pass this knowledge along to your clients in whatever way you see fit.
Step 5: Create a Welcoming Environment
Sometimes, the coffee world can feel a little intimidating with its complicated terminology, higher price range, and fancy-seeming gear. The important thing is to welcome newcomers. Put people at ease when they first walk through the door.
This might look something like:
- Offering a range of brew methods and price points
- Including alternative and no-dairy milks and sugar-free syrups to account for potential dietary restrictions
- Training staff to properly communicate with clients and answer any questions they might have
- Creating a judgement-free environment that encourages questions
Tradecraft helps you create experiences that appeal to casual coffee drinkers and coffee enthusiasts alike. Whether someone wants a fast drip or a single-origin pour over with a tasting flight, the experience should feel intuitive and open to all.
Step 6: Go Beyond the Bean
Think about implementing drinks that aren’t coffee! There are non-coffee drinkers in the world, and we should be catering to them all the same. While craft coffee may be at our core, we recognize a well-curated menu has additional offerings.
When expanding your menu, think about including:
- Teas and herbal blends
- Fresh pastries and snacks
- Cold-pressed juices, lemonades, and mocktails
- Ready-to-drink kombucha
Tradecraft can help you source it all. We curate pantry and beverage options that work well with your coffee program and support your brand identity.
Coffee is just the beginning. Creating a community around it is about so much more than the beans and the brewers. Building a community is all about creating moments of connection between people, the places they occupy, and the stories they tell. When done right, coffee can be a medium through which your brand expresses its values. The right experience can show your guests that you care about hospitality, sustainability, creativity, and care.
Tradecraft is more than just your supplier. We’re your collaborator. We help you take your vision and bring it to life in ways that are beautiful, functional, and human.
Whether you’re a coffee shop owner trying to cultivate the right customer base, an office culture leader hoping to energize your team, or a hospitality group aiming to leave a lasting impression on your guests, remember that coffee is where it starts but community is what keeps it going. With the right partner, you can brew both.
Get brewing with Tradecraft today and schedule a consultation to discover what your coffee space and community need.
