2023 - Year in Review

2023 was a big, no… MASSIVE, year for us! From traveling all across the world attending coffee conferences to building a school on our family farm, Finca Terrerito, we can confidently say we’ve achieved a lot this year. We just want to take a minute to appreciate how far your love for our coffee has taken us and give you just a glimpse into all of the incredible things we have been able to do. We could not be more thankful to you for giving us such an incredible year. None of this would have been possible if not for you and your support of our small business.

World of Coffee in Greece

In June, Alma co-owners Harry and Leticia boarded a redeye flight to Greece for the World of Coffee event hosted in Athens. World of Coffee proved to be a great place for them to showcase both what we do here at Alma Coffee and how we incorporate our three pillars (improving lives, extraordinary coffee, and sustainable practices) into our everyday. Finca Terrerito (one of our family farms) was chosen to represent Honduran coffee at the IHCAFE (Instituto Hondurenõ Del Café) booth. World of Coffee is a yearly international gathering hosted by the Specialty Coffee Association for coffee connoisseurs (lovers, brewers, roasters, shop owners, etc.). The event is intended to be a space for learning all that is new and upcoming in the “world of coffee.” Being asked to participate in World of Coffee was an honor in and of itself, but being asked to represent the entire country of Honduras was an incredible privilege. While there, Harry and Leticia were able to explore the incredible sights in Athens, Greece, network with other coffee roasters, try some incredible new coffee products, and provide inspiration to other fellow coffee roasters!

Honduras

There were countless trips to and from our family farms in Honduras this year. In October, Harry and Leticia, along with our Marketing Manager, Ashley, and Business Development Associate, Daryl, took a trip to Honduras. While there, they got to experience first-hand what every day looks like on the farm. They may have even hand-picked one of the beans in your coffee bag! This trip completely changed their outlook and provided a new respect and care for what we do here in Holly Springs. The work done in the roastery changes lives not only here in Holly Springs, but all the way on our farms in Honduras. As a farm-to-cup operation, it is important to us that we realize how much work goes into creating just one cup of coffee, and let me tell you, it’s a lot of work. There are roughly 76 coffee beans in just one cup of coffee which roughly estimates to 36 coffee cherries that were hand-picked by our farmers. Now imagine how many beans it takes to serve just our community here in Holly Springs... that's a LOT of coffee cherries that have to be picked!

CoffeeFest in California

We hopped off the plane at LAX, with a dream to go to CoffeeFest! Harry and Leticia, along with our head roaster, Cody Richey, headed over to California in August to gather with fellow coffee fanatics and rave about the new and exciting ways to brew and create coffee. CoffeeFest creates a space where coffee roasters and fans can geek out on all things coffee. They were able to learn from other roasters and baristas around the country about new and innovative ways to make our coffee even better (seems impossible right?). As we mentioned before, there is so much that goes into creating a cup of coffee, so when given the opportunity, we will never pass up the chance to chat about all the ways we create and maintain extraordinary coffee.

The School/Medical Facility

Speaking of Honduras, one of our biggest accomplishments this year was the construction of our brand new school/medical facility on one of our farms, Finca Terrerito. In partnership with The Matiak Foundation, we were able to create a space where kids in El Caltatato, the community around the farm, can get a proper education. This school is going to be absolutely life-changing for these kids. It’s so easy to take something as simple as going to school for granted, but for the kids at Finca Terrerito and the surrounding village, getting an education could completely change the trajectory of their lives. The first, of many, sessions officially started last month. Thank you to everyone who donated clothing and school supplies for us to take to the farm and a HUGE thank you to The Matiak Foundation for investing in the lives of the next generation.

The Barbie Box

Now you didn’t think we’d do a “year in review” and NOT talk about the Barbie box, did you?!? The Barbie box was one of the most fun projects that we have done here at Alma thus far. What started as a funny idea in our marketing meeting turned into something much bigger. We are girl’s girls through and through, so when we saw the opportunity to celebrate something as monumental for women as the Barbie movie, we had to jump on that. The Barbie box was so special for all of us and we are so thankful that you all felt the same way about it. Creating something so uniquely nostalgic was insanely fun. Thank you to everyone who came out and took their picture in the Barbie box… your support was beyond words.

Best Coffee Shop in Canton & Bon Appetit

YEAR TWOOOO!! The day that news broke that we had won “Best Coffee Shop in Canton” for the second year in a row… oh my gosh!! You would have thought we had won the Nobel Peace Prize! We cannot thank you all enough for voting for and supporting us in this endeavor. It means the absolute world to us that you have chosen us as your favorite coffee shop stop. Right after we found out that we had won "Best Coffee Shop in Canton," we were made aware that we had been featured in Bon Appetit's article "20 Best Coffee Subscriptions for Single-Origin Obsessives, Decaf Drinkers, and Everyone in Between." Being noticed for our coffee not once, but twice means so much to us. Words cannot even begin to explain how honored and thankful we are to have a community like all of you. Whether you’ve stopped in once, bought from us online, or are a regular in the café… Thank you!!

The Training Lab

Since the beginning of opening the café, we have been dreaming of building a training lab where we can shoot content, train new employees, etc. This year… we finally did it! It is still in progress, but it is almost fully complete. Be prepared for some gorgeous, stunning, beautiful new content coming from the training lab. With the design, we really wanted to tie in the natural elements of our brand. Keep an eye out for a big reveal coming soon to our social media (@myalmacoffee) and email newsletter (sign up here if you haven't already!). 

Team Growth

Due to the overwhelming support from you, we have had the incredible opportunity to expand our team!! We now have 24 employees here in the roastery/cafe helping us serve you and make your experience with us extraordinary! I know I may be biased, but we truly have the best team around. You haven’t experienced genuine kindness and care until you’ve stopped by Alma Coffee!!

Hero's Roast 

Last, but certainly not least, last year we began a very special partnership with the Cherokee County Homeless Veteran's Program to help Veteran's who have been displaced upon coming home. We created a special roast, "Hero's Roast," that we sell for 22 days at $22 within the month of Veteran's Day. $2 of every sale is donated to the Cherokee County Homeless Veteran's Program. The number 22 is very significant to this project as 22 represents the number of veterans who take their own lives on American soil every single day. This year, you guys blew it out of the water! We were able to donate 35% more to the program this year than last year. These kind of projects are what we do this for, especially as a veteran-owned company. Thank you to everyone who supported this cause and helped make a difference. 

 

Every year, we are blown away by the love and support that you consistently show us. With the new year, we can’t help but take the time to think about all 2023 has brought us. We truly could not be more thankful for the love poured out on us by all of you this past year. It’s easy to let this time pass by and get caught up in our new year’s resolutions and focusing in on growing more, but we wanted to take a minute to celebrate how far we have come in just one year. Thanks to you, 2023 was one of our greatest years thus far as a business. We are overwhelmed with gratitude and are so excited to see what 2024 has in store!!