When we first put at The Market at PBA, we sold 60 bottles in one day. “My professors were there to help if I had finance or business questions,” he said. Lenes credits his success to his network-including his professors, friends and family, and Aramark colleagues. He created a thorough business and marketing proposal for PBA’s Dining Hall and became the University’s coffee provider-in addition to other Southeastern colleges, including the University of South Carolina, Erskine College, and more. And unlike most coffee companies, Rolling Hills uses specialty-grade beans, which go through a strict grading scale to ensure quality.īy changing his business model, Lenes could continue to work with Aramark. Once a college or university signs on to serve Rolling Hills’ coffee, they’re gifted a state-of-the-art grinder, allowing them to quickly grind and brew the coffee-so it’s always fresh. Through Rolling Hills’ Farm to Cup program, he now sources ethical, single-origin beans, which are imported, roasted in West Palm Beach and shipped to participating colleges. With this in mind, Lenes created a unique framework for college food services. Their answer? Fresh, specialty coffee that was ethically sourced. In the summer of 2022, he changed his focus from cold brew to becoming a wholesale coffee provider for food service, with a focus on colleges.īefore starting Rolling Hills’ Farm to Cup program, Lenes asked all the young people he knew what they wanted out of their campus java. “I thought we would sell thousands of cold brews-the next thing I know, in one phone call, ,” said Lenes. Due to prior bottling agreements, he learned he could no longer sell the cold brew on most campuses. He started selling his cold brew to the University of West Florida, the University of South Florida, and Celis Juice Bar in West Palm Beach.Īs Lenes was getting ready to stock his bottles across more Florida colleges, he received a phone call that changed everything. They also introduced him to Sysco, one of the world’s largest food distributors.Įventually, Lenes was permitted to sell his cold brew off-campus. Lenes’ relationship with Aramark, one of the largest U.S.-based food service providers, proved to be fruitful-the team introduced him to several college campuses in Florida. One day, Ann-Marie Taylor, associate vice president of Auxillary Services and Procurement, introduced Lenes to the Aramark team at PBA, who let him brew coffee in the Dining Hall. He sold the coffee to students in the library, outside of the cafeteria and elsewhere. Then I thought give some to team-they loved it and wanted to pay me.”Īfter realizing he could make delicious coffee for everyone, Lenes started by carrying a backpack of bottles and a card reader around campus. “I didn’t want to spend $5 on a Starbucks drink, so I started making it,” he said.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |