Something happens when roasters hang out together. Maybe it’s the shared caffeine intake. Maybe it’s the fact that most of us spend our days trying to wrangle logistics, fine-tune roast curves, and talk tasting notes with sleep-deprived precision. But when we finally sit down together — at a conference, a cupping table, or over beers after a long day — the vibe shifts. Competition fades. Community kicks in. Ideas flow.
Cooperative Coffees was built on this kind of connection. We’re a roaster-owned importing cooperative, and our strength has always come from the relationships between members. These aren’t just business partners — they’re peers, mentors, road trip buddies, late-night text responders, and sounding boards when something’s off with the roast. When roasters hang out together, they help each other get better.
We’ve seen it happen over and over. A new member visits another roaster’s shop and leaves with a dozen ideas for managing green inventory. Someone shares a spreadsheet template or an approach to staff training that saves another business hours of headache. Someone opens up about burnout — and instead of judgment, they get support, solidarity, and a few reminders to take a damn vacation. There’s something powerful about being in a room full of people who understand your world without explanation.
It’s not always polished. Sometimes it’s messy. The best conversations happen over a janky campfire coffee setup or sitting on the floor of a crowded hotel room, swapping stories about sourcing trips and customs delays. But those moments are what hold us together — the human connections that remind us why we got into this in the first place. Not just for the coffee. For the people.
When roasters hang out together, they remember they’re not alone in this work. We face a lot — climate change, market volatility, labor shortages, rising costs. But we also face them together. At Cooperative Coffees, we believe collaboration is the antidote to isolation. It’s how we stay resilient. It’s how we stay grounded.
We’re proud of the way our members show up for each other. Not just in the easy moments, but when things get tough. That solidarity extends outward, too — to our producer partners, to the communities we serve, to the broader coffee industry. Because when we model what cooperation looks like at home, we’re better equipped to build it across borders.
So here’s to more hangouts — more retreats, meetups, Slack threads, and serendipitous hallway chats. Let’s keep showing up for each other. Let’s keep sharing what works, owning what doesn’t, and leaning into the messy, beautiful work of roasting coffee in community.
Because when roasters hang out together, better coffee is just the beginning. What really gets brewed is trust, purpose, and the kind of camaraderie that makes this industry worth sticking with for the long haul.