What is the first thing you usually think when a coffee company recommends their “private label coffee?” Maybe that by switching to the company’s house brand, you’ll be able to save a few bucks on your office coffee delivery, or you simply think of the image of a gold or silver bag, containing sub-par coffee, and the company’s name stamped in black letters on the outside.
In my mind, it is truly a mystery as to why a company would go out and source the cheapest coffee possible, and sell it as their own.
At Corporate Essentials, our Java Cafe Brand is more than just another private label coffee. Our Java Cafe is the highest quality coffee available for delivery to offices in NYC, Manhattan, NJ and Brooklyn.
As a further testament to the quality of our Java Cafe Coffee, Reunion Island Coffee Roasters, who roasts all of our Java Cafe branded whole bean and fraction pack (portion pack) coffee was recently named the 2015 Macro Roaster of the Year by Roast Magazine.
Based in Oakville, Ontario, Canada, Reunion Island Coffee Roasters roasts about 4 million pounds of green coffee per year.
“My mantra right now is to kill our darlings (speaking of the old-style coffee roast once used by Reunion Island),” said Adam Pesce, Director of Coffee at Reunion Island. “We aim to be a progressive and forward-thinking company, from how we source to our sustainability programs to the way we set up production. Everything’s on the table, because that’s how you grow and evolve.”
Most recently, the company’s coffee program has undergone its own revolution. Upon purchasing a Loring Smart Roaster in 2013, Reunion Island killed its old darling of a roast style. The company is offering more light roasts than ever, “allowing our coffees to speak for themselves and really shine,” says Adam.
Among the coffees benefiting from this are selections from Reunion Island’s new Small Lot Series, a curated monthly collection of micro-lot coffees tailor-made for the Loring. These limited-edition coffees are a departure from Reunion Island’s past lineup of blends and single origins. In Adam’s mind, Reunion Island is entering an exciting new era.
“Things have really changed course over the last couple of years,” said Pesce. “Not so much in the style of company we want to be, but in the way we want to achieve it. We had a very short stint where growth was primary, and it was hard because we were trying to maintain quality rather than improve it. Now we realize that if we do everything we can to improve, the business comes with it. There’s no better sales tool than word of mouth from a really satisfied customer.”
It’s because of this type of thinking (and action) that Reunion Island Coffee Roasters earned the 2015 Roast Magazine Roaster of the Year award, and it’s the same thinking that has made the partnership with Corporate Essentials one that has now existed for longer than a decade.
If you’d like to experience what we think a “private label coffee” should be, click below to schedule a tasting featuring our own Java Cafe brand.
