Meet Fratello Sales Consultants, John Mitchell and Joel May. They have been part of the Fratello team for years and are here to support clients with everything they need to run a successful cafe. If you are seeking to open a cafe or are you wanting support in your current business, John and Joel are here to help. You can read below to find out more about their role and how they may serve you!
Joel May, Fratello.
What are your roles within Fratello and what do you do?
Our roles within Fratello is ultimately a sales consultant. We stay current with the newest industry trends, provide exceptional training, phenomenal coffee, and help our customers set up with the right equipment and layout. My goal is to become my customers most valuable asset, their key contact for any coffee related questions, issues or needs.
As a wholesaler working with independent and franchise cafe operators, we help our partners (customers) succeed through providing exceptional, high quality coffee, as well as the skills, tools, and knowledge required to showcase the best that our coffee has to offer. In addition, we consult with cafe operators to ensure they have the right equipment and flow for their particular location. Capitalizing on flow makes a world of difference to the bottom line. This ultimately creates a win win sales relationship.
We offer:
– Initial consultation
– Equipment sourcing, specs, and quotes
– All maintenance training
– Installation and pre installation site inspections
– Help with equipment placement for optimized flow
– Help with coffee cost analysis
– Full training for all staff from Owner to Barista, from basic espresso training to advanced barista
– Ongoing training and support as required
– Coffee knowledge seminars
How many locations serve Fratello in Canada?
We service and support literally hundred of cafes.
What advice would you give for those who want to open a cafe?
There are a lot of answers to this question, but a few of the most important points of advice I would offer are:
Location, location location! First and foremost, a great location sets you up for success, look for places offering massive amounts of foot traffic. Consider looking for foot traffic and making an offer on the right location even if its not for lease or sale. Stand alone locations with no foot traffic are always a challenge. Be wary of spaces that are too large, cavernous cafes give the impression that the cafe is not busy even if its doing well. A crowd always attracts a crowd and 1200 to 1500 square feet seems to be the winning footprint.
Be prepared to float yourself for a year, it often takes all of that to create a strong loyal regular customer base.
Do your research, understand the micro market you are looking to set up shop in.
Decor and renovation budgets are important but don’t forget to budget for your brewing and espresso gear. So often we see the gear as an afterthought, the espresso machine is the heartbeat of the cafe, get the right machine, espresso grinders, and brewing gear.
When selecting your coffee, choose quality over price every time, strong margins coupled with the high yield in coffee translates into $0.03 cents per cup for every $1.00 per lb. Not much of a savings for using a lower quality product…
Higher passionate staff, who love coffee. If your not a people orientated person, higher a great manager who is.
What is the point of difference with those who work with Fratello?
When choosing to work with Fratello it is important to know that our customers are our partners, their success is our focus. We don’t charge a fee for helping them succeed.
While our coffee is exceptional, poor brewing and extracting techniques can ruin even the finest of coffee, we offer the tools to ensure that every cup is amazing!
We are of the belief that by helping our customers becomes better café operators, offering a high level of quality beverages with a great experience, we will all benefit. We produce excellent coffee.
We also have the experience to carry blends and dark roasts along side boutique style micro lots. In many instances, a customers key demographic in their area is looking for a really good dark or medium roast that is stable and unchanging all the time, one that can work well with cream and sugar. We know this and can help.
Is there any limit to the amount of coffee that needs to be ordered?
There are no minimums and there are definitely no maximums.
Meet Rodrigo Dumont, a farmer from El Salvador that grows and provides some of Fratello’s favourite coffees like the El Salvador Malacara B and the El Salvador Pacamara. We interviewed Rodrigo to learn more about his farm, community and more about the behind the scenes of what it takes to fill your cup with that flavour you enjoy each morning!
Q. How often do you grow coffee? What does a season look like?
We have a coffee renovation program for the next five years that contemplates an investment of at least 15,000 new coffee plants per year. We are growing different varieties of coffees each year, from our traditional red bourbon, to our new and exciting microlots: orange and pink bourbon, mokka, and pacamara, among others.
A season includes different activities within the coffee farm:
Coffee pruning and management, which is essential for new growth and the stimulation of new foliage, which will eventually provide more crop.
Shade pruning and its efficient management provide enough light for the coffee plants to regenerate its foliage previous to the rainy season, and as it grows back, maintains a cool temperature in the farm during summer. Shade also provides further benefits:
- Organic material for the soil from fallen leaves
- Canopy for a sustainable ecosystem
- Less fertilizers required for coffee trees with more shade
Soil & Foliar Fertilization: coffee plants, like all plants,
require light, water, and soil to grow and bear fruit:
- Quantity of light is managed by shade
- Quantity of water, as of now, cannot be regulated
- And the quality of soil can be analyzed and further improved with organic and/or chemical amendments and fertilizers
- In our farms we provide our coffee plants both organic and chemical fertilizers: Pulp is used in a compost for new coffee plants, N-P-K formulas are created for specific soil types and at certain growth times of the plant for fertilization optimization and less waste
Picking and sorting is crucial to the quality of coffee. A cherry picked at its ripest will deliver a well-formed and larger bean, with higher sugar content, and thus a better cup.
Milling: the milling process is outsourced to Beneficio El Borbollon, even though it is an integral part of the value chain.
These are some of the most important activities that go on at the farm level. They are critical for coffee growth and coffee production. Without these we could not have a harvest at the end of the season.
Q. What makes for a good crop?
A good crop can be defined as producing what was expected, not having an environmental impact on the farm (e.g. some kind of plague, strong rains or draught), stable costs, and a secure space to work on.
The quality of the coffee can be established to a certain point by the hard work of the farm workers.
Q. Are there any unique techniques that you use for growing coffee?
We have a established a traditional method in Malacara B called agobio parra This technique was used in the Santa Ana volcano region more than 50 years ago and provided superior productions for bourbon varieties. The technique consists of bending the coffee trees when they are relatively young. With proper shade and coffee pruning, new trees will grow from the mother tree and provide additional production. Each season, the newer trees are bent and further trees grow to produce the new crop. The growing philosophy behind the agobio is to always have in one parra, three or four producing generations of coffee trees.
Q. Tell us a Little about daily life. What does your day look like?
In Malacara B, work on the farm starts at 7 am. Usually workers are divided by 20 or 30, supervised by a “Caporal”. There is a farm administrator called “Mandador”. During the year there are between 20 to 60 people working on non-harvest work. During the harvest the amount of workers can increase to 100 at a time. Each group has a specific activity to work on: shade pruning, coffee pruning, or fertilization for example. Lunch break is at noon: beans, rice and “chengas” or tortillas, which the farm provides as part of the work benefits. Work usually ends at 3 pm. If there is any work paid by the job, people choose to keep working and earn additional cash.
In my case, I visit Malacara B and the other two farms we administer, Piedra Pacha and Las Mercedes. At least once a week each.
Q. What kind of environment conditions are best for growing coffee?
Malacara B I would say has an ideal microclimate to grow coffee. It is at 1500 m above sea level, perfect temperature in El Salvador for quality coffee. It is in a side of the Santa Ana volcano where no wind hits the farm. It is always partially cloudy, so there is not too much sun or too little. The soil comes from volcanic rock. All great conditions for specialty coffee!
Q. How do you like to drink your coffee?
When I drink coffee I have two preferences.
When it is black coffee, I like to drink a Malacara B red Bourbon in a Chemex. Clean, round, balanced and sweet. I could drink that coffee on and on and on.
If there is a good barista around, and a good espresso machine, I like a good cortado: the perfect combination of sweet espresso and milk.
There is so much that goes into roasting that perfect cup of coffee, including a process known as cupping. This is a regular practice done at the roastery to ensure quality and flavour are to complete perfection. When you buy our beans or taste our coffee, we want to ensure that what you are getting is the best. Here is a step by step process known as cupping as completed by our roasters David Schindel and Meghan Gould.
Step 1: Weigh and grind your coffee samples. The ideal ratio is 8.25 grams of coffee per 150 ml of water.
Step 2: Evaluate dry fragrance by smelling the dry grounds within 15 minutes of grinding your coffee.
Step 3: Infuse dry grounds with hot water (200° F (93° C)) filling all the way to the brim of the cup. Let it sit for 4 minutes leaving the crust unbroken.
Step 4: After the 4 minutes is up break the crust by stirring three times allowing the foam to fall off the back of the spoon while gently smelling the back of the spoon.
Step 5: Evaluate wet aroma/fragrance of the coffee samples on your SCAA scoring sheet
Step 6: Before tasting the coffee clear off the remaining wet coffee grinds floating on top of the samples in one swift motion using two cupping spoons.
Step 7: When the samples have cooled for about 10 minutes you can begin your flavour, aftertaste, acidity, body and balance evaluation.
When tasting: the coffee should be aspirated into the mouth so that it covers as much area as possible, making a very audible slurping noise. Flavour and after taste are then rated.
As the coffee continues to cool the acidity, body, balance are then rated. Lastly, the sweetness, uniformity and clean cup should be evaluated before your samples reach room temperature.
Step 8: Add all your scores on your evaluation sheets and you’re done! Based on your scores you can now determine the best coffee suited for your coffee shop.
Making coffee at home is something people do almost every morning in their homes. There is so much that one can know when purchasing the right coffee. It is more than the brand or name on the table. There are several factors and things to be looking for when you are buying your next bag of beans. We put together a list of the top 4 things to look for when it comes to buying beans and keeping these fresh!
FRESHNESS: Freshness is the key! This will go against culture but think smaller is better, for freshness reasons. If coffee is older than 3-4 weeks after its roast date it may not necessarily be stale it just may lose dome of its delicate, brighter and more complex flavours.
ROAST DATE: Look for a roast date on the packaging. This will always be dependent on how you choose to brew your coffee. If you don’t see a roast date there is no way of knowing how long those beans have been packaged into that bag.
AGE: If you are wanting to use your coffee for espresso extraction we suggest that coffee is best aged at least 7 days from its roast ate. If you are choosing to use it for Pour Over, Regular Drip, French Press or Aeropress than we suggest brewing the coffee as early as 24 hours after roasting.
STORAGE: Keep coffee fresh. We suggest to avoid storing coffee in the freezer. This will dry up any oils in the coffee which can be essential to come out of the flavour. We suggest keeping the coffee in a airtight container and stored in a cool dry place away from the direct light.
You can purchase our beans directly from our site or in store at Analog Coffee located on 17 Ave SW, Calgary Farmers Market or Corbeaux Bakehouse.
Fratello Coffee is excited to announce the launch of the newest Analog Coffee opening in Southcentre Mall in Fall of 2015. This location will bring what people love about the urban location to the south along with broad food service with fresh ingredients from Corbeaux Bakehouse. This will mark the third Analog location in Calgary and Owner, Russ Prefontaine shares more about the past, present and future Analog Coffee in our interview below.
How long has Fratello been around in Calgary? Describe the journey of the company.
Our family has been roasting coffee in Calgary for 2 generations now, 30 years. For all those years we’ve worked closely with our wholesale café customers to educate them about what espresso-based beverages are all about and help them to create excellent café experiences. But what better way to show the world our vision for what a world-class café should be than to open one ourselves? Our cafés were created to give Fratello Coffee Roasters a direct voice to those who matters most: the people who drink and enjoy our coffee every day. We like to think of Analog as our stage; on which we have the opportunity to showcase all of our elite coffees. The intricacies of which are highlighted by careful preparation, using only the worlds best brewing equipment and techniques by professional baristas who share our passion for exceptional coffees with dynamic and unique flavour profiles. We’ve been teaching wholesale clients and trying to convince them of our idea of what a proper café can be — now we are able to showcase our products ourselves, controlling every aspect of the finished product from choosing the beans to texturing the perfect milk for a traditional cappuccino. We have a long history and a fun story, its great to finally share it. https://fratellocoffee.com/our-story/about-us/
When did the first Analog open its first location and why did Fratello go in this direction?
The idea of having our own café isn’t new. We’ve been talking about this concept for over 15 years, dating back to when we first purchased the roasting company from our parents in 1997. In March of 2011 we took the first step towards realizing this dream by opening Fratello’s Analog Coffee in the Calgary Farmers’ Market. In late 2012 we opened our flagship location, the stand-alone Analog location at 740-17th Ave SW. We’ve always believed that a coffee house should be much more than just a place to get your caffeine fix and with Analog, we believe we’ve created the perfect spot to retreat and enjoy a meticulously-prepared beverage.
These lofty goals has been both the most rewarding and taxing. To achieve this every single day requires you to be surrounded by like minded people who authentically want those same goals. You can’t fake it. For us, our success has come from the team of people that have joined us at our roastery and cafes. This team is truly behind the idea of delighting our guests. The biggest challenge at first was finding these people, but now that we are together, together we attract more people who are passionate about what we do, and that is very rewarding. The success of Analog Coffee is only because of our team.
What is the story behind the 17th Ave location? When did you take it over and what did it used to be?
This has literally been our “dream” location in Calgary ever since we had our offices down the roast on 17th ave and 9th street. At that time we weren’t doing any roasting, it was still our parents company. Back then we were called Espuccino Imports and were only focused on importing specialty restaurant equipment, like espresso machines. Training and service was our specialty. In those days we would look at the old Buy Right Grocery Store which is now Analog Coffee, and talk about how this location would be ideal for a local coffee shop. It took over 50 years for the owners of this location to finally retire, but when they did, we were ready to take it over. We wanted to keep some of the history of that old grocery store alive, so we installed their old outdoor signage inside our store.
How have you seen 17th ave as a whole evolve since you opened the doors?
At Analog you will experience craftsman-like drink preparation on our Slayer espresso machines, single origin coffee and single estate tea offerings, delicious snacks and food, and a place where you can engage with us and learn more about the coffee we offer and how we make it. We want to show our passion and elevate your drink every day. When people get a coffee at Analog, we want them to have a true experience in every sense of the word. We want them to taste the coffee….we don’t want them to just drink the coffee. We want to help educate and assist our clients, not preach to them. We want them to be comfortable and relaxed as soon as they approach us and enter our cafes. We want to be hosts. This has always been the goal at both our locations and this hasn’t and won’t change. What has changed is our food offering. Food was the most frustrating part of Analog. Trying to find bakeries that wanted to actually WORK with us, not just give us “off the shelf offerings”. In order to take control of every aspect of our cafe, we needed to create our own food. This is when Corbeaux Bakehouse was born, and the concept continued to grow to where it is today. Now we are not only creating our own sandwiches, but are a full from scratch Bakery and Patisserie. We see the future of high quality, “3rd wave cafes”, and that future is food. You can’t just offer exceptional coffee and customer service, you need to have a complete offering.
Analog is opening its 3rd location in the South of Calgary. How will this be different from its other locations?
At South Centre you will see and experience everything people love at 17th Ave and the Farmers Market. Exceptional beverages hand made by professional baristas. What you will also notice is a much broader and complete food offering. We will even be baking many products fresh each day in store. All of the foods and products will be produced by Corbeaux Bakehouse specifically for our needs. It will be a great experience for shoppers who are looking for a break from shopping, a place to sit with friends, a “office” space for meetings and a little taste of down town. This really will be something different for a shopping mall environment.
What is next for Analog? Will we see more location in the city or even expand across the country?
My brother and I are always dreaming about new business opportunities and concepts, and we will continue to travel abroad seeking inspiration. Lets just say, we aren’t done yet.