With quality coffee more widely available than ever, roasters can no longer rely solely on their beans’ excellence to drive growth. As Raina Roberts, Business Development Director at Partners Coffee in Brooklyn, NY, puts it, “When everyone’s special, no one’s special.”

Raina oversees 250+ wholesale accounts and has guided Partners’ expansion beyond the Northeast. She’s seen how grocery buyers now demand more, charge hidden fees, and issue dispute codes that can wreck margins if you’re not prepared.

In this Coffee Think Tank episode, we unpack what it really takes to break into grocery, the costs you can’t overlook, how to support rollouts across regions, and how to win wholesale accounts when you’re not local. If you handle B2B growth or expansion at a roaster, this one’s for you.

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN

• How Partners Coffee grew from a Northeast base into Midwest grocery chains
• The real economics and logistics behind specialty coffee in grocery stores
• Why a grocery partnership can take a year before products hit shelves
• How to calculate true COGS for grocery to stay profitable
• Hidden fees and dispute deductions that erode margins
• Balancing Brooklyn identity with broad-market appeal
• Winning wholesale clients when you aren’t the local roaster
• Developing travel-friendly specialty SKUs like cold-brew pouches and instant coffee
• Using DTC data to prove market potential in new regions

CHAPTERS00:00 The changing landscape of coffee biz-dev03:02 Raina’s journey in coffee06:08 What a Business Development Director really does08:51 Distribution and logistics landmines11:57 First big Midwest win: Fresh Thyme Market15:07 Marketing a new region from afar18:02 How grocery sales actually happen21:06 Data management and transparency headaches24:10 Tariffs and price shocks28:07 Pricing strategy under grocery pressure31:12 Understanding and fighting disputes35:43 Region-specific marketing tactics39:05 Serving wholesale customers that aren’t local45:11 Protecting brand integrity while scaling51:07 Product innovation — cold brew, instant, and more55:48 Trends shaping coffee’s next five years

WHERE TO FIND RAINA ROBERTS

• LinkedIn
• Partners Coffee website
• Instagram @partnerscoffee

MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE

• Fresh Thyme Market
• Whole Foods Market
• World Market
• Rockaway Cold Brew Pouches
• Partners Instant Coffee

The Coffee Think Tank podcast is a show about trends, ideas, and innovations in coffee by Fresh Cup, hosted by Garrett Oden. Subscribe to Fresh Cup for more industry insights at freshcup.com.

In this episode of Coffee Think Tank, Bailey Manson, Director of Innovation at Intelligentsia Coffee, shares the story of the Illumination Bar in Pasadena—a bold experiment that replaced traditional espresso machines with freeze‑dried instant coffee for all espresso‑based drinks.

Launched during the pandemic in 2020, this radical service model lasted until January 2025 before evolving again.

We discuss how Bailey and his team convinced themselves to pursue such a crazy idea, the tools and workflow required to serve coffee this way, how baristas and customers reacted, and why the bar just replaced the freeze‑dried setup with an innovative—but more classic—espresso workflow.

What You’ll Learn

• How COVID‑19 and a lease renewal created the perfect opportunity for Intelligentsia to test a radical new service model
• The detailed workflow for making espresso drinks with freeze‑dried instant coffee (and the specialized equipment needed)
• Why customers often couldn’t tell the difference between freeze‑dried and traditional espresso in milk‑based drinks
• How Intelligentsia made instant coffee work as a viable alternative to espresso for years
• The economic and operational challenges of maintaining an instant‑based program
• Why customer reviews eventually pushed a return to traditional espresso equipment
• How the Illumination Bar still serves as a testing ground for innovative service models

Chapters

• 00:00  Introduction to the Illumination Bar
• 02:59  Bailey's Coffee Journey and Role at Intelligentsia
• 05:48  The Concept Behind the Illumination Bar
• 09:01  Challenges and Innovations in Coffee Preparation
• 11:54  The Unique Workflow and Equipment Used
• 14:54  Customer Reactions and Market Acceptance
• 18:03  The Science of Freeze‑Dried Coffee
• 21:06  Final Thoughts on Innovation in Coffee
• 29:02  Innovations in Coffee Equipment
• 31:46  The Unique Experience of the Illumination Bar
• 34:51  Adapting to Customer Feedback
• 38:01  The Challenges of Freeze‑Dried Coffee
• 50:55  The Evolution of Service Models
• 54:13  Future Trends in Specialty Coffee

Where to Find Bailey Manson

• Follow Intelligentsia Coffee on Instagram: @intelligentsiacoffee

Mentioned in the Episode

• Swift Coffee (freeze‑dried coffee producer)
• Curtis Corinth (water dispenser for instant espresso)
• La Marzocco KB90 (espresso machine)
• Wally (automated milk steamer)
• Flare 58x (manual espresso maker)
• X‑Bloom (brewing equipment)

Artificial intelligence tools are transforming how businesses operate. But in an industry built on human connection and craft, coffee business owners must balance taking advantage of new tools with preserving the soul of their business.

That's why I wanted to talk with Melissa Villanueva, someone I consider to be a sharp operator with a keen eye for how to use AI effectively.

Over the past decade, Villanueva has grown Brewpoint Coffee from a Craigslist purchase into a thriving company with three cafes and a roastery in the Chicago area. Now, she's navigating how to thoughtfully integrate AI tools without compromising what makes Brewpoint special.

• • How BrewPoint uses AI as a targeted tool rather than a replacement for creativity
  • Practical applications of AI for coffee shops, from custom coffee recipes to equipment troubleshooting
  • The importance of maintaining authenticity in customer-facing aspects of your business
  • Why AI often works best for enhancing existing processes, not creating new ones
  • How to evaluate which AI tools actually save time versus create more work

00:00 Introduction to AI in Coffee Business

03:11 Exploring AI Use Cases in Brewpoint

05:54 The Role of AI in Writing and Content Creation

08:47 Customer Engagement and AI Tools

12:11 Operational Efficiency with AI

14:49 Philosophy and Future of AI in Business

28:56 Navigating AI's Ethical Boundaries

30:43 Preserving Human Creativity in Business

34:25 Empowering Teams to Use AI Effectively

39:50 The Role of AI in Policy Creation

42:33 Key Characteristics of Business Success

49:43 Reflecting on AI's Impact on Entrepreneurship

56:15 Future Goals and Strategic Planning

• • BrewPoint Coffee website
  • @brewpointcoffee on Instagram
  • @melissaavillanueva on Instagram

• • ChatGPT (OpenAI's AI assistant)
  • Claude (Anthropic's AI assistant)
  • BrewPoint's Nova Cold Brew Concentrate