Today we’d like to introduce you to Landon Worsham.
Hi Landon, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Cupa Coffee Roasting started in June of 2021, when I (Landon) transformed my cafe consulting and education business into a roasting company. I have worked in coffee for about 6 years now, so it has always been a passion of mine. I started Cupa with the goal to make rare and unique coffees affordable and accessible to absolutely everyone. I have no employees, but I do work side by side with my lovely Fiancé, Madeline. We price our coffees fairly low, and we pay fairly high amounts for our coffees. We are not in coffee to make a bunch of money; we are here to make systemic change.
I began roasting coffee on Otus Coffee’s 1kg gas roaster in June of 2021. At the time, I only was sourcing one coffee, because I thought it was a good place to start for my extremely small business; I wanted to see how successful the first round would be, before I decided to pursue this path full time. The response to my first release of coffee was absolutely incredible, we sold the entire bag within two weeks of us purchasing it. From there, we decided to release more than one coffee at a time, while all still remaining rare and unique in their own regard.
Flash forward to today, where I have released 16 different coffees in a matter of months. We have had an incredible response from the local Orlando coffee community, as well as numerous people out of state, and out of the country. I now roast over at Downtown Credo, where the Director of Coffee (Nathan Fields) allows me to roast on their monster 15kg gas roaster for Cupa. With this upgrade of machinery, I am able to roast less days of the week, and spend more time of my week pursuing wholesale partners. We currently work with multiple wholesale partners across the city of Orlando, and we are in pursuit of out of state and out of country partnerships as well. We are always looking to expand and connect with more awesome people in coffee, no matter where on Earth they may be located.
I pride myself on being a strong member of the coffee community, as I try to get to know everyone I can that works in coffee, so partnering with cafes is a big deal for me. I want to build a stronger and more connected community in coffee here in Orlando, and strong partnerships with cafes and the people they serve is absolutely crucial.
Looking forward, we have plans to transform our business model into an entirely direct trade roasting company. This means we will ideally only be buying coffees directly from coffee farmers that we personally know across the globe. This allows for a more sustainable supply chain in the coffee industry, as well as provides a better life for the coffee farmers. We currently have two direct trade relationships in place, with a third coming later this year. One of our relationships is with a coffee farmer named Javier Jose Marin Bastidas in Venezuela, and he grows and processes very rare and unique coffees. We are getting his coffees in late March/ early April, and we have a surprise for him. We will be purchasing Javier’s coffee at $2 higher per pound than what he originally quoted us, to provide him the money he deserves for his hard work and dedication to the industry. That’s not all; we will also be donating a portion of our sales back to Javier, for every retail bag sold, and for every pound sold on wholesale.
Cupa is here to make major waves, not ride the trends of today. We see a powerful future in specialty coffee, and we are going to do our part in making that future a reality.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
There have definitely been some struggles along the way, although I am in a firm belief that these struggles and unexpected results help me learn and become better.
One struggle, as an example, has been shipping delays for the coffees we order. Sometimes they are on time, and sometimes they can be weeks behind schedule. This is obviously due to COVID-19, but it does take its toll on our business, especially as I also work another job part time and need to request time off to receive the coffees we order.
We try not to complain about the struggles in coffee, as there often are many of them. We cannot control our situation many times, so we just need to adapt, and move on.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Cupa Coffee Roasting?
Cupa Coffee Roasting specializes in light roasted high end specialty coffee, while remaining very affordable and approachable to the every day drinker. We want to be a gateway for many into the specialty coffee industry, to truly enjoy what the world of coffee has to offer. If we do not get excited about serving a coffee, we refuse to serve it.
Cupa Coffee Roasting stands to be a source of rare and exotic coffees, brought to the drinker at an affordable and accessible price. We take pride in how we source coffees, and how we practice quality control habits. Cupa Coffee Roasting takes time and care with every single step of the process we take part in for roasting coffee, and even how we brew it behind bar in cafes. We work both as a barista, and a roaster, to ensure the absolute best end result for each of our coffees that we source.
We believe that specialty coffee should be accessible to all, meaning that everyone should be able to drink high quality coffee and KNOW it is high quality. If all people have access to is the grocery store brand dark roast, specialty coffee will never be able to truly thrive the way it can. We take great pride in our engagement with our community that surrounds us, as we believe that community in coffee is just as strong as the mission behind each company. We constantly try to educate our audience on different aspects of specialty coffee on our social media, and give them a real time look at what it’s like to be a roaster in the coffee industry.
Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
My advice for those just starting out in specialty coffee, is to always try your absolute hardest and be open to always learning more. Be curious. Be adventurous. Never stop the pursuit of excellence, because we are all capable of it. The best thing you can do in specialty coffee, and in my opinion especially in business, is fail. Fail at something, over and over again, until you get it right. You will learn ten thousand things from failing, but you won’t learn a thing once you get something right. Failing in coffee presents an opportunity to ask many questions, and expand your knowledge even further on whatever the subject is, so you may get better at what you’re doing.
I am so incredibly fortunate to not have had a lack of advice when I was starting out; I always had the support of those in my community around me to bounce ideas off of and get feedback from. All my friends in coffee will be real with me, and always tell me where and when I can improve. I am very fortunate to have the support that I needed in the begging, and to this day. I will always be grateful for those around me in my life that continue to support and help guide me down the correct path in coffee. Much love and thanks to Nathan Fields, Jarrod Udin, and Glen Turchin.
Pricing:
- Our caffeinated coffees start at $16
- Our decaffeinated coffees always cost $15
- We sell in 250g bags
- We have merch (t-shirts and sweatshirts) for various pricing
Contact Info:
- Email: c.landon.worsham@gmail.com
- Website: https://cupa-coffee-roasting.myshopify.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cupa_coffee_roasting/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Cupa-Coffee-Roasting-110388024612015
Image Credits
Ashley Maisonet Barragan (Maiso Photography)
Lauren Weathington (LW Film And Studio)
