What do I have to do to fall in love with my company again?”John Goerke - Founder
John Goerke loves coffee. He loves it so much he’s dedicated his life to making sure you get the most enjoyment out of every cup of his coffee. His focus is on how to make the coffee experience 100% perfect every time. This means, quality product, zero waste, and an environmentally friendly process.
John is a conscious capitalist and the founder of both Caribbean Coffee Company and Bona Fide Brewing Co. As chief brewologist and founder; John is transforming the beverage industry and making the world a more wonderful place, one cup of cold coffee at a time.
John has a great story of how his business has morphed from coffee service to local businesses to one of the premier suppliers of cold draft brew coffee in the United States. All from here in the 805. He’s got a secret method that allows him to say with certainty, that the cup you enjoy 90 days after brewing will taste exactly as excellent as one experienced in the first 5 minutes of brewing.
John also runs Caribbean Coffee and recently celebrated their 30th anniversary. He and Spencer Weiner have been sponsoring TEDxSantaBarbara for the past several years. We love having their coffee at our events.
Mark, Patrick, and John covered a lot of territory in this conversation including:
• Starting the business in 1986
• What his favorite part of the job (was and is)
• The story of ROCO – Santa Babara Roasting Company
• How he went from specialty coffee to food service
• “I’m all about authenticity.”
• When he asked himself how he could make cold coffee better
• The technology behind Bona Fide (well, what he can talk about)
• Did you know that coffee and wine have something in common?
• How he took his method for brewing and storing the coffee in kegs and found a way to deliver it hot or cold, instantly.
• His work with Amazon and getting coffee kegs online (see here)
• Why he thinks that stadiums could be a real market
• Why you don’t want to be afraid to pivot
• Guess how big the coffee market is. 46B$