Many of you have noticed that things are somewhat different at KLLR. In this blog post, we will dig into our past and the changes we have made to make our coffees and our mission more special.
KLLR coffee was established in 2017 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Since the beginning, KLLR has proudly roasted some of the best coffees in the country, and we will always continue to do so. But in the last year and a half or so, you might have noticed that things are somewhat different at KLLR coffee. In this entry, we will talk about all the changes we have made that we believe have helped us grow and move forward in a way that we believe makes KLLR coffee more special and better than our competitors.
Over the last year and a half:
KLLR introduced our first dark roast offerings and grew our lineup for our customers and wholesale clients to have more options.
KLLR redesigned our bag labels to be more concise with the introduction of QR codes you can scan for coffee information AND very recently we introduced a 2lb option.
KLLR is now offering discount codes from time to time along with other promotions, something that had not been done consistently in a while.
KLLR is now partnering with some of our clients to create client-specific coffee blends as a way to help our clients boost their business sales and to create stronger, longer-lasting relationships.
KLLR’s quality of coffees is now more consistent, so you know you are getting the same cup of coffee every single time.
KLLR expanded customer and wholesale client outreach by sending marketing emails more frequently and by engaging in social media more.
Lastly and more importantly, KLLR changed our business practices to be more accessible, communicative, helpful with our customers and wholesale clients, and we will talk about this point in much more detail up next.
KLLR’s coffees have always been delicious, but in the past we have targeted a very narrow client base and customer base, which is not a practice exclusive to KLLR. Over the last 30 years or so, the practice of roasting specialty coffee has been very narrowly focused on creating a flavorful and complex beverage; this is achieved by roasting coffees light, sometimes VERY light. However there are two issues with this practice. First, without the use of expensive, specialized equipment, very light roasted coffees are difficult to brew in a way that they yield good flavors, and most people struggle achieving a good cup of coffee because of that; most of the time they end up with a watery cup with high acidity. Second, the mentality behind this style of roasting coffee is a detriment for the coffee industry as a whole, and we will talk about that next.
From the 1990’s until now, specialty coffee has been seen as superior over any other type of coffee, and along with that came the belief that non-specialty coffee drinkers don’t deserve to enjoy this new style of coffee unless they didn’t add things like sugar and cream. Ironically, specialty espresso beverages have become more intricate and adventurous while using less syrups or sugar, and because light roasted espressos are much more widely used, it is very difficult to taste the coffee over syrups and milk; in other words, most specialty espresso beverages are so weak-tasting that it makes those complex flavors fall flat. Ultimately these new practices have led a lot of coffee drinkers away from specialty coffee and back to their favorite green apron coffee, and this is also why we believe third wave specialty coffee has struggled to grow to its full potential.
For some time, KLLR followed the third wave specialty coffee mentality, and it was damaging to our brand. A year and a half ago, we drastically changed our practices from being very exclusive to being very inclusive. While we still offer delicious specialty coffees like we always have, we are now open for everyone who wants to try their hand at specialty coffee. One way we are doing that is by keeping information simple to understand. We now also provide recommendations on how to prepare each one of our coffees, and those recommendations are continually improving. Another way we are achieving this is by introducing new coffees that are more relatable with a fun flare, coffees like “Prairie Sun”, “Vintage”, “El Alacrán” and “1907”. However, we believe the most important change that we made is that we are now very inclusive rather than very exclusive because we believe that everyone deserves good coffee, especially people who are new to coffee or want to get into specialty coffee. Because of these changes, we saw a growth in our customer base and wholesale client base, and the response to all of our new coffees has been overwhelmingly positive.
As we move forward, KLLR will continue to work on improving on these changes and embracing any new changes that will help us move forward so that we can continue to provide you with the best specialty coffee you will ever have because we believe that everyone deserves good coffee.