Rogue Roasters is Blending Coffee with a Scoop of Community
From a small coffee shop based within a storage unit to a seven-thousand square foot building in the heart of downtown Grants Pass, Rogue Roasters has grown substantially throughout the years and features organic coffee with a dash of trendy and a scoop full of community. Purchased in 2007 by the family of Jeremy Terwilliger, the shop was nothing more than a store front selling coffee beans ran entirely out of a storage unit. Within two years it had grown into a small shop on G street. In 2009 Jeremy, a business major from the east coast, visited his parents in the small town and immediately fell in love with the community vibe showcased in Grants Pass. When the opportunity came to assist his parents in their retirement and take over the company as his own he jumped. Now almost ten years later the company is bigger than ever.
Jeremy states that Southern Oregon has the largest number of coffee shops per capita and chuckles at Grants Pass being considered the town with a coffee shop or church on every corner. He attributes this mention to one of the primary reasons he fell for the small town. For him owning the shop is about so much more than just selling coffee in Grants Pass.
“We’re not going to try and climb into your car and try to high-five you,” he says with a laugh when explaining what makes Rogue so different than the other coffee shops in the area. “We want you to have the experience you want to have, not the one we want you to have.”
Two baristas work quickly to fill the orders of the oncoming lunch rush at Rogue Roasters on April 26th, 2018. (Summer Mincks)
Their customized approach and classic, artsy, coffee shop vibe, makes Rogue Roasters so much more than just a coffee place. Rogue has grown to become a hub of arts and creativity where people can meet up, study, or create, all while enjoying a cup of delicious, and fair-trade coffee. With featured local artists and events featuring small town musicians, this coffee shop has developed a presence with something to inspire everyone. The customers span generations and cultural backgrounds and meet together in the place that showcases their common bond: excellent and skillfully crafted coffee.
“It’s interesting to see how when we began we were very much a place for the older people, and now we’ve become, dare I say trendy?” Jeremy says, when referring to the shift that he has seen within the clientele as the company has grown. Coffee has become a product that has spanned across generations and cultural backgrounds and continues to be a huge commodity not just in Southern Oregon, but also for the world.
Daniel Bowden and two of his children, Machaela and Isaac, enjoy their usual favorite drinks while studying together in the roasting room, on April 26th, 2018. (Summer Mincks)
Coffee and Chocolate are two of the most popular commodities in the United State and the World, with Coffee being a thirty-billion dollar industry. The problem with this lies with the fact that with the massive demand of coffee, coffee is quickly growing into one of the most unsustainable and socio economically problematic products in the world. With the rising problem of pollution and economic issues regarding the coffee industries, coffee shops like Rogue Roasters must make decisions within their business practices to cut their impacts wherever they are able to.
First Rogue Roasters starts with Organic and Fair-Trade beans, meaning not only are they grown and processed without pesticides or genetic engineering, but the workers are also paid fair living wages. Next, they focus on small batch roasting within the coffee shop itself. Small batch roasting allows for a level of quality that would not normally be attainable in a large factory run environment. Roasting the beans themselves also allows for them to cut out a sort of “middle man” scenario. Maintaining this level of quality and independence within their product assists with not only their customized approach and one of kind coffee selection, but also with their sustainable business practices.
Jeremy also admits that the coffee shop industry is one of the most unsustainable businesses in America and not just because of the coffee beans itself. Things like paper cups and straws are becoming a frequent controversy in the industry and this is no shocker to Rogue Roasters. By using many disposable products with a lower impact like biodegradable silverware and limiting things like cup sleeves and straws, unless asked for by the customer, Rogue Roasters furthers their task in being more sustainable. The shop also adds incentives like discounts on coffee for customers who bring reusable cups and mugs to use in place of the paper and plastic counterparts.
Though Jeremy realizes that there is still no way the company could be one hundred percent sustainable, he maintains that doing small things along the way helps to not only cut costs but also cut their own carbon footprint.
Awards for skills and coffee creations are featured around the coffee shop, making customers aware of the quality that goes into each and every cup. (Summer Mincks)
Through their passion for the condition of their product and drive to become more earth friendly, Rogue Roasters has gone on to win numerous awards throughout the years; each year adding a new trophy to their collection. With their high-quality products and commitment to a customer centered environment Rogue Roasters continues to grow almost as quickly as the dreams of the owner.
“Eventually we want to incorporate food items, so we are developing a small menu,” Jeremy says, “And we’ve even talked about adding a small pub.” The concept would be to use more of the space allowed to them within the seven-thousand square foot building, blending coffee shop with food and eventually locally crafted beers and kombuchas.
Ultimately Jeremy, along with the staff at Rogue Roasters, wants the environment to have the feel of a classic meeting room. Providing a better opportunity for people to reach out and connect with each other. People are truly the heart of this coffee shop, from its staff to its customers. Rogue Roasters is working to further its commitment to culture and to the community, one organic and artisanal cup of joe at a time.
