Local coffee roaster giving back to the community, going green

KANSAS CITY, Missouri - Most people can't do a thing without their morning cup of joe but at the Roasterie they can't make a bag of coffee without giving back to the community.

When you ask owner and founder Danny O'Neill why this is the case he will simply reply, "It just makes all kinds of sense."

This is an attitude he attributes back to his Iowa roots. O'Neill explained to us that in small barn-raising communities it was just common sense that you did something for those around you, no questions asked. This refreshing point of view is what has made the Roasterie such a contributor to the local community.

It wasn't always possible for The Roasterie to give back because in the beginning Danny O'Neill was brewing from his Brookside basement.

"We'd deliver everything I'd sell the day before and then I would go and sell the rest of the day, I'd come home at about 6 o'clock, start roasting and packing, roasting and packing and at the end of that three or four month period that was taking to about 4 o'clock in the morning and then I'd get back up at 7 and go do it again," O'Neill explained of a period of time he refers to as "the dark times."

O'Neill even told us that he got within three days of having his house repossessed but luckily the Roasterie took off to become the success it is today.

The secret to that success? Air-roasting! A very unique way of roasting coffee beans which O'Neill told us produces "a very ,very clean, mellow, smooth, not bitter cup of coffee."

It's thanks to that immense success that The Roasterie is able to give back in so many different ways.

To begin with The Roasterie is an eco-friendly company. Among countless other green initiatives The Roasterie also donates its coffee grinds for compost, repurposes the burlap sacks that the coffee comes in and are looking into solar energy.

Besides helping keep the planet healthy they are also trying to keep it happy with the many initiatves they are making all over the world. Most impressively they consistently pay higher across the board than fair trade prices.

"We try to close the loop on that so they know that we're gonna keep buying this coffee at high prices if the quality is really high and then if they can have a larger planning horizon, they can take better care of their farm workers, they can take better care of their plants knowing that there's a market for their coffee," O'Neill explained.

The Roasterie is also making changes at home as well.

"We do an immense amount of work in the local community. We're just very involved and we don't lead with it in terms of 'look at what we do, look at what we do,' but we very much have a community stakeholder mentality," O'Neill told us.

If all of this doesn't sound like enough work The Roasterie also runs two cafes, one in Brookside, one in Leawood and are working on opening up another inside their plant on 27th. The Roasterie also hosts tours every Monday through Saturday at 10am so that coffee enthusiasts can see the quality that goes into each bag of The Roasterie's coffee.
 

If you'd like to see what we saw or just learn more about the Roasterie you can visit their website at www.theroasterie.com where you can find more contact information as well.