by: James Simpkins
Growing up in
Columbus, Ohio, I thought Dunkin’ Donuts was a throwback to the 1980’s—somewhere
you stopped under duress in Podunk, West Virginia. Moving to New England a few
years ago, the dream I was living became a nightmare: Not only was Dunkin’ Donuts
not an Atari-like icon of a bygone era, but it seemed to have become the
default coffee for millions of people living in the Northeast. And no one seems
to care a lick that it sucks. And I’m not just saying that as a guy who’s from
out of town, I say that as a coffee lover and aficionado. It’s really bad! However,
walking around Yale’s campus a couple weeks ago, my luck changed for the
better.
After the results of the 2004 elections, Andrew Ruben and
his father, co-owners of Blue State Coffee in New Haven (and RI), were licking
their Democratic wounds while in line for a couple lattés. Andrew casually
mentioned how coffee might offer an opportunity to place some extra funds in
the coffers of progressive causes. His old man knew a good idea when he heard
one, and with the help of friends Blue State Coffee was born some three years
later, originally as a website where you could order genuine Organic, Fair
Trade coffee beans. As ideas tend to do, the concept of a Green, sustainably
produced coffee eventually created a life of its own in the form of a retail shop
where the idea really took root.
Blue State Coffee first store opened on Thayer Street in Providence,
Rhode Island. They now have the original location as well as a spot in the
Brown University Bookstore, and the location that I stumbled upon in New Haven.
It figures that a good cup of coffee is needed at stellar, modern campuses like
Brown and Yale, but how did the whole “Drink Liberally” entendre sit with the old,
stodgy right-wingers that those two campuses are also known for? Ruben says it’s
going just fine, thank you. Two and a half years in and all three locations are
profitable, steadily increasing sales since their openings. Ruben, for one, is
psyched. And he should be---he’s still in college (at Yale) and already has a
bright future ahead of him. Like so many of us gone the way of the Humanities,
that glowing future is completely unrelated to the American Studies degree that
he is working on. Well, almost.
Ruben’s
timing for his opening could not have been better. Well, maybe by a week or so. The first
store opened a week after Obama’s inauguration and attracted quite the
following. Al Franken even stopped by and gave a speech on his long
road to becoming a U.S. Senator. Good press is also helping Blue State along
with Ruben’s ideals being featured in places like Vanity Fair and the Hartford
Courant, as well as local papers. What’s driving the interest seems to be the
intention to be what Andrew refers to as a “zero-waste business”—striving to
recycle, reuse or compost everything they sell. As Ruben says, “Basically, the
goal is to remove the trash cans from all of our facilities.”
Blue State
also sources as many products as it can locally. While the coffee isn’t grown
around here (I asked just in case) it is roasted by New Harvest Coffee Roasters in
Pawtucket, Rhode Island. The milk in your latté is from The Farmer’s Cow, a Connecticut
based six farm cooperative--and the food they sell is made and delivered daily
by La Cuisine in Branford. This is all in line with today's progressive consumer demands. Because of the (correct) popular consensus that
we have taken a wrong turn somewhere in our commercial enterprise, the Green
concept is something that truly stretches across to our friends and colleagues
on the other side of the aisle. Kind of like a good cup of coffee. And this website.
It’s not all
roses, however. Ruben tells me that while each of the locations are making
money, even while the economy is turning somersaults, Blue State costs
more to operate than it would without the commitments that are behind it.
Here’s the Mission Statement:
Our
Mission:
- To offer organic, fairly traded coffee, roasted
to perfection
- To donate 5% of sales to local and national
causes that reflect our progressive values
- To run a zero waste, environmentally sustainable
business
- To unite a group of people committed to
bettering our communities and our country.
What doesn’t
surprise me is that a company with commitments like these is more expensive to
run. What does surprise me about Blue State Coffee is that when it comes down
to making some money vs. a lot of money, those commitments still
run the show. But, unlike your local Dunkin’ Donuts, there is no consortium of
global private equity firms (like the one that owns DD) trying this and that to
add a penny’s more worth to a weakened portfolio. There’s just a smart, driven
college junior, his (clearly cool) dad, and a bone to pick with conservatives. Like one of the numerous Blue State double entendres states--“You’re on
political grounds.”
I’m not
asking you to give up your Dunkin’ Donuts-quite the contrary; go
ahead and pick one up. Then stop by Blue State Coffee in New Haven for a
comparison. But no dilly-dallying…it won’t be long before you’ll have to look
outside their store for a trash can to put that cup in. Their cups are made from corn and can be composted along with the grounds
from the beans. How about
your Dunkin’ Donuts cup? Is that…styrofoam? That is so
1985.
See? I knew
it.
Blue State Coffee Locations:
·
Blue State Coffee @
Brown University Bookstore
244 Thayer Street | Providence, RI 02912
·
Blue State Coffee New
Haven/Wall Street
84 Wall Street | New Haven, CT 06511
·
Blue State Coffee
Providence/Thayer Street
300 Thayer Street | Providence, RI 02906
