Finally! 2022! I don’t remember a time when we have been so happy to see a year be over, except maybe 2020. :)
Rc and I were talking about all the challenges of 2021 yesterday and looking back, it seems that we packed about 5 years into 1. We began the year with a Covid surge and ended the year with another. Montana Coffee Traders and Texas Coffee Traders both had times when we didn’t have enough staff, due to illness and quarantines, to even open our business.
The supply chain issues are real and the price of coffee and everything else has gone up exponentially. It’s a lot for businesses to successfully maneuver and honestly the words ``pivot” and “resilience” will forever bring up memories of this time in our lives and how each day was different than the one before. Understanding that each day would bring new challenges that require creativity and the ability to adapt quickly has kept us moving forward.
The ability to quickly adapt is one skill we have learned to lean into, and all the while what keeps us excited and positive about the day is our community.
Starting with our community of employees who came to work every day ready to do the research to find products in a market with shortages. Folx who got excited about creating new drink menus and talking about the new coffees and products with our customers even if it was sometimes through a window. Those employees who figured out how to engage customers through a mask and give that extra care during a time when folx are tired of challenges and just want the familiar. This is what we worked to give and we are forever grateful to our staff for providing that and working on ways to keep it fun.
We are so grateful to our community of customers who stuck with us and even helped us adjust by offering ideas, encouragement, and friendly faces. A coffee shop is a community center. It is where you hear what is happening in the neighborhood, town, world. Folx that don’t normally hang out together do so at a coffee shop. Having such a strong and loyal customer community allowed for folx to have a spot to connect when so many things were shut down and we are enormously grateful to this Coffee Trader group.
Opening and closing, back and forth for the last two years has not been great for business. High prices and supply chain issues are not great for business. Lack of employees is not great for business. Illness throughout the company is not great for our employees and it is also not great for business. We are grateful to those folx who recognize this and work hard to keep our community safe and healthy. Bottomline, we need to get healthy again and at Coffee Traders we commit to doing whatever it takes to get there.
2022 can be a wonderful year but there are some things that we need to get past. We can do that. We look forward to seeing you all at the window sometimes and inside sometimes, depending on the current conditions. Either way we will do our best to create a great experience and we look forward to sharing stories, news and coffee knowledge with you.
Much gratitude to you all, looking forward,
Rc and Beth