Marye: How did you come up with the idea of a frozen espresso?
JBC: We use to visit a local coffee shop sometimes twice a day for our latte fix and realized we were spending lots of money for our little
indulgence.  So, in an effort to save money,  we purchased a home espresso machine, coffee beans, bean grinder, etc.  Making just one ounce of espresso was time consuming not to mention messy.

One hectic morning as I thought of making a latte, I said, “I wish it was just frozen so I could plop it in a cup instead of having to get all that stuff out!”

One wish and my husband’s entrepreneurial mind kicked in.  He said, “Why don’t we just make a batch while the machine is out and freeze
them in ice trays?”

So we did. We were amazed at the taste!  We would use the frozen espresso daily in milk for home use till we’d run out
and make another huge batch.  Thinking it was an idea others may also appreciate, he looked into starting a business. Lucky for us, there
was a local food incubator for small start up food businesses that had opened so we dabbled with this idea in their commercial kitchen
without having to take a huge risk of starting a business from scratch.

We discovered people who tasted our product overcame the first impressions of “frozen” being not so savory.  Frozen foods have come a long way since the beginning of the “TV dinners” but some still have a perception of low quality to overcome.

Marye: Why JazzyBird?  Does the name have a significance?
JBC: Here’s the shortened version.  So we decided, “Let’s do this! What do we call this business?”  We’re driving in the car discussing deep
thoughts.

HA!  Not really!

I said, “I don’t care.” Right at that moment, we are on the Interstate and a redbird (cardinal) lands in front of our vehicle ON the interstate, so Brian, a.k.a. PapaBird,says, “What about RedBird?”

I said, “Okay” with no particular tone of voice. After a trademark search, we didn’t find a trademarked RedBird Coffee, so a logo was designed. Then we discover a company that sells Redbird Kona Coffee.  It wasn’t trademarked at the time but  we just didn’t want any problems in the future so, since we already had a bird logo, we changed the name to JazzyBird in honor of the Jazz  music heritage of our state, added a saxophone and musical notes and we were ready to go.

The package and logo design has been changed since then, but the name remains the same.

Marye: What do you feel your biggest success has been?
JBC: Perfecting the process of delivering the freshest roasted coffee taste possible using state of the art proprietary equipment.  Fresh roasted beans, brewing & quick freezing the espresso is really a key to locking in that fresh brewed gourmet flavor.

Marye: What is the biggest challenge that you have overcome/are overcoming?
JBC: It’s been a challenge to educate the consumer about our product and to convey that frozen espresso is really good! We are the first product of this kind to market so since people don’t habitually go to their freezer for their morning brew, we are “introducing your new favorite stop for gourmet espresso drinks: YOUR FREEZER.”  (A very creative local couple on Twitter created that “new favorite stop” slogan for us.)

Marye: Have you always been involved with coffee as a career?
JBC:No, not at all. We didn’t know anything about the coffee business when we began other than we loved espresso and wanted to not spend our entire paycheck on buying it or our time making it at home on a daily basis. My husband comes from an entrepreneurial family who likes to start businesses and are fairly successful in doing so.   I have a scattered career background from worker bee, accountant, paralegal, artist, chief cook & bottle washer, to “office manager” according to a recent article.

Marye: Is JazzyBird organic?
JBC: It’s all natural. Ingredients: 100% Arabica coffee, water

Marye:You packaging seems to be recycled/ environmentally friendly.  Is it?
JBC:It would be great if the answer was yes so I contacted the box manufacturer to ask them about that. They said, it’s on virgin
(Kraftpak) board because recycled doesn’t print nearly as well. Honestly, we just got the cheapest box we could get at the time, but
the recycling/environmental issue is important so definitely something we could look into in the future. Thanks for asking that question.

Marye: Look five years into the future.  What direction is JazzyBird Coffee taking?

JBC:That’s too far down the road for me.  I just want to make it through this recession so in five years, we can still be in
business. But my vision one day is a fully automated assembly line so we don’t have to hand assemble each box of product because hopefully we’ll be into private labeling for others too.  Can we be at that point in 5 years?  I don’t know.

Marye:What is your favorite coffee go with? ie: biscotti, muffin, etc.
JBC:Personally, I like to sit down with whatever JazzyBird espresso drink I’ve created whether it be a latte, cappuccino or various other
version of espresso drink I happen to make each morning and just enjoy it  before even thinking about anything else. It’s almost meditative.

I really look forward to most mornings in my pajamas in my comfy chair with my nice hot JazzyBird espresso drink. My second cup can go with a muffin, biscuit or any other breakfast if time allows. Sometimes, it’s heated milk with JazzyBird shot in a to go cup and I’m out the door.

Marye: Any products in the works that you can tell us about?
JBC:We’ve been asked about flavored espresso, but don’t know if or when we’ll get to that. Right now, the consumer will just have to purchase their flavorings to add to our pure espresso shots.  I keep vanilla syrup, caramel sauce, chocolate sauce, cinnamon, etc. on hand for whatever mood strikes me.  Oh and whipped topping…that always makes a delicious indulgence!

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Wasn’t that fantastic?  I appreciate Shari taking time to do this, and I hope that you enjoyed the insight into JazzyBirdCoffee as well.  If you want to follow them on twitter then the address is http://twitter.com/jazzybirdcoffee.

A great small company with a brilliant idea.

image:maryeaudet

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