The Chic Guide: What is Yield Coffee?
Derek Garde, Operations Director at Yield Coffee: YIELD Coffee is a humanitarian coffee roasting company dedicated to relational coffee and long-term sustainability. We collaborate closely with coffee farmers who share our commitment to sustainability, exceptional quality, and long-term relationships. We transport beautiful coffees to Cincinnati, roast them fresh every week, and deliver or ship to our wholesale partners and coffee lovers around the US.
Our purpose at YIELD is to make a positive difference in the world of specialty coffee by cultivating life-changing relationships. Through relational coffee and sustainable development, our mission is to collaborate with coffee producers, local communities, wholesale partners, and thoughtful consumers. These principles influence all we do, so you can always drink coffee that matters.
The Chic Guide: What’s the story behind Yield Coffee?
Garde: The concept and ambition for YIELD Coffee was to provide a meaningful opportunity to give back via simple and ethical business practices with the power to transform lives. My professional career began as a pediatric intensive care nurse at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. I worked at the bedside in the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (CICU) for over five years, focused on direct patient care and system development. My ambition of collaborating to save lives became a reality during my travel nursing experiences and medical mission work in Nicaragua, when I co-founded a humanitarian coffee roasting business with two of my best friends, Luke and Kyle.
Together, we can make a difference in the lives of thousands of people in our own communities and in coffee-producing regions by focusing on proactive initiatives rather than reactionary ones (the majority of what we accomplished at Children’s was vitally necessary). There are avoidable catastrophes that we can prevent by improving the system and allocating sufficient resources to sustain critical activities.
Coffee is simply a tool towards achieving a more sustainable and equitable world.
We are steadfast in our commitment to sourcing coffee in a sustainable and socially responsible manner. This begins with creating equitable and sustainable pricing and establishing long-term, meaningful, and mutually beneficial relationships with coffee producers founded on trust, transparency, and respect. We have placed a premium on direct and long-term relationships with dedicated coffee producers who share our values and commitment to quality.
The Chic Guide: Who’s behind Yield Coffee?
Garde: I am the Operations Director. We also have:
Andrew Lentz, Wholesale Director; Luke Sherron, Solutions Architect; Kyle Rountree, Financial Director; and Hannah Libby, Event Director and Head of Training
The Chic Guide: Can you share more on your coffee catering and classes?
Garde: We strive to create the best quality coffee experience for everyone. Our catering services are an organic outgrowth of our passion for people and specialty coffee. We make having specialty coffee on-site for your event simple, easy, and delightful.
We are always available to set up for weddings, company parties, teacher and employee appreciation, showers, birthdays, graduations, and retirements, as well as any other celebration.
Our catering services are completely customizable and tailored to your specific requirements. We cooperate with individuals, event planners, and venues to guarantee that all critical components of the event run smoothly.
Our classes provide an excellent chance for you to expand your knowledge of specialty coffee while also gaining practical experience in brewing better coffee at home. We’ve witnessed and experienced the difference between cafe-quality coffee and attempting to replicate it at home. Because YouTube can only take you so far, we built these one-of-a-kind classes for people from all walks of life as a welcoming and approachable method to learn more about coffee.
Have you ever wanted to make the best coffee at home, but struggled to understand your equipment? Learn the basics to perfecting the art of specialty coffee at home. We believe great coffee shouldn’t be limited to the coffee shop setting. These courses are designed to teach, empower, and guide you to better coffee-making theories and techniques so you can be your own barista.
The Chic Guide: What kinds of coffees do you offer?
Garde: We provide a full spectrum of relational coffees from producers we know and visit all throughout the world. All of our coffees are cultivated organically and hand-picked. These coffees are shipped to Cincinnati, where they are freshly roasted three days a week. You can always count on getting freshly roasted coffee.
We recommend our Ethiopian Yirgacheffe if you’re searching for a light roasted coffee.
We recommend our Brazil Primavera if you’re searching for a medium roasted coffee.
We recommend our Old School Dark Roast if you’re searching for a dark-roasted coffee.
We sampled over 1,000 coffees before settling on our current selection. There’s not a wrong choice. For those unfamiliar with specialty coffee, we recommend our curated sample box. It features four of our best-selling coffees. This will assist you in determining your preferences and provide you with a solid foundation from which to develop your coffee palette.
The Chic Guide: What makes Yield Coffee unique?
Garde: Everything we do at YIELD is to help others prosper. Since 2016, we’ve been sourcing, roasting, and brewing coffee, as well as providing high-quality wholesale coffee solutions. It’s a big part of what we do, and we’re proud to have built a network of partners that are dedicated to delivering a world-class specialty coffee experience.
Our method to coffee roasting was created with our partners in mind, with the goal of providing coffee that is approachable on all levels. What sets us apart is our deep understanding of what customers want from their coffee, and our dedicated team collaborates with our wholesale coffee partners to provide options and flexibility to meet their demands, with exposure to a wide selection of well curated coffees.
YIELD Coffee is a true coffee partner throughout the entire coffee supply chain. On a weekly basis, we’re meeting with coffee producers in person or using technology to deepen our relationships and find common ground to provide necessary opportunities for them to succeed and give back to their communities.
We assure coffee producers’ longevity and ability to rise beyond the poverty cycle by paying them 250-350 percent of market rate. Additionally, 10% of our profits are donated to long-term sustainable development projects in coffee-producing communities that improve access to healthcare, clean water, sanitation, and education.
We began with a passion for people and a passion for coffee. We envisioned a practical strategy to directly connect people with relational coffee, which has the potential to alter the lives of others. Through YIELD, we’re investing in the lives of thousands of people around the globe.
Who knew making the world a better place could taste this good?
The Chic Guide: Is there anything new on the horizon?
Garde: Coming in early 2022, we’ll be launching our brand new organic line of direct-trade teas. We’ll also be hosting more events in the community at your favorite coffee shops, including coffee cupping classes, brewing classes, and barista training classes – so make sure to follow along on our social media to stay in the loop! We’re always moving at a million miles an hour!
We are also seeking additional businesses that are interested in hosting our mobile espresso bar for an extended period of time. If you have any connections where you’d like to see us set up, please send us your thoughts and ideas!
The Chic Guide: Where can readers go to learn more and follow along?
Garde: Anyone who wants more information can visit us at www.yieldcoffee.com to snag a few bags of their new favorite coffee or the sampler pack, or follow us on Instagram for the latest updates and pop-ups around Cincy.
