2024 is a wrap

Just numbers and in themselves don't tell too much. We've had a small reduction in growth across wholesale this year but 20% growth in on-line sales. Due to increased costs across the entire supply chain we've had a reduced net profit again this year but nothing to be alarmed by, and my accountant tells me it's still a 'healthy' business.

2024 was the 10th year of operation of Crankhouse as a business with the first proper sale back in August of 2014. Some of you might remember it's beginnings in my garage.

One of the big online events this year was the recent DECAF project which James Hoffman from Square Mile put together. We were one of 57 roasters worldwide that took part by buying 4 sacks of coffee from the same farm, one washed and the remaining 3 decaffeinated using different methods. When James announced the list of roasters with the tasting kits, our Shopify online site went crazy. I capped the pre-sales to allow our small team to be able to handle the workload and am very glad I did. For those that purchased the kits and took part in James's livestream last weekend I hope you enjoyed the comparison.

Amongst the variety of coffees that have come into Crankhouse green and gone out brown I have my own personal favourites including some very recent ones that we saved for this year's Twelve Days of Crankhouse advent box. I trust you've had some highlights too.

==============================

Events and origin trips

I marked the occasion of 10 years of Crankhouse with a few trips to origin that have been on my wish list for a while. At the beginning of 2024 I went back to some of the micro-mills and farms I'd visited in 2018 in Costa Rica. This time I went with our import partner DR Wakefield and if you hadn't already seen it, the detailed trip report is here with a some pics below.

I came away from that trip with a reinforced opinion that this small Central American country is one of my favourite origins. The diversity of flavour profile as well as their emphasis on sustainability makes this one of the leaders in modern farming practices. We visited the tiny La Chumeca micromill and Cordillera De Fuego who we've bought coffees from for the last few years, as well as the largest commercial mill Coop Tarrazu. Vastly different scales of operation but the emphasis on minimising the impact on the planet and thinking about tomorrow rather than today was clear. We saw clean air projects, turning mucilage into health drinks and cosmetics as well as clean fertiliser water for farming... all from waste.

One of the most well know growing regions in Central America is Huehuetenango in Guatemala. We've always had coffees from various regions of this country over the years and when our import partner Primavera invited me along this year I was glad to be able to accept. The roads in Guatemala are terrible, mainly unsealed and so incredibly dry and dusty. Apparently the drive from Guatemala City to Huehe can be done in a day.. but it's not pleasant. We flew on a tiny 20 seater and who should be waiting at the airport to catch the same flight but George Howell, the godfather of speciality coffee. Well into his 70s and at least 40 years in the game, he still visits some of his key relationship farms.

A very different experience to other origins I've visited, in particular how dry everything was. The lack of rain was clearly a concern for everyone who works in any form of agriculture and even though the coffee plants seem to be producing good quality fruit right now it doesn't bode well for the future. For me, the starkest reminder of the effects of climate change.

One of the highlights was being able to meet up with friends Lucia (Solis) and Nick in beautiful Antigua where they now live and run their FTC camps. Another highlight was attending my first PRF (Producer Roasters Forum) and a great opportunity to make some new contacts for future purchases and colloborations.

I went back to Colombia with Raw Material this year for their Plant to Port course. Starting at their experimental farm and community wet mill El Fenix looking at varieties and farming methodologies, then to Finca Jamaica, their processing centre for Villamaria coffees with a focus on post-harvest processing including the magical fermentation step. Finally up to historical Santuario township to Asocafe Tatama to get an understanding of pricing at a collection point, quality assessment, and contract and trading terms. All in all an incredible overview of all the steps involved at the point of origin.

Closer to home, we took Crankhouse to a few industry events this year: London Coffee Festival, Bristol Coffee Festival and Caffe Culture. We also took our A game in terms of the coffee we brewed and hopefully if you came to visit us at one or more of these events you were impressed.

=======================================

Building and business news

We've just completed our last full year at 130 Fore Street. The new owners will presumably start their building works to convert the building into flats in October 2025. This means that this time next year we'll be based elsewhere and hopefully will have found ourselves a good space to continue operating Crankhouse Coffee for the foreseeable future.

There will be a little change for those of you who are local and frequent Crankhouse in Exeter. The cafe and roastery will split and Tony and Rosie will take the cafe business to a new site within walking distance of the current location. We already operate as separate businesses administratively and they will operate under a different trading name at the new site; i.e. it won't be Crankhouse but hopefully you'll still be able to get our coffee in their cafe despite the separation.

At the time of writing I'm in early negotiations with an agent regarding a unit on Marsh Barton trading estate for Crankhouse. In my mind I see a functional production setup with a little more room than currently, alongside a retail space with a small bakery operation as well as great coffee (obvs). To start it may be takeaway only but we'll see how that develops. One thing I wanted to continue doing in the new space is regular public cuppings and training sessions and we'll build a dedicated space for those tasks.

I do realise that some of you may think moving Crankhouse to an industrial estate is a bad idea. Others may think it's a good one. Personally I've worked on an industrial park before and not enjoyed it. But two years ago both Jack and I went to Pharmacie Coffee in Lewes (for the UK roasting champs), in a unit on an industrial park on the outskirts of town. The sun was shining, there were tables and chairs outside, more inside with a full functional cafe as a very nice production space. It was clearly cycling friendly and there was a steady stream of customers sitting in and picking up their coffee over the 2 days we were there. It was very cool and definitely an inspiration for what is possible. Plus, one of the big inspirations for Crankhouse was way back in Australia seeing coffee roasteries in industrial units with cafe spaces and a strong link to the cycling community.

This year I lost one Jack and gained another one plus a Francesa. A win. Jack Crocker joined us back in July and has been roasting most of our coffee once he and Loretta (our Loring Roaster) developed an understanding. If you've been in you'll know he's super friendly and has settled into the Crankhouse style quickly. Francesca (Fran) joined us part-time back in September and has made a great contribution to our small team in that short time.

Next year is going to be a big one for Crankhouse. Moving a business is never easy and those of you that have been following a while will know the challenges involved getting this small operation up and running in a new site. This will be the 4th move since Crankhouse came into existence, which would make you think that it should be a little easier this time around. Fingers crossed.

=======================================

One Percent for the Planet contributions

This has been our third full year of making contributions to various organisations that are working on projects to help save our planet all under the umbrella of 1% for the planet. The commitment made is to give 1% of the annual turnover of your business to one or more chosen organisations. This year we added Raw Material, one of our long standing import partners and a CIC organisation. They work with communities in Colombia (ie Villamaria), Mexico, Rwanda and Timor Leste. Of these, it's the latter that requires most assistance and our contribution will go towards projects in that origin.

=======================================

What does 2025 have in store ?

The big thing from our side will be the move of the business to a new site. If you already support us locally by coming into our site at Fore Street then I hope the location of the new site won't put you off visiting us, wherever it ends up being.

Coffee-wise, our first releases of 2025 are all lined up and ready to go. If you treated yourself to a Twelve Days advent box you'll already have tasted two of them:

Kenya Kainamui AA Washed
Guatemala Juan Rodriguez WIWITZ Washed
Costa Rica Cordillera De Fuego Anaerobic Natural
Costa Rica La Fila Natural

As is customary we'll add a little discount code to the site for these four releases '2025KICKSTART' which will give 15% off your order of two or more. Release date will be January 2nd.

==============================

The last words of 2024 are to thank you for your support. It's you, our customers, that drive us to be more than average and be better. We're always open to suggestions on how we can improve our business, whether it be through our communication channels, sourcing mechanisms, roasting style, branding, marketing or anything else. If you have anything in particular you'd like to discuss or suggest then please drop us a line.

Many thanks for your continued support and we hope you're having a lovely restful festive break. Best wishes from us all for a great start to your 2025.

Dave, Jack and Francesca