Dillanos Coffee Roasters is a family owned specialty coffee roaster located in Sumner, Washington. Established in 1992, the company was named Roast Magazine's 2011 Macro Roaster of the Year, presented annually to the U.S.'s top roaster with an output of more than 100,000 pounds as decided by the Roast editorial board.
Dillanos roasts a variety of premium specialty coffee blends and single-origin coffees, including several specially selected direct trade coffees marketed under the One Harvest Project label. The company employs nearly 70 people, and distributes its coffee to more than 1,500 wholesale accounts across the nation.
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History
David Morris opened Dillanos in 1992 with the help of his stepfather, Howard Heyer. Named after Morris's son Dillon, the business originally consisted of a single espresso cart located in front of Heyer's convenience store in Buckley, Washington. Morris and Heyer opened two additional retail outlets the following year.
Chris Heyer, Howard's son and Morris' half-brother, joined the operation shortly after it opened in 1992.
Dillanos started roasting in late 1992 with the purchase of a 20-pound coffee roaster. The brothers originally intended to roast only for their retail stores and a few wholesale customers, but decided instead to sell the stores in 1996 and pursue wholesale roasting full-time. In 2004, Dillanos moved its roasting operation to Sumner, Washington just to the east of Tacoma.
Today, the company employs nearly 70 people in a 45,000-square-foot (4,200 m2) roasting facility. Dillanos roasts its coffee on three roasters -- a 120-kilo Diedrich, a 240-kilo Diedrich, and a 25-kilo Probat -- and distributes its coffee to standalone operations, chains/franchises, distributors, e-commerce outlets, and grocery stores.
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Recognition
Dillanos Coffee Roasters has been recognized by local and national media for the quality of its coffee and the leadership of its founders, who have won acclaim for maintaining a "fun, supportive company culture."
After being named one of America's top three roasters in 2005 and 2007 by Roast magazine, Dillanos won Roast's 2011 Macro Roaster of the Year award. The award recognizes roasters with a commitment to high-quality coffee (as judged by a coffee cupping committee), sustainable business practices, employee support and educational practices, industry involvement, and innovations in roasting, marketing, and business performance.
Dillanos has also won several regional coffee awards, including first place in the Seattle Times "Best in Seattle" online poll in the "favorite coffee" category in 2005, 2006, and 2007. Dillanos supplied the roasted coffee for category winner Kapow Coffee House. In 2011 Dillanos placed first in the SCAA Roasters Choice Competition in the annual SCAA Roasters Guild Retreat.
The company's corporate recognition includes finishing first on the South Puget Sound Business Examiner's "Top 40 Places to Work" list in 2005, 2012 and receiving top 20 acclaim as one of "Washington's Best Workplaces" in 2007 by the Puget Sound Business Journal Dillanos was also profiled in Jack Canfield's The Success Principles book as an example of a company committed to outstanding service.
One Harvest Project
Dillanos started the One Harvest Project in 2006. The project is based on the direct trade/relationship coffee model, in which roasters bypass the traditional importing process and source coffee directly from coffee cooperatives and estates.
Dillanos personally visits each One Harvest Project farm at least once a year to learn more about the farm's growing practices, coffee processing techniques, and challenges. Dillanos then works with the farmers to improve coffee quality, refine growing practices, or support the local community, depending on the farm's needs.
Dillanos negotiates prices for its One Harvest Project coffees directly with farmers, freeing them from dependence on the commodities market. The company pays prices that typically exceed fair trade and market value through a verifiable, transparent process.
Dillanos's One Harvest Project coffees include Costa Rica Las Lajas, Guatemala Rio Azul, Honduras Corah, and Tanzania Kanyovu Peaberry. Dillanos plans to eventually transition all its single-origin coffees to One Harvest Project relationships. In 2011 Dillanos One Harvest buying practices were featured in the CNBC Original episode 14 The Coffee Addiction as an example of the relationship coffee model and its role in US consumption.
Grower Support Projects
Dillanos offers additional support to many of its One Harvest Project partners, in an attempt to help them transition to more sustainable operations.
Dillanos established a family bank credit for the Rio Azul cooperative in Guatemala, allowing 150 families to purchase two years of full medical and dental insurance. Dillanos also provided financial support for a water filtration system at the cooperative's wet mill. The filtration system is intended to boost the cooperative's quality control systems.
In Tanzania, Dillanos' support helped the Kanyovu Cooperative improve its quality control and farming practices over a four-year period in collaboration with Sustainable Harvest Coffee Importers and several U.S. and Brazilian coffee and agronomy professionals. In the four-year timespan, Kanyovu Cooperative evolved from producing commodity-grade coffee to winning the East African 2010 Taste of Harvest competition. The quality-based premium the coffee now earns has led to additional social and economic opportunities for Kanyovu farmers, in addition to a closer relationship with the Jane Goodall Institute, which collaborates with the farmers on reforestation projects.
Company Culture
The Dillanos mission statement is "Help People, Make Friends, Have Fun." The Dillanos founders say they want to foster a fun, collaborative atmosphere that rewards employees for their enthusiasm and creativity.
Dillanos is an industry leader in education for cafe and drive-thru owners and managers. Most recently, they published The Successful Coffee House, a 22-day action plan to lead your coffee house to new levels of success.
In 2008, Dillanos authored a book titled Brewing a Creative Culture, which includes 13 formulas for how to "blend high accountability and outrageous fun into your business." The book is required reading for all new employees.
Brothers Morris and Heyer hide their favorite number, "22", into all new branded designs, "It's the 'Where's Waldo' of Dillanos Coffee,"
Dillanos provides full medical, dental, and vision benefits to all employees.
The company launched the Dillanos Family Foundation in January 2009. Funded by voluntary contributions from the company management and staff, the foundation is intended to support Dillanos employees and their families when they face medical emergencies, natural disasters, and other hardship. An internal committee makes short-term grants to employees based on merit.
Dillanos contributes to ChildFund International on behalf of each employee. Each contribution supports one child in such coffee-growing countries as Ethiopia, Honduras, and Brazil. Dillanos maintains a wall of the children's photos near its staff meeting room, with updates on the children's progress and stories of the shared relationships between the kids and Dillanos employees.
The company purchases 100-percent of its electricity for all company operations from the Puget Sound Energy Green Power Program, which supports renewable wind, solar, and biomass energy projects located in the Pacific Northwest.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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