The Coffee Fox and its three sister cafes – Foxy Loxy Cafe, Henny Penny Art Space & Cafe, Fox & Fig Cafe – are brewing up something special with their newest venture, The Coffee Roasting Co.
The Savannah staples had been serving PERC coffee, a local roaster in Savannah, for years. But Jennifer Jenkins, owner of the cafes, said it got to a point where they were excited about the opportunity to grow in the same direction PERC has – roasting their own coffee.
In late 2021, the Coffee Fox team began sourcing and roasting their own coffee out of their The Coffee Fox location on Louisville Road. Jenkins saw it as an opportunity to control their branding, decide what beans they’d want to bring in and show support for different farms.
Credit: Courtesy of The Coffee Fox Roasting Co.
Credit: Courtesy of The Coffee Fox Roasting Co.
In 2013, Jenkins took an origin trip to Selva Negra Ecolodge, an organic farm in the Highlands of northern Nicaragua, owned by Mausi Kühl and her husband Eddy Kühl. An origin trip gives coffee professionals the chance to visit coffee-growing countries, meet farmers, learn about coffee agriculture and processing and source new coffee.
During her trip, she fell in love with the Nicaraguan coffee farm. When asked how they could continue to support the farm, the owners told the group of roasters and cafe owners that sourcing their greens supports everything they do. With PERC, Jenkins didn’t have the opportunity to do that as the company had the final decision on what greens to source.
Nine years later, the Coffee Fox cafes are serving Selva Negra coffee.
Credit: Courtesy of The Coffee Fox Roasting Co.
Credit: Courtesy of The Coffee Fox Roasting Co.
“I just really loved that it's a woman-owned farm,” Jenkins said. “They're on their third generation of coffee pickers living there, and they provide a school. So, I just knew I had wanted to then go back and support that farm from when I took that trip.”
With the new direction, came new technology. Starting a roastery takes a lot of knowledge and training, most of which Jenkins and her staff didn't have the time or capacity to take on. But with the Bellwether Roaster, an all-electric, zero-emissions coffee roaster machine, those worries transformed into possibilities.
The Bellwether Roaster requires no experience and is said to roast six pounds of coffee at a time, produce three roasts per hour and only take two minutes of labor. The machine features digital roast profiles accessible on the roaster and a marketplace where users can buy sustainably-sourced green coffees from around the world.
With the Bellwether, Jenkins was able to source the greens from the Selva Negra Ecolodge and support the farm. The cafes also serve a selection of Brazilian, Ethiopian and Rwandan coffees for different blends. Each of the beans is sourced and imported through the Bellwether marketplace and then roasted at one of two of their machines at their west Savannah location.
Credit: N.W. Gabbey / For Do Savannah
Credit: N.W. Gabbey / For Do Savannah
Their four core coffees are the Foxy Blend, Flywheel Espresso, Knockout Cold Brew and Halftone Decaf, along with seasonal single-origin coffees. Each coffee name is a callback to Jenkins’ time as a printmaking professor at the Savannah College of Art and Design before starting at Foxy Loxy. The bags were designed by The Coffee Fox’s long-time collaborator and designer, Kay Wolfersperger of House of Kindling.
While Jenkins said The Coffee Fox on Louisville Road sells to the other cafes at about the same price they were paying PERC, the profit from the beans is allowing their team to build up infrastructure at their roasting location that helps with training.
“I also just feel more in control of price increases. So, since one of my entities is going to be in charge of increasing it or not increasing it and what profit margin I'm going to get for it, I just feel like it protects my other entities from price hikes without us knowing or being prepared because we're in charge of it that just feels safer financially long term.”
Credit: Savannahnow.com file photo
Credit: Savannahnow.com file photo
Jenkins said there are currently no plans to expand and source coffee for other local cafes.
“It's all about just servicing our cafes.”
Laura Nwogu is the quality of life reporter for Savannah Morning News. Contact her at LNwogu@gannett.com. Twitter: @lauranwogu_
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: The Coffee Fox and other Foxy cafes in Savannah now serving their own coffee
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