Innovation

Evan Bailey is the founder of Tree City Coffee, a local coffee shop in Kent, Ohio, whose brand revolves around sustainability and community. A goal of Bailey’s was to create a coffee shop that feels “right in-between hipster and corporate” where all feel welcome, and with “highly ethical practices retaining to coffee embedded from the beginning.” Bailey focuses on having his coffee ethically sourced and focuses on purchasing and selling direct- and fair-trade products only, resulting in high-quality organic coffee. Along with that, they sell an assortment of bottles of locally grown and sustainably produced wine and foods.

The sustainable innovation of Tree City Coffee is the business model itself, a community-based coffee shop that only buys from local sources and sources that implement ethical and fair-trade practices. Sustainability is not just a buzzword for Tree City, as they describe on their website exact metrics of what constitutes “direct trade.” For Bailey, his growers or local coop must be at least 25% above Fair-Trade price, must be transparent with their financial backers, and have growers committed to sustainable social practices (http://www.rootedinkent.com/). This innovation did not emerge from Bailey’s already standing coffee shop but was embedded in his vision from the beginning.

Establishing the shop in the Kent State area was intentional, as he wanted to establish something that would link the students and the community. Bailey and his co-owner Mike Beder worked together to conduct research on corporate coffee and the interactions with the sellers and the company. They knew that corporate coffee played a big role in the ecosystems of developing nations and knew there was a more ethical way to conduct business. The idea of a community-based direct-trade coffee shop relates immediately to a larger purpose of bringing people together. Bailey has always been fascinated with “assembling people and ideas,” and loves investigating how people and ideas can work together. He has been fascinated with the concept of novelty and believed he could grasp that concept and implement it into an idea that brought the community together and made a positive impact.

Inspiration

Before starting the company back in 2011, Bailey spent a year researching the potential location of Tree City and knew he had found an opportunity in Kent. He visited multiple coffee shops between Kent and New York and observed them “quietly but aggressively.” He saw a gap in the market that could be filled with his style of coffee shop, an in-between of “hipster and corporate,” that could positively impact the community and the people within it. The location and community are part of what inspired the founding of Tree City. Kent State students and community members needed a spot to study or relax that wasn’t too crowded and made them feel comfortable.

Bailey’s motivation to start a sustainable business in Kent was largely inspired by the opportunity he saw to make a difference in the community, market, and ultimately the environment. He knew that coffee production had a global effect on the environment and workers, and was inspired to create a business that sustainably dealt with this effect. Bailey has always had a passion for making a difference, and Tree City’s innovative practices give him a way to do that. Tree City is constantly motivated to do better than their corporate competitors by means of sustainable practices and bringing the community together through coffee.

Overall impact

Being a green coffee brand dealing with local and sustainable vendors and allowing for a broad appeal has done Tree City and the community well. Among a city with six to ten coffee shops, Tree City has done more than just stand out, they’ve been voted Best Coffee Shop in Kent five years in a row by the KentStater, a local college-run newspaper. In the short term, Tree City's model has made them stand out from the crowd and increased interest from the customers and the local vendors. It also helped to solidify a responsible reputation for the business. In the long term, it allowed for the brand name to spread, and opportunities for advancement to open up, as evidenced by the potential new sites in Tremont or Ohio City. More long term impacts include the environmental and communal benefits of running a successful sustainable coffee shop. This includes decreased waste to landfills and a long-term increase in well being of the members of the community.

Business benefit

The sense of community created and the environmental impacts mitigated complement the business benefits of a sustainable shop. Having a successful sustainable coffee shop has driven green competition for other coffee shops in the area by providing a competitive advantage for Tree City that competitors will need to match. The embedded sustainability, along with the atmosphere, helps with their wide appeal as well, and opens their market up to non-coffee drinkers, thus expanding their customer base and increasing their overall profits. Bailey's creative operation has allowed him to work with local growers and wine producers, give his sellers a wider market, and provide his customers more and more sustainable options. A long-term interest has been expressed in wanting to expand, to bring the community coffee shop idea to another appropriate area, potentially a sister-city of Cleveland (Tremont or Ohio City). This expansion is plausible because of his success in Kent, driven by his innovative model.

Tree City's success due to its sustainable model has attracted many employees and allowed for the best to be selected. These employees are paid over minimum wage and, because of this, Tree City has experienced increased retention leading to more experienced workers, a more convenient customer experience, and an increased sense of community due to the customers getting to know their baristas.

Social and environmental benefit

Providing delicious, affordable, and sustainable coffee is not the only impact Tree City has on the local community. Bailey collected information and input from the community and used that to make a coffee shop with wide appeal, thus increasing the feeling of oneness between the brand and the community. Tree City is an active member of supporting their community by, as described on the website, “giving back to Kent city schools, Kent State University, and its service members, including police, fire and military personnel.”

Emphasizing direct- and fair-trade has made a positive impact on the environment by increasing the demand for high-quality sustainable products in the area, pushing competitors to become more green. Bailey is also working to reduce waste by using biodegradable cups, working towards biodegradable lids, and using the coffee grounds as a source of compost, thus reducing the amount of long-term waste in landfills.

Interviews

Evan Bailey, Founder / Owner

Nicholas Manning, Interviewer