ARABICA COFFEE ROASTERS George and Dimitri Leles cupping coffees together. Steve Leles at his desk. rabica Coffee Roasters represents yet another characteristic example of successful Could you tell us why you decided to collaboration between first- and second-generation Greek-Americans in the food name your business Arabica Coffee Aindustry. This company presently services over 1,000 accounts in New York, New Roasters? Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut. It is run by Steve Leles, together with his sons George There are two plant species that pro- and Dimitri, who have made a great contribution to the progress of the company established duce coffee cherries; Arabica is the better, by their father in 1988. Steve Leles started off in Franklin Lakes, N.J., with 25 customers to more widely known in the industry. My whom he sold coffee from other companies. By 1995, the time had come for his company to father started this business over 25 years relocate to Garfield, N.J., where it remains until today. ago. He thought it was a good idea to The eldest of the Leles boys, George, used to help his father during his spare time until he name the business after it. graduated college with a degree in business administration. He started working at Arabica Coffee Roasters on a full-time basis in 2003 and is currently the vice president in charge of Do you have any other product lines sales. Dimitri studied business finance and joined the company full time in 2008. Today he under the Arabica Coffee Roasters that serves as vice president of operations. your clients might not automatically The company carries over 100 products. Among them, American coffee blends, single- identify as part your company? A few years ago my brother and I de- origin coffees, flavored coffees, espresso, and oreanthi Greek specialty tea. cided that we wanted to create a different Arabica founder Steve Leles told Estiator how pleased he is about working with his two product line that focused on higher-end sons. “We make a good team that is built around the framework of duties I assigned to them. coffee. We decided to call it Leles Brothers They are both very active and hardworking, they have built good relations with many clients Coffee to distinguish our collective contri- and have significantly improved both production and sales.” Steve also expressed his appre- butions to the family business. ciation to all of his customers for choosing Arabica Coffee Roasters products. In this series of articles and interviews highlighting the achievements of Greek-Americans Well, it's not the most unique name, in the food industry, Estiator posed questions to George Leles, whose views appear next: but we understand the symbolic purpose 22 Estiator - March 2016 INTERVIEW WITH ARABICA COFFEE ROASTERS ■ GEORGE LELES Dimitri Leles checking the degree of roast on a new batch. of highlighting something you and your huge emphasis right now in the market is steeped in room temperature water for brother created. Tell us something that on the origin of the product. It is not un- 12 hours and then filtered and refriger- we don’t know about coffee. common to walk into a cafe in Portland ated. By not using extremely hot water in Coffee trees located in higher altitudes or Seattle and see a picture of the farm the process, a certain chemical reaction is generally require more time for the beans where the coffee is harvested along with omitted which leads to a smoother, less to mature because of the cooler climate. information on the farmer himself. acidic taste in the coffee. The more time the beans need to mature, Because the West Coast is significant- the more complex the makeup of the bean ly more advanced than the East, coffee Is it better than the traditional iced is and the more flavor that bean will pro- trends originate there and make their coffee? duce, that's why coffee aficionados are al- way here. If the past is any indication of I really enjoy traditional iced coffee. ways making a big deal about the altitude the future, restaurants will soon carry I think it's great, especially in the morn- level of the coffee trees and the region of a wider array of roasts as well as coffee ing. Cold-brew coffee, however, is more the coffee. from several different continents. It won’t potent when brewed properly and more be uncommon for two patrons to finish filling, so I tend to enjoy it in the after- Now, there’s obviously a lot of market eating at a restaurant and one to order an noon or even with a meal sometimes. pressures, changing consumer tastes, American roast and one to order a French Whatever you may feel about it, there is and the ascendance of big-box compa- or Italian. no denying its popularity, as it is rapidly nies, like Starbucks, that are impacting expanding. We actually have cold brew the coffee industry. Where you think the Cold-brew coffee seems to be some- on tap in our showroom. Employees and future of the coffee industry is heading? thing of a craze now, I see it everywhere I customers always get a kick out of using Overall, the quality of coffee being im- go. How is it different from conventional the tap and pouring themselves a drink. ported into the United States is improv- iced coffee and why is it so popular? Currently we are trying to mass-produce ing—drastically, I would say. There is a Cold-brew coffee is ground coffee that our cold-brew blend for restaurants and Estiator - March 2016 23 delis. It's something that my brother and ket segment? about. I wanted our business to produce I see a lot of growth in and we want to We carry a diverse array of organic and consistently great coffee, inform custom- make sure we're adequately prepared. We single-origin coffees and encourage all of ers about new market trends, and be as plan to roll out a cold-brew program in our customers promote the fact that they proactive as possible on the service end, the spring. use locally roasted coffee. Having said and by doing that we would allow people that, I urge customers to weigh the ben- the time and energy to concentrate on What are you most proud of as a busi- efits and costs of using organic and sin- growing their businesses. ness owner? gle-origin coffees which may not be what I feel that even though we’ve been in their customers actually desire and could Service is big in this business—the pro- business for over a quarter of a century reduce profits on their end. Each business duct could only take you so far, but ulti- and most of my competitors have been has its own identity and it’s important to mately, customer service is a real differ- around for over a hundred years, we’re pick a coffee that fits that identity. ence-maker. Coffee and espresso machines on display in Arabica Coffee showroom. giving a lot of these much larger and es- You spend a lot of time in restaurants. Service is a really big thing for us. When tablished companies a run for their mon- How has that helped you shape your ap- machines break down or don't work prop- ey and carving out a really great niche for proach towards servicing them? erly, people lose money, so we make sure ourselves. Over the last three years there Growing up I was really fortunate to to get out there right away. It’s a pretty has been a tremendous amount of consol- have a lot of friends in the industry with awesome responsibility; people are es- idation in the industry, but I feel our focus some pretty prestigious establishments, sentially trusting you with their income. on quality coffee, training, and marketing and it just really helped me to better un- We owe it to them to get out there fast has really pushed the field to also become derstand what they were going through. and fix the issue the first time. We train better and that makes us really proud. I would always hear about their issues, our technicians when they are in the field whether it was with the help, or vendors to look for problems before they arise, Over the last few years the importance shorting them items they had ordered, so that really helps us and the customer of organic and local food has increased or people not showing up. I knew that avoid certain calls. tremendously. What are you doing to ca- I wanted my business to be one of the Where do you see Arabica Coffee Ro- ter and further develop that pivotal mar- things that they didn't have to worry asters in three years? 24 Estiator - March 2016 Photos from top to bottom: George Leles cupping coffees | Service manager Takis Hasalevris repairing a machine in the service dept | Espresso being ground for a beverage in the Arabica showroom. We have a near-term and long-term business vision, which we’re making headway on. We would like in three years to start or invest in a retail location, which I believe would not only complement our wholesale business but allow us the op- portunity to educate customers—restau- rant owners, hospitality executives and their staff—directly about the details of coffee, including how to make the best coffee beverages. Right now we have someone on staff that worked as a barista for the better part of a decade, who goes out on-site to train customers about the product, but it's not the same as having a retail location.