Repotting: Michael Moser
From January 2007
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Michael Moser
Think geography and local roasting says one entrepreneur, and there’s still plenty of opportunity in the coffee business.
Believe it or not, most coffee lovers in Oklahoma City have to drive miles to find a Starbucks. In fact, in a city with a population of 1.5 million, only four Starbucks dot the landscape, barren compared to the omnipresence of Starbucks in the West. Furthermore, no one is roasting beans locally, so Sooners with a caffeine jones can’t smell that delectable aroma in their hometown.
Michael Moser is out to change that. The Sacramento entrepreneur noticed Washington, Oregon and California are dripping with Starbuck’s and Peet’s shops, while the coffee retail market in the Midwest is under-saturated.
Moser, who doesn’t even drink coffee, is adding coffee maven to a long list of job descriptions in his repertoire, including handyman, attorney, software and cell phone salesman and residential developer. He opened Pacific Roasting Co. on Fulton Avenue in September, and plans to open as many as 10 stores in the Sacramento Metro Market before taking his coffee chain to the Midwest by the end of next year.
“You don’t have the presence of the big boys out there,” Moser explains.
Micro-Roaster Wave
Moser is tapping into the biggest beverage market in the world today. Coffee sales are at $6 billion in the United States, and analysts expect revenues to hit $25 billion in the next 10 years. Moser is betting the coffee craze will continue to be habit-forming, with the next consumer buzz coming from high school students.
Moser’s idea is to roast coffee beans at every store, making Pacific Roasting Co. the first chain “micro-roaster.”
“I think micro-roasting is the wave of the future, like microbreweries were with beer,” says Moser. He says chains don’t roast beans onsite because it’s difficult to get consistency. His stores will use “profile roasting,” where 90 percent of the roasting is controlled by a computer.
“We have technology on our side, and a tremendous training program,” Moser notes. Pacific Roasting Co., a partnership of Moser and his parents, will also sell non-coffee drinks, like fruit smoothies and Italian sodas. The broadened product offering will capture a growing segment of telecommuters looking for satellite locations for meeting and working, says Moser.
Moser rehabbed an existing building and opened his first Pacific Roasting Co. location at 1314 Hurley Ave. The 1,750-square-foot store is Tuscan-style, with a fireplace and Roman columns, an ambience he will recreate at other stores.
Another shop at Stanford Ranch and Sunset roads in Rocklin will open before the end of the year, and he’s negotiating seven other leases in the area, including outlets in Elk Grove, Roseville and Folsom. Then, it’s time to hit the major highway corridors of the Midwest, following truckers’ routes, choosing target cities and expanding with a mixture of owned and leased properties.
Moser’s not afraid to do battle with the bigger guys, since he believes there’s room in the coffee market for growth and diversity.
“The nice thing about coffee is, you can put in a shop across the street from a Starbucks and still do very well,” Moser says. “People won’t make a U-turn to get coffee. They’ll hit one store on the way to work and another one on the opposite side of the street on the way back.”
Not-So-Handy Man
Coffee roasting is only the latest in a string of businesses brewed up by Moser. In 1984, he was a handyman in the Bay Area but found he didn’t really know how to fix anything. So he started hiring people to do the jobs. Within a year, he had 35 handymen working for him.
Moser branched into house construction, moving to Sacramento in 1988 to go into business with his parents, Tom and Susie Griffin, building homes in the Greenhaven/Pocket area.
Moser also started a cell phone company and ran an accounting software business for Indian casinos during the 1990s. He graduated from Lincoln Law School and passed the bar but has never practiced law.
He and his parents are back in the development business with a proposed 97-home subdivision in Richards Quarters off Interstate 5. Moser plans to open a Pacific Roasting Co. location in the subdivision. Someday, he hopes to expand into another passion, the restaurant business.
Moser believes his constantly changing focus gives a more stable base to his business. “People are always asking me why I don’t put my energies into one area, but I do concentrate in one area,” Moser points out. “I concentrate in business. It’s all about hiring really smart people who know their stuff.”
Opportunity Brewing
By Anne GonzalesThink geography and local roasting says one entrepreneur, and there’s still plenty of opportunity in the coffee business.
Believe it or not, most coffee lovers in Oklahoma City have to drive miles to find a Starbucks. In fact, in a city with a population of 1.5 million, only four Starbucks dot the landscape, barren compared to the omnipresence of Starbucks in the West. Furthermore, no one is roasting beans locally, so Sooners with a caffeine jones can’t smell that delectable aroma in their hometown.
Michael Moser is out to change that. The Sacramento entrepreneur noticed Washington, Oregon and California are dripping with Starbuck’s and Peet’s shops, while the coffee retail market in the Midwest is under-saturated.
Moser, who doesn’t even drink coffee, is adding coffee maven to a long list of job descriptions in his repertoire, including handyman, attorney, software and cell phone salesman and residential developer. He opened Pacific Roasting Co. on Fulton Avenue in September, and plans to open as many as 10 stores in the Sacramento Metro Market before taking his coffee chain to the Midwest by the end of next year.
“You don’t have the presence of the big boys out there,” Moser explains.
Micro-Roaster Wave
Moser is tapping into the biggest beverage market in the world today. Coffee sales are at $6 billion in the United States, and analysts expect revenues to hit $25 billion in the next 10 years. Moser is betting the coffee craze will continue to be habit-forming, with the next consumer buzz coming from high school students.
Moser’s idea is to roast coffee beans at every store, making Pacific Roasting Co. the first chain “micro-roaster.”
“I think micro-roasting is the wave of the future, like microbreweries were with beer,” says Moser. He says chains don’t roast beans onsite because it’s difficult to get consistency. His stores will use “profile roasting,” where 90 percent of the roasting is controlled by a computer.
“We have technology on our side, and a tremendous training program,” Moser notes. Pacific Roasting Co., a partnership of Moser and his parents, will also sell non-coffee drinks, like fruit smoothies and Italian sodas. The broadened product offering will capture a growing segment of telecommuters looking for satellite locations for meeting and working, says Moser.
Moser rehabbed an existing building and opened his first Pacific Roasting Co. location at 1314 Hurley Ave. The 1,750-square-foot store is Tuscan-style, with a fireplace and Roman columns, an ambience he will recreate at other stores.
Another shop at Stanford Ranch and Sunset roads in Rocklin will open before the end of the year, and he’s negotiating seven other leases in the area, including outlets in Elk Grove, Roseville and Folsom. Then, it’s time to hit the major highway corridors of the Midwest, following truckers’ routes, choosing target cities and expanding with a mixture of owned and leased properties.
Moser’s not afraid to do battle with the bigger guys, since he believes there’s room in the coffee market for growth and diversity.
“The nice thing about coffee is, you can put in a shop across the street from a Starbucks and still do very well,” Moser says. “People won’t make a U-turn to get coffee. They’ll hit one store on the way to work and another one on the opposite side of the street on the way back.”
Not-So-Handy Man
Coffee roasting is only the latest in a string of businesses brewed up by Moser. In 1984, he was a handyman in the Bay Area but found he didn’t really know how to fix anything. So he started hiring people to do the jobs. Within a year, he had 35 handymen working for him.
Moser branched into house construction, moving to Sacramento in 1988 to go into business with his parents, Tom and Susie Griffin, building homes in the Greenhaven/Pocket area.
Moser also started a cell phone company and ran an accounting software business for Indian casinos during the 1990s. He graduated from Lincoln Law School and passed the bar but has never practiced law.
He and his parents are back in the development business with a proposed 97-home subdivision in Richards Quarters off Interstate 5. Moser plans to open a Pacific Roasting Co. location in the subdivision. Someday, he hopes to expand into another passion, the restaurant business.
Moser believes his constantly changing focus gives a more stable base to his business. “People are always asking me why I don’t put my energies into one area, but I do concentrate in one area,” Moser points out. “I concentrate in business. It’s all about hiring really smart people who know their stuff.”
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