FFA Coffee Roasters Turn A Profit

FFA Coffee Roasters Turn A Profit FFA students at Aiken High School in Cincinnati, Ohio, manage a profitable coffee cart that keeps the entire school caffeinated. “Awaken at Aiken” was founded by ESL teacher Aaron Parker. “We have students from 50 countries,” he says. “They speak over 40 languages.” Many Aiken students are new to the U.S. school system. They’ve often fled poverty, war, genocide and other challenges in their home countries, and require intensive English-language support. Parker received a grant for use with students with limited English skills and used it as seed money for coffee roasting equipment. “Coffee is international, and so are our students,” he says. “We wanted to connect students to the coffee grown specifically in their homes.” That was eight years ago. Now, the Awaken at Aiken coffee cart travels the halls every school morning and appears for special school events. FFA students arrive early to grind and brew the coffee, preparing it for sale before the first class. “This qualifies as a supervised agriculture experience for students in the FFA program,” Parker says. “It’s not an excuse to miss their core classes.” Roasting happens on Saturdays at a community partner location. “We’ve never had a problem getting volunteers.” Each cup is sold for $2, and they typically go through two gallons over the school day. “We stop brewing in the afternoon not to waste any product,” Parker says. The coffee varieties vary by day. Students can choose to roast and brew beans that originated in their homeland. “We’re buying some of the best coffee in the world. Lots of it is fair wage and fair trade. It’s about the culture as much as the coffee. It’s a celebration, really. So, we keep things pure and simple—just milk, sugar and coffee. It’s about showing the essence of the coffee itself.” Other than the initial seed money, Awaken at Aiken is a self-sustaining business. All profits are reinvested in cups, beans and other supplies, and they’ve even raised $10,000 in donations for student-chosen organizations, both local and international. Parker has found that the coffee business gives students both hard and soft skills. “They also learn about GAP—Good Agricultural Practices. The product must be safe, so students learn how to handle food responsibly.” When asked about the biggest challenges of running Awaken at Aiken, Parker invited three students (Pawan Rai, Hemant Pradhan and Kumba Aochi) to comment.  “People throwing coffee on the ground is a problem,” Rai said. “We’re responsible for the mess.” “It’s hard finding the right people to trust with the money,” Pradhan added. He explained there could be hundreds in the till at a time, and many students are still mastering how to make a change. “We make it a best practice not to give coffee away to students, staff and even the principal because we’re financially responsible for being a self-sustaining business,” Parker says. “We’ve learned it’s important to set hard boundaries. No IOUs, especially from teachers.” Still, the students had far more positive things to say about the program. They listed many perks, including opportunities to raise money for donations and scholarships, the chance to share culture through the origin of different coffee beans, making people happy in the morning, and the thrill of being part of a self-sustaining business. “The students get it,” Parker says. “We serve positivity and make people happy.” He believes the key to success has been focusing on the strengths and interests of students. “Coffee is second only to oil in the global commodity market; it’s very unifying, and it represents the cultures of so many of our students,” he says. “Because we found something student-centered and important to students, they’re invested in the success.” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Aaron Parker (parkeaa@cpsboe.k12.oh.us).

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