Courtesy of Blueprint Coffee
A decade after Blueprint Coffee first opened its doors to its Delmar coffee bar and roastery, the company is known not only for its quality coffee but also for being an integral part of the St. Louis community.
Team Effort
Courtesy of Blueprint Coffee
Nora Brady, Kevin Reddy, Mike Marquard, and Mazi Razani
Nora Brady, one of the six original partners, credits Blueprint’s success to its owners. From the beginning, it “just felt really organic. Everything just kept aligning,” she says. The original six partners—Mike Marquard, Kevin Reddy, Mazi Razani, Andrew Timko, Brian Levine, and Brady—are still working together, though Levine and Timko are silent partners.
And the camaraderie still exists as the team shares similar values and brings various areas of expertise: Razani does the roasting; Reddy is director of retail; Marquard handles the technical side of maintenance as director of the roastery; and Brady focuses on sales, community engagement, and human resources.
Commitment to Community
Over the past three years, Brady has focused much of her efforts on retention and ensuring that employees have a full benefit package. “I think that making Blueprint a sustainable place to work, for me, has been the most fulfilling part,” she says. “It’s so much more than just specialty coffee. It’s a place for people to really connect and serve the community.”
It's this commitment to the community that is behind their new giveback program, which donates $1 from every pound of its Tekton blend, their house coffee, to a grassroots organization in the St. Louis community. Each quarter, they will partner with a new organization. Currently, they are working with ‘T,’ a holistic harm reduction program that provides people with the tools to heal from trauma. “We’re using coffee as a way to engage with the community in a different way,” explains Brady.
Blueprint has also become a leader in coffee education. They offer training courses and classes that provide a general overview on what specialty coffee is, the different tasting profiles of coffee, and understanding countries of origin.
A Blueprint for Growth
Courtesy of Blueprint Coffee
There has been a lot of change over the years, including the addition of the Watson Coffee Bar located in a former brake shop, and more recently, High Low Coffee Bar in the Grand Arts District. “I think we’ve done a good job of not growing too fast,” says Brady. “We get opportunities all the time, but we’ve been really cautious of making sure that we can make this sustainable and uphold quality.”
Looking ahead, the crew at Blueprint is eagerly awaiting the completion of its new 11,000-square-foot addition in the Tiffany-Botanical Heights Neighborhood, which is expected in spring 2024. The new space will serve as the new roastery, company headquarters, training center, and quality lab.
“To be completely honest, I feel like this is the most anxiety-inducing part of the entire 10 years. It’s exciting, but it’s a significant upgrade. Consolidating the entire business into this facility is going to be an absolute game changer,” says Brady. “The possibilities are endless.”
Blueprint whole bean coffee is available at June's Breakfast and Patio, Straub's, Whole Foods, and United Provisions.
