#BCANFFSpotlight | Vent Coffee Roasters
VENT COFFEE ROASTERS
Founders - Andrew Young and Sarah Walker
Established - 2016
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Vent Coffee Roasters is a coffee roastery and cafe specializing in creating expertly brewed and crafted coffee and providing their community with a space to gather, convene, and release. Vent also prides themselves on paying both their workers and growers and ethical wage.
We stopped by their storefront location in Hampden at the Union Collective building.
Last year you added a cafe portion to the businesses - what inspired you to do so and how has this communal aspect helped grow your brand?
SARAH - Opening the cafe has always been the ultimate goal. Having a place for being to come and literally “vent” - hence the name - has always been super important to me. Roasting kind of was more happenstance, which really came about as I pursued my education in specialty coffee.
You pride yourself on ethical sourcing and paying growers fairly - could you talk more about that process and what inspired you to establish this model?
ANDREW - I love the way that a literal vent allows air to flow through space, promotes balance. And that Idea is something that has become apart of our brand and values - in our relationships, our stance on fair wages, sourcing, etc.
You all are housed at The Union Collective building - which was once a factory. Baltimore has a lot of spaces like this that can be repurposed by creatives. How do you see spaces like this playing a role in the future success of creative entrepreneurship in Baltimore?
ANDREW - This is something we are really excited about! This space and others like it are really part of a larger movement of folks who are dedicated to crafting high-quality goods locally. Whether it is craft beer, candles, coffee, beer, etc it is being made right here in Baltimore.
These factory spaces allow for manufacturing to stay in the City. Being at The Union Collective (which is zoned for manufacturing) allows for us to stay in the City but still be apart of a larger community, which is so rare in the manufacturing space.
As a Baltimore-based creative entrepreneur, how do you see participating in the BCAN Founder Fellowship shaping your futures as business owners?
ANDREW - We opened up the cafe a little over a year ago and being apart of the BCAN Founder Fellowship really brought us back to our “why”. It has brought us back to our foundation and really helped us tighten up the nuts and bolts of our business.
SARAH - It has been a huge help is how I interacted with not only my business partner but my staff. It has really helped me to grow in my communication level and style with my business partner and employees.
As far as our future we would love to have a few shops in Baltimore - we love it here and want to continue to grow and build in the city!