With ArtPrize in full-swing, we’re feeling pretty artsy. The main theme of ArtPrize Nine is having the courage to make your mark, whether that be at work or in your everyday life. We decided to look within our company to see what kind of art is being made by our employees every day! At Ferris, many of our team members are artists whether they know it or not. Pouring lattes, making gift baskets, roasting, shipping/receiving—each position is its own unique form of art. It takes courage for these people to do what they do each day and it keeps Ferris functioning. A lot of our employees are artists outside of work as well, with skills ranging from photography to music. We decided to highlight a few of them in this short series. First up, Alicia Miracle, our Retail Manager. 

So... continue reading →

Coffee Catering + Ferris Coffee Truck Q&A with Hope Berghuis, Coffee Events Coordinator

You may have seen the Ferris coffee truck parked around town or a Ferris brew bar at a local event serving up coffee drinks to the community. Now that summer is in full swing, opportunities for the coffee truck and brew bar have been popping up! The Ferris Coffee truck is our coffee on wheels — our version of a food truck. The Brew Bar is a pop-up coffee counter where our team brews pour overs and serves coffee for different events. We sat down with Hope Berghuis, our Coffee Events Coordinator, to get the scoop on past and upcoming events as well as opportunities through catering. 

What kind of events can the coffee truck/brew bar cater to?Everything from weddings to teacher appreciation events to new business launches in... continue reading →

Responsibility in coffee sourcing is so much more than an industry trend. It’s something we owe to our customers, our producers, and to ourselves. We all deserve to know that the coffee we drink has been well cared for in every step of the process.

Our goal with any origin trip is to deepen our relationships with our producers. As we get to know our coffee farms, the workers, and the people behind the coffee we purchase, we are able to see just how many hands go into making our coffee, well before it hits our cups.

It’s always an honor and a privilege to work with our producers. Our trip to Costa Rica was a great opportunity to search for new coffees to bring to Ferris. This trip also came with the added benefit of getting to... continue reading →

Collaboration and education are a must for any industry built around social interaction; the coffee business is no different. Any effort to grow our 90+ year-old company would be fruitless if we did not do it with the goal of sharing our knowledge and passion with others.

Ferris’ purchase of the Midwest Barista School in 2014 was the perfect opportunity to do so, but much work had to be done first. We scrapped the curriculum, the name, and the location. What remained were the cornerstones of success: people and passion.

Relocated in Grand Rapids, rebranded as The Foundry, and updated to reflect current industry trends and best practices, our education center was ready to go. All that we lacked was the right person to run it. Luckily, AJ Willett was just one job post on Sprudge away.

AJ is a... continue reading →

Please join us in congratulating Sam Mirto for successfully completing his Q-grader certification exams! Sam has spent the last year or so developing an extensive knowledge base and skill set that helped him achieve this honor. The grueling 6-day, 21 test examination process evaluates everything from basic knowledge to green coffee grading, sensory triangulation, and detecting trace amounts of organic acids in a diluted sample based solely on taste perception. For more details, check out http://www.coffeeinstitute.org/our-work/q-coffee-system/

So what does this mean for you, our customer? The Q-grader certification allows Sam to pinpoint desirable characteristics when sourcing coffees and create roast profiles to highlight the best features of our offerings; meaning even better tasting coffee for you.

Keep an eye on this space and our social channels to see what new offerings we will have this year!