Craft Coffee. Craft Experience.

Tradecraft Outfitters
Written by Jessica Ferlaino

Coffee, which only few know is a fruit, was first discovered in Ethiopia around 800AD, though it wasn’t until the mid-1600s when it made its way to the United States where today, over 80 percent of adults drink it in its brewed form, making the country the world’s largest consumer of the beverage.
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Coffee is one of the most traded commodities on Earth, and Tradecraft Outfitters has found a way to elevate the overall café experience by bringing carefully selected products and an astute attention to detail to the market. The company has nailed down the who, what, where, when, why and how of craft coffee and specialty tea products to create successful cafés and satisfied patrons.

Unlike distributors who simply bring a product to market, Tradecraft Outfitters takes coffee and tea beverages to another level through the craft experience. The company supplies complete café solutions by creating a comprehensive program to ensure the right products and the right equipment are in the right place at the right time to optimize the overall customer experience.

From the what – the products, equipment and even supplies – to the how – the consultation and training it provides – Tradecraft Outfitters ensures the necessary products, processes and knowledge are present to offer customers a completely immersive experience where flavor is the star. This is why it does what it does.

Regarding the who, when and where, Tradecraft Outfitters serves coffee and tea enthusiasts in key markets across the United States, bringing them the best roasters and the best brewing methods in boutique café concepts in restaurant, hospitality, office, universities, specialty grocer and café settings.

Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, Tradecraft Outfitters brings local favors from local roasters to carefully tailored café settings around the country. Founded out of a passion for healthy food and lifestyles, the company has grown its national footprint to include markets in San Francisco, Seattle, New York, Richmond, Nashville, Houston, and Phoenix where, much like the craft beer craze that has popped up in key cities, a coffee culture has been embraced.

To support its partners nationwide, Tradecraft Outfitters has built a presence on both the east and west coasts, with strategically located distribution centers in cities like Phoenix, Dallas and Nashville to support all its customers. The company is excited to expand its operational footprint into Cleveland, Ohio to better serve neighboring markets in that region.

Tradecraft Outfitters got its start with Metropolis Coffee Company, a micro-roaster out of Chicago that shared Tradecraft’s entrepreneurial spirit and commitment for quality, and from there it continued to provide the logistics, resources and support to bring local craft flavors to new markets. As it grew, it added roasters to its portfolio, building relationships with new partners along the way that share its values and operational principles. Today, it has roaster partners in seventeen cities in the United States and partners with over thirty specialty coffee and tea companies nationwide. Partners are vetted on the basis of sustainability, integrity and respect and Tradecraft Outfitters can thus ensure that customers around the country have access to the very best: the standard to which all products in its repertoire are held.

The company carries a range of carefully selected varieties of hot and cold coffee and tea products, cold brew beverages, kombucha, juice, sparkling botanicals, craft sodas and matcha products, as well as craft snacks. Its equipment ranges from grinders, to water filtration, to various brew methods like pour over systems, in addition to kegged nitrous products and draft systems to offer cold beverages on tap.

Tradecraft Outfitters also carries a variety of supplies such as milk, sugar, alternative sweeteners and whiteners such as almond milk, syrups, sauces, bar tools, and things like cups, sleeves and lids, helping its clients serve their customers fully and completely. Tradecraft Outfitters not only provides the products and equipment; it builds customized programs that support its partners’ business growth. It partners in the design and launch of a unique café atmosphere, offers free training, equipment and maintenance programs, and most importantly, provides a platform upon which exquisite quality can be delivered with every cup served.

Further to the products, the equipment and the support, one of the most important components of a Tradecraft Outfitters-designed café atmosphere is the intimate knowledge of the products, processes and brewing methods that will optimize the customer experience.

Service technicians at Tradecraft Outfitters are certified by the Specialty Coffee Association of American (SCAA) and bring the foremost level of knowledge and care to customers when they need it the most, twenty-four hours a day and seven days a week, to ensure that patrons enjoy the best possible cup of coffee, every time. Coffee fuels Americans and service technicians mitigate any stoppages to that supply.

The Tradecraft team also offers extensive training with classes specifically focused on the fundamentals of milk, espresso, tea and brewing, barista training, milk science and latte art, as well as the topic of seed to cup. These efforts are validated when customers take the first sip of their beverage and experience the hours of care and attention to detail that went into their cup. At that moment, immersed in the flavor and the space, the customer is transported and an experience has been made. There is a sense of peace, satisfaction, comfort and enjoyment that could only be achieved by a café that has taken the time and care to choose the right products, optimally extracting flavors to offer the truest, richest and purest experience.

Founded from a passion for good, quality, healthy products, Tradecraft Outfitters has remained true to that promise, evolving its mission to include healthy, positive spaces that contribute to overall wellbeing and elevating the experience that goes along with enjoying the greatest products prepared by experts in a carefully designed setting.

Through its carefully designed programs, Tradecraft Outfitters is bringing craft coffee, tea and the overall craft experience to the forefront, giving exceptional quality products a chance to shine thanks to the attention to detail in the preparation and presentation of the product: crafted quality from start to finish.

As a result of its success, serving as craft coffee and tea ambassadors in markets around the United States, Tradecraft Outfitters is growing its market presence as well as the resources required to support new markets. Its goal is to continue delivering outstanding craft coffee and specialty tea solutions to beverage connoisseurs around the country who truly appreciate the value it delivers through its craft products and craft experiences.

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