Husband-wife owners Jon and Andrea Allen have rapidly taken the coffee world by storm with their combination of art and science.
competition is the most difficult and it’s very impossible to win twice.” She’ll just rest on her laurels and continue to make strong, flavorful espresso.Lest the myth perpetuate that specialty coffee does not come from Arkansas, Onyx Coffee Lab is blowing that particular urban legend out of the water while creating a few of their own. championships next year? “I’m done,” she exclaimed. Looking into the future, Allen would love to expand into two more towns, Springdale and Johnson, Arkansas.Ĭan we expect Allen to compete in the U.S. What will it take for Onyx Coffee Lab to reopen its retail sites? Allen replied, “We are planning to reopen when it’s safe, not when the state says it is. We don’t want to put any of our customers at risk.”Īllen said her clientele is very eclectic and encompasses students from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Wal-Mart employees since one café is situated a mile from its headquarters in Bentonville, and plenty of retirees. Its smallest location accommodates 50 customers and 150 at the largest. It also runs a barista training center, where Allen trains many staff of her 600 wholesale accounts to become skilled baristas. Mastering espresso entails three, three-hour in-person classes, and laymen are also taught an abbreviated three-hour course in espresso-making. “It’s helped us not to have to close our business,” Allen said succinctly.īesides its retail shop and ecommerce sales, it sells to Whole Foods and selected restaurants nationwide, and sells coffee beans to 30 countries internationally. Since its roasting business is up, she’s transferred staff into that division.
Because of that spike and its steady pick-up and delivery sales, Onyx has kept 60 of its 75 full-time staff employed. Three of the four outlets remain open, with limited walk-up and curbside sales. Hence, ecommerce sales now make up 65% of sales and retail 35%.
Having been named best barista in the U.S., as well as the fact that more people are staying home and ordering coffee, ecommerce sales spiked 25%. Allen serves as the head of operations, and Jon oversees creativity and quality control.īefore the pandemic struck, revenue at Onyx Coffee Lab was split down the middle: about 50% ecommerce sales for coffee beans and 50% from the retail locations. It’s helped put Onyx on the map,” she said.Īllen has honed her craft, co-running Onyx Coffee Labs with her husband Jon Allen. Due to the pandemic, it has been postponed until November (she’s not sure if she’ll be participating).īesides her own competitive instincts, Allen was hoping to jump-start her family-run coffee business, and so far, it has done that. “The competition is a huge marketing arm for us. It’s watched by high-end niche coffee professionals and shows us to the exact right audience to demonstrate our quality. As winner, she would have been traveling to Melbourne, Australia in early May to participate in the world Barista championship.
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