$20K In Coffee Sales For Health Workers In 1 Day

How Andytown Coffee saved their business by tapping into community-driven support for frontline workers.

Andytown Coffee Roasters was like every other coffee shop a month ago. They weren’t sure they’d make payroll, hourly employees had to be furloughed, and the stress on Lauren Crabbe, co-founder of the 5-location chain, was insane.

Today, they’re close to hitting their normal sales numbers.

This dramatic 180-degree turn was thanks to a new community donation program that Lauren and her salaried team dreamed up when they realized they had to do something to keep the business from being destroyed.

And it worked. Really, really well.

The Idea: Donated Coffee Breaks For Hospital Workers

People wanted to help, especially after reading that nurses and doctors were using homemade masks and face shields to protect themselves.

Lauren figured that by creating this new style of donation, she’d give hospital workers a special treat, help customers donate to soemthing they care about, and give the her business some revenue to help stay afloat.

So Andytown launched the Coffee For Healthcare Heros program.

Lauren created a new product collection on her ecommerce store for donated coffee and pastries, then posted about it on social media. Then she went to bed.

When Lauren woke up the next morning, she had generated $5,000 in donated coffee and pastry sales. By the end of the day, there were $20,000 in sales.

Amazing!

Getting Coffee To Hospitals Efficiently

Rather than donating individual cups of coffee, Lauren created a schedule where hospitals could sign up for dellivery “slots”, 2-3 per day.

She’d then take all the coffee and pastries those locations needed, take a few pictures, and send emails to the people who donated those products for that specific drop-off.

This gave customers a real look at the smiles they were giving to nurses, doctors, and hospital staff. And it made them want to donate more.

Results: Business-Saving Revenue

Andytown has re-hired 5 employees, generated over $100,000 in total revenue, and is still killing it.

Their effort has inspired dozens of similar programs all over the country, from NYC to Chicago to Houson.

Is this something you could act on in your local community?

To hear the whole Andytown story, check out Lauren’s interview on the Keys To The Shop podcast.

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