Happy July! This quarantine period has altered our collective sense of time so drastically, but we are still standing 108 days later! The past few months have been a time for deep reflection for Bean & Bean. We are thinking about what matters most to us as a family, and as a business. What manifested was a rebranding project, in an effort to more fully translate our philosophy and identity into our brand design. Over the past 12 years, we have grown as a company amassing to four locations and countless joyful moments with our loyal customers. We want to reflect this growth with a new look!

As a local roastery, we know how important accountability and traceability are. We want to be transparent with you about who we are just as we are transparent about where our beans come from. During this rebranding process, it was only fitting for us to hear feedback from our Bean & Bean community. We reached out to a small group of loyal customers and friends to help us in this process.

4 THINGS WE LEARNED ABOUT OUR BUSINESS/CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP

1. How can we provide the most comfort during these unstable times?

In an effort to gain a better understanding of how Bean & Bean is perceived by the public, we first asked, what is one word you would use to describe us? The results can be found in the word bubble below, with the larger words being most common.

We could all use an added layer of comfort when the majority of our days are spent treading with uncertainty. Here at Bean & Bean, we are learning more about how to shift gears to safe and virtual interactions with our community. We highly value any feedback you would be willing to share with us on how we can best bring a little more light into your lives. In the meantime, we know how far a "treat-yourself" day can go, so check out our new Las Lajas Summer Sampler of three Costa Rican honey processed coffees for a sweet treat.

2. DELICIOUS, LOCAL, FRESHLY ROASTED

Following that, we provided another brand association question, this time accompanied by a list of descriptors and asked our survey-takers to pick from the following: organic, caffeine, freshly roasted, delicious, local, ethically sourced, and family business. This carefully selected list allowed us to see where we stood as a roastery; how do you see us and how do you see our product? This feedback will help us learn where our weak points are in our preceding branding strategy and where to improve moving forward. While it is fantastic that you think our coffee is delicious, is it possible that you may just think all coffee is delicious? Definitely. As we continue to grow, we will work as hard as possible to offer the most robust and reliable cup in New York!

3. COFFEE EDUCATION IS IN THE WORKS!

We provided several different types of online resources we were looking to provide and asked what piqued the most interest. A portion of the options followed the same vein of "coffee education" ranging from roasting, brewing methods, farmer/origin stories, cupping, and latte art—and we found it has a strong demand! Ask and you shall receive. Our very own coffee blog is in the works. It will hold all of these topics & more. We are working to curate more barista stories, behind the scenes/operational updates, and more updates from our mother-daughter duo directly for you.

4. THE SILENT VOTERS

The most interesting takeaway from our research had to do with whether or not our customers thought we should update our current look. While only 15.8% of respondents said yes, the most important data-piece to look at was that only 55% of survey takers actually opted to answer the question. These "silent voters" are the most telling when it comes to branding research, as it shows an ambivalence that encapsulates our current look—which is something we can learn from! Communication is key in any relationship and that's why this survey showed us we have to improve how we visually communicate our brand as something you should have an opinion about. We want our customers to be as excited about our look as they are about our coffee. It is important to us that we are able to strengthen our brand, cohesive across the interactions you have in our cafes with a visual aesthetique.