{"href":"https://api.simplecast.com/oembed?url=https%3A%2F%2Fbusiness-of-whats-next.simplecast.com%2Fepisodes%2Fhoward-lerner-Caq_biMn","width":444,"version":"1.0","type":"rich","title":"Howard Lerner - Planting the seeds of a thriving coffee culture","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_url":"https://image.simplecastcdn.com/images/0d99ab60-4951-4b6e-8828-6d334241d109/f75501cd-415c-4e88-914c-68bebf9203dc/howard-intro.jpg","thumbnail_height":300,"provider_url":"https://simplecast.com","provider_name":"Simplecast","html":"","height":200,"description":"Howard Learner is a pioneer in the third-wave coffee movement and co-founder of Kaldi’s Coffee Roasting. In this episode, he shares his insights on the evolution of the industry, the challenges of learning coffee sourcing and roasting, and the lessons he's learned along the way. Kaldi’s Coffee, was founded in St. Louis in 1994 by Howard Lerner and Suzanne Lengua. They started by buying coffee from a roaster in central Missouri but soon realized they needed to roast their own to keep up with demand. Howard discussed the challenges of learning to roast and the coffee industry in the early days. He also talked about how Kaldi’s helped drive higher quality standards in coffee and trained baristas through competitions. The interview covered Kaldi’s journey of sourcing better coffee beans and developing their skills to match. Finally, he discusses the three levers to balancing a successful coffee shop and how using alternative currencies is a great way to build and maintain your team. "}