Cafe Rica owners reflect on growth, offer launching pad for local makers, artisans

It was kind of a joke at first.

Brothers Tristan and Jackson Bredehoft were chatting about coffee one day in 2016 when they began toying with the idea of importing their father's favorite coffee beans — from Cafe Naranjo, a co-op of small-scale coffee growers in Costa Rica — and selling them online.

"We never really expected that it would go any further than just selling coffee online," Jackson Bredehoft said. "We had no expectations."

The online business, dubbed Cafe Rica, soon included glass bottles of Jackson's own cold brew coffee.

Subsequent stints at the pop-up marketplace BC Cargo and retail food service incubator kiCH(?)n allowed the brothers to grow the business beyond its digital footprint, culminating with the opening of Cafe Rica in a more permanent downtown location — complete with food and cocktails— at 62 E. Michigan Ave. in 2020.

The Bredehofts are now looking to pay it forward, joining a host of community partners in launching the Breaking Bred Bazaar, an open-air marketplace for makers and artisans in the Battle Creek area held on the last Sunday of each month from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. along Michigan Avenue.

"One of the biggest things we always hear and see is that besides eating or drinking there’s nothing to do in downtown Battle Creek," Jackson Bredehoft said. "We’re trying to change that."

'A place we could call home'

Jackson Bredehoft was visiting the Battle Creek Area Chamber of Commerce to congratulate a friend on her new job in 2018 when he ran into Chamber President Kara Beer.

Having previously ordered from Cafe Rica for the office, Beer recommended Bredehoft look into BC Cargo — a new pop-up marketplace being launched by the city's Small Business Development Office.

The program aimed to lower barriers for small businesses by lessening startup costs and offered a way to test the market using 160-square-foot shipping containers. The eventual goal was for participating entrepreneurs to transition to a more permanent location in Battle Creek.

Rather than traveling to trade shows and farmers markets, the Bredehofts opted to give Cafe Rica a try inside one of the seven shipping containers, located in a parking lot at the corner of McCamly Street and Hamblin Avenue.

The experience proved to be invaluable.

"(BC Cargo) gave us a vessel where we could actually be consistent and build our brand," Tristan Bredehoft said. "We just had a place that we could call home for four months and really just put it all out on the line."

The Bredehofts served up cold brew and hot coffee from May through September inside the cargo unit, rarely taking a day off as they worked to slowly build a following of loyal customers.

Perhaps the biggest lesson the brothers took away from their lone season at BC Cargo was the value of consistency.

"We were committed to being open seven days a week," Jackson Bredehoft said.

While some may have felt inclined to close early on a slow business day, the Bredehofts refused to do so, maintaining the same slate of hours so as to not discourage potential customers.

"We had a lot of people tell us that Sundays were a waste of our own time, (that) people in Battle Creek don’t come downtown on Sundays," Jackson Bredehoft continued. "Sunday is consistently one of our busiest days of the week (now). ... The only reason that even happened is because of the consistency, us staying open."

The BC Cargo space also allowed the Bredehofts to build a following around Cafe Rica. A party celebrating the two-year anniversary of the business, held at the open-air marketplace, is particularly memorable.

"That event let us have all of (people) together, to be a Cafe Rica community," Jackson Bredehoft said. "That’s followed us all the way to here (at 62 E. Michigan Ave.)."

Paying it forward

While Cafe Rica now has its own permanent space downtown, the thrill of an open-air market is not lost on the Bredehofts.

Recognizing the tremendous amount of support they've received along the way, the brothers now hope to provide a launching pad for local entrepreneurs themselves.

So far, the Breaking Bred Bazaar has allowed roughly 16 makers — from produce farmers to clothing designers and boutique floral companies — to sell their wares along Michigan Avenue in May and June.

More than 30 makers are set to participate in the next installment of the bazaar July 31. The events, held on the last Sunday of the month, will continue through September.

"Our end goal is to shut the street down, have a giant open-air market down there, really reminiscent of what they have in the Middle East with the bazaars," Jackson Bredehoft said.

"We’re just a big community helping each other grow," Tristan Bredehoft added.

For more information, visit getcaferica.com/.

Contact reporter Greyson Steele at [email protected] or 269-501-5661. Follow him on Twitter: G_SteeleBC

This article originally appeared on Battle Creek Enquirer: Cafe Rica owners provide launching pad for local makers, artisans