After A Grinding Start, Coffee Business Grows

A CONVERSATION WITH BART WILSON

Job: President, Caravali Coffees. Age: 46. Quote: "It's a humbling experience to have your own company."

A master's degree in business administration didn't prepare him.

More than a decade advising other businesspeople didn't get him ready.

Perhaps a sense of humor did.

In Bart Wilson's first month as the owner of a fledgling coffee company, someone drove a forklift in front of the First Avenue plant to pick up a coffee roaster that was being delivered. The sidewalk under the forklift started to sink, and the driver moved it out fast.

"It scared the hell out of us," remembered Wilson, who laughs about it now. "We had a lot of problems in those early days."

The work was unending. "I remember many days I was in the plant, packaging coffee or grinding coffee at 2 or 3 or 4 in the morning," he said. "Nothing prepares you for that."

Nevertheless, Wilson prepared in many ways. He earned a bachelor's degree in philosophy from Pomona College in Claremont, Calif., traveled around Europe, and went on for a master's in business administration from the University of Washington.

In 1973, he joined the accounting firm of Coopers & Lybrand in Seattle, then a decade later, Seattle's Harbor Properties as vice president of finance. In 1987, bent upon being his own boss, he rounded up investors to purchase Caravali Coffees, Starbucks' wholesale division.

Wilson and his team have come a long way since that near mishap with the forklift. Caravali's combined wholesale and retail sales will be nearly $10 million this year, and Wilson predicts more growth.

Caravali outgrew its First Avenue plant two years ago. This summer, it moved into a new 42,000-square-foot office and roasting plant in Kent, subletting out 12,000 additional square feet. Caravali employs 100 people.

Wilson expects Caravali to roast 3 million pounds this year, with the addition of a contract with Alaska Airlines.

Most Caravali coffee is sold to restaurants and retail outlets owned by other companies. But opening its own retail outlets is the company's main goal right now, said Wilson. Since 1992, Caravali has opened six retail stores, with two in Washington, four in California and two under construction there. The company raised $2.6 million in a private stock offering that ended in June, and expects to have 20 stores by mid-1995.

Most of the retail outlets will open inside Macy's stores through an agreement with the department store chain.

Wilson said he doesn't think higher coffee prices, driven by a frost in Brazil, will chase customers away. People who buy gourmet coffee will continue to buy it, he said.

"We're not really in the coffee business any more than Rolex is in the business of selling watches," he said. "We're in the business of making people feel better."

Caravali recently raised its prices by 65 cents a pound, bringing its coffee to between $8 and $10 a pound. The price will rise an additional 65 cents on Oct. 1.

Wilson said Caravali doesn't compete against Starbucks directly. Starbucks expands the market, he said. "Whenever there's a McDonald's, you'll see a Burger King and a Wendy's," he said. "Different people have different tastes."

Wilson attributes Caravali's growth to his staff, people who know the coffee business and will pitch in to grind and package coffee at times in the early morning hours.

If Caravali gets a big order that just can't be filled by people on the floor, he said, "There's a half dozen of us who will take off their ties and go."