Downtown Lansing-based Paramount Coffee is expanding both its retail operations and its Fair Trade coffee sales.
“The coffee industry has changed so much lately,” says Angelo Oricchio with Paramount Coffee. “Perhaps it’s because of Starbucks and other companies, but it gives a new image to coffee.”
As a result, Paramount is expanding into larger retail stores, such as Sam’s Club. Right now Paramount is in 13 of the state’s 26 Sam’s Clubs.
The company is also having good success with the Fair Trade and organic market.
“We’ve probably gown from zero (sales from) Fair Trade and organic over the last eight years or so, to about 10 to 15 percent of our sales,” Oricchio says.
Paramount has helped propel the demand for these products by partnering with certain organizations, such as the Fair Trade movement and Ele’s Place, to send a portion of coffee proceeds to that particular country or organization.
“As you can see, we’ve adapted and developed in quite a few different areas,” Oricchio says.
Paramount Coffee has 75 employee, 45 of which work in Lansing.
Source: Angelo Oricchio, Paramount Coffee
Ivy Hughes, development news editor, can be reached here.
Photographs © Dave Trumpie
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