User:Kentmcd/Sandbox/The Funky Brewster

The Funky Brewster is a coffee catering company based in Denver, Colorado. The company specializes in offering espresso beverages such as lattes and cappuccino.

The company is part of a growing new trend in the United States to offer mobile coffee carts and espresso catering. This trend is present in the United Kingdom as well, having even been featured on an episode of The Apprentice.

History
In 2007, Nicki McDonald, a former long-time Store Manager at Starbucks Corporation, decided to take her decade of coffee industry experience and launch into the new territory of catering.

In 2008, The Funky Brewster joined the Parker Chamber of Commerce and began catering at large public events, such as the Parker Mayor’s Annual Tree Lighting ceremony and the annual Parker Country Festival (which has been renamed Parker Days). Nicki McDonald of The Funky Brewster was interviewed by Fox News during the Parker Country Festival which was held June 13–15, 2008.

In 2009, The Funky Brewster expanded to an additional full-sized coffee cart in order to service multiple simultaneous events. Despite the economic downturn at the time, December 2009 was The Funky Brewster's busiest month on record due to catering at company holiday parties as well as private events.

That month also marked The Funky Brewster's first "mountaintop" coffee service (actually just below treeline), serving athletes at The Winter Dew Tour on behalf of Nike. The event, held in Breckenridge, Colorado from December 18–20, was an exciting time for the sports of skiing and snowboarding, leading up to the 2010 Winter Olympics. Setting up a mobile coffee bar at 11,000 feet above sea level turns out to be a rather complicated affair, involving shuttling equipment up the mountainside via snowmobile.

In 2010, Nicki McDonald was selected and certified as a Judge for the Specialty Coffee Association of America's Mountain Regional Barista Competition. The competition was held in Fort Collins, CO on February 11–14, 2010.

Geography
The Funky Brewster is currently present in 1 country.

Corporate social responsibility
Corporate social responsibility is important to The Funky Brewster, which it embraces through its "Funky Green" program. Initiatives include using locally-produced, hormone-free milk, composting spent coffee grounds, collecting used glass and plastics after events.

Organic
The Funky Brewster strives to source organic ingredients, including its coffee beans.

Fair Trade
The Funky Brewster is in support of the fair trade movement, which aims to bring fairness to the economics of coffee. The Funky Brewster's coffee beans are locally roasted, 100% organic, and purchased through the Fair Trade agreement.

Suppliers

 * http://www.pabloscoffee.com/
 * http://ecoproducts.com/
 * http://us.monin.com/

Industry Publications

 * http://www.baristamagazine.com/
 * http://www.freshcup.com/

Industry Associations

 * http://www.scaa.org/
 * http://www.ncausa.org/

Regional Competition

 * Espresso Affair
 * Espresso Gourmet