Summary
On this episode of The Bentonville Beacon, host James Bell sits down with Andrea Allen, US Barista Champion and Runner-Up World Barista Champion. Andrea is Co-Founder of Onyx Coffee Lab, a world-renowned café and roastery dedicated to the art and science of coffee, with a mission focused on the pilgrimage seeking quality, truth, and accountability in coffee. Since its founding in 2012 with the mantra “Never Settle for Good Enough,” Onyx has cultivated an award-winning team of roasters that ship freshly roasted coffee worldwide and has baristas serving unique coffee in four locations across Northwest Arkansas, including two in Bentonville–on the the Bentonville Square and at The Momentary. Throughout the episode, James and Andrea discuss the origin of Onyx Coffee Lab, the science behind sourcing specialty coffee beans and the thrill of competing to be the world’s best barista.

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‍Show Notes
Timestamps in this blog are for the audio-only version of the podcast; video timing differs.
(1:03) Introduction to Andrea
(1:29) Andrea’s Backstory
(7:06) The Intricacies of Specialty Coffee
(12:23) Andrea’s Experience at the World Barista Championship
(16:36) About Onyx Coffee Lab
(21:05) Onyx Coffee Lab’s Vision
(22:41) What’s Next for Onyx
(24:05) About The Road to Milan Docuseries
(29:45) Growing Up in Northwest Arkansas
(31:39) The Evolution of Northwest Arkansas
(33:41) Onyx’s Two Bentonville Locations
(37:44) #BecauseBentonville Story
(42:56) Advice to Business Founders
(44:54) Closing Question
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‍Links‍‍‍‍‍‍
JAMES BELL
BENTONVILLE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT‍
ANDREA ALLEN
ONYX COFFEE LAB
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Quotes
“It’s not just about standards. It’s about cultivating a really excellent product and then showcasing it for what it is.” – Andrea Allen, (17:45)

“For us, we just want to show what we’re doing to our customers who are folks drinking coffee at home or in our coffee shop or wholesale clients buying from us. And we decided to start putting all that information out there so people could learn more about specialty coffee.” – Andrea Allen, (20:28)
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“You feel that warmth when you walk in there. You feel welcome or you feel like you can ask questions or be silent because you’re not super talkative that day. All of that is made possible by our team and their work and hospitality in the space. And I think that sort of thing is special to Bentonville because it’s such a great place to do business.” – Andrea Allen, (38:34)‍

Never Settle for Good Enough (Coffee) with Andrea Allen and Onyx Coffee Lab
On this episode of The Bentonville Beacon, host James Bell sits down with Andrea Allen, US Barista Champion and Runner-Up World Barista Champion. Andrea is Co-Founder of Onyx Coffee Lab, a world-renowned café and roastery dedicated to the art and science of coffee, with a mission focused on the pilgrimage seeking quality, truth, and accountability in coffee. Since its founding in 2012 with the mantra “Never Settle for Good Enough,” Onyx has cultivated an award-winning team of roasters that ship freshly roasted coffee worldwide and has baristas serving unique coffee in four locations across Northwest Arkansas, including two in Bentonville–on the the Bentonville Square and at The Momentary. Throughout the episode, James and Andrea discuss the origin of Onyx Coffee Lab, the science behind sourcing specialty coffee beans and the thrill of competing to be the world’s best barista.

Seeking Quality Coffee
After jumping on the opportunity to purchase multiple coffee shops and concluding it would be a better financial investment to roast their coffee in-house, Andrea and her husband, Jon, started the process of roasting their own coffee beans. However, Andrea and Jon realized they lacked knowledge about the beans they were serving, and they weren’t showcasing the beans’ quality and potential.
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This resulted in Andrea and Jon pivoting to learn more about specialty coffee, which prompted them to rebrand their shops to Onyx Coffee Lab. Their intention with the rebrand was to portray they were doing something different by bringing in exceptional coffee from all over the world, under the core values of quality, transparency, excellence and kindness.

“It’s not just about standards. It’s about cultivating a really excellent product and then showcasing it for what it is.” – Andrea Allen, (17:45)

Encouraging Accountable Consumption
Andrea and Jon’s desire to provide unprecedented coffee led them to the process they call relationship coffee. This means that for seventy percent of the coffee they bring into the United States, they have visited the farm the coffee is grown on and exchanged funds directly with the producer. This buying model allows Andrea and Jon to comprise their own criteria for the quality of their coffee.

In an effort to be transparent with Onyx Coffee Lab consumers, Andrea and Jon also place all the purchase information for their beans on their website. Users can visit Onyx Coffee Lab’s site and view the price that was paid to the producer for the coffee, the commodity price in the market at the time of purchase, the fair trade price, what it cost to import the coffee, and who was paid to bring it into the United States.

“For us, we just want to show what we’re doing to our customers who are folks drinking coffee at home or in our coffee shop or wholesale clients buying from us. And we decided to start putting all that information out there so people could learn more about specialty coffee.” – Andrea Allen, (20:28)
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Get Connected!
‍Thank you for tuning into this episode of The Bentonville Beacon! Join us weekly for more stories and advice from the entrepreneurs, business executives and community leaders who are sparking the rise of Bentonville. If you are interested in discussing whether your business should have a presence in Bentonville or would like to discuss this podcast, please contact James Bell. You may reach James at jbell@greaterbentonville.com or (479) 273-2841.