Senior Signal Staff Writer
msathe@the-signal.com
Posted: Nov. 21, 2009 8:52 p.m.
There's something brewing in Mitch McMullen's world and this time it's not just coffee.
It's a revolution.
The successful entrepreneur and owner of Newhall Coffee Co. has tossed his hat in the literary ring with the self-published "Coffee Revolution: The adventure of being a small business in today's chain-driven battlefield."
As described in "Coffee Revolution," McMullen had to battle against corporate giants like Starbucks to get his brand on shelves across Southern California retailers, as well as in food service accounts such as Mammoth Mountain Ski Resort.
Now that Newhall Coffee is holding its own against the big boys, he thought it was time to share his vision of how to reignite American businesses.
"It's really a shop local revolution. I'm trying to create a movement led by Newhall Coffee. If consumers grasp it, it can make a big difference. It could pull us out of this recession," McMullen said.
McMullen's own adventure in coffee began in 1992 when he opened up Mitch's Java N Jazz in Newhall, though coffee was not his original game plan.
McMullen, who stands 6' 10," graduated from San Diego State University in 1989 where he played basketball for the Aztecs. When he was cut from the Atlanta Hawks, McMullen left behind his NBA dreams for a professional basketball career in France. During a routine physical in his second year on the courts, McMullen was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, a life-threatening condition that took the lives of basketball stars Hank Gathers and Reggie Lewis.
It was time to come home and consider a new career. McMullen had a degree in communications and his father, who owned the largest product-placement firm in the world, offered him an opportunity to launch operations in Chicago.
"As good as that sounded, after being in France for two years, I really wanted to stay put in Southern California," McMullen said.
While in Europe, McMullen was intrigued with the coffeehouse culture, where locals would meet, enjoy some java, talk about current events and listen to live music.
"I really got into the sit down, social aspect of coffee. I love people," McMullen said. "With my own coffeehouse, I got to be in front of people all day and when they loved the coffee, it made me happy."
Local jazz bands and musicians were offered a chance to play, and soon Java N Jazz became a social hub in the Santa Clarita Valley, despite it's low-traffic location.
In 1995, Starbucks came to town with five locations. McMullen knew it was time to step up his game.
He obtained a business loan and bought a small coffee roaster. He leased a high-visibility location in Valencia's Town Center. With raw beans obtained from coffee growing hotspots such as Hawaii, Sumatra, Ethiopia, Guatemala, and Brazil, McMullen and his small crew would roast the beans in small batches at night, producing blends for several different tastes, including their bestselling bold French Roast and adding flavor to create Hawaiian Hazelnut and French Vanilla.
"The purpose was to offer fresh, locally-roasted coffee, a product that Starbucks and other coffeehouses could not," McMullen said.
The gamble paid off. Both locations of Java N Jazz were doing stellar business. It was time for Newhall Coffee to infiltrate the next bastion of coffee dominance: supermarket shelves.
They did so with persistence and the help of a few retail angels. On Dec. 4, 2000, Newhall Coffee made its debut at the Canyon Country Costco, thanks to Patricia Courtis, a regional buyer for the company.
"She gave us the opportunity of a lifetime," McMullen said.
McMullen and his crew made the most of it, setting up an elaborate end-cap display and fresh-brewed coffee for shoppers to sample. By the end of the day, they sold 158 two-pound bags of Newhall Coffee and 1,234 units by the end of the week.
McMullen sensed another opportunity while vacationing at Mammoth Mountain in 2003. After bumping into the food and beverage manager for the resort at a local bar and being told that he wasn't all that impressed with the large national brand that was being carried, McMullen managed to get Newhall Coffee in as the official coffee within a few weeks of the mountain's opening day.
Newhall Coffee is also, sensibly, the official coffee of the city of Santa Clarita.
A big believer in giving back, McMullen in 2003 created "Patriot Blend," which donates a 10-cup pack with every purchase to the troops fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq.
"I feel good about being a part of that," he said. "We get letters back from troops and, wow, I just want Newhall Coffee to do whatever we can to help and support them."
McMullen's first charity began shortly after Newhall Coffee was born - the Corey McMullen Leukemia Fund, dedicated to his big brother who died of the disease in 1987. His fundraising work has earned McMullen the title of "Man of Los Angeles" twice over two decades.
Family plays a big role with McMullen - a husband and father of four sons - in his personal and professional life.
"There have been plenty of times I have wanted to give up, but every time I would look at my kids and think, what would I say to them? I've come too far and worked too hard," he said.
One low point came in 2009 when Newhall Coffee received a half-million dollar order from Sam's Club, only to have the bank decline a loan that would have purchased the raw coffee beans needed for fulfillment.
A friend stepped in to lend McMullen the money at the eleventh hour and pulled the company from the possible brink. The incident gave McMullen a new perspective.
"Right now, I take things one day at a time, like business sobriety," he said. "I see what's in the mail today, and say OK, now I know what I can buy today."
Despite the recession and the economic challenges McMullen is proud that sales have increased 25 percent over the last year and that the company's Costco footprint has doubled from 10 to 24 stores. All with a bare-bones marketing budget that relies primarily on social networking on sites such as Twitter and Facebook.
"We're the no-name little guy and we're beating Goliath," McMullen said. "I think people are sick of corporate America, they're feeling let down with losing their jobs, outsourcing and the stock market. They're tired of the same old."
In "Coffee Revolution" - which McMullen wrote late at night over the course of a year - he details all the pains and triumphs that have led him to this point.
"I want to give the mom and pops hope that they can do it," he said. "If I do end up beating Goliath, I wouldn't sell us out and ship our jobs overseas, I would keep our quality high. I would always remember the mom and pops."
For more information on "Coffee Revolution" or Newhall Coffee, visit http://www.newhallcoffee.com/.
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