Today we’d like to introduce you to Hayden Ort-Ulm.
Hayden, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I started becoming interested in the coffee business when I saw my first roasting operation while living in Seattle WA. I was taken by the mechanics of the roasting machine and the processing of the raw material. I became interested in how so many flavors could come out of one product, the coffee bean, and how many different subsets of people would flock to different coffee shops. There were different groups of people for different vibes of the coffee shop.
I knew that I wanted to start my own business, and I knew that my hometown of Cumberland would be the best spot because, while there was little going on here at the time, there was a big calling for quality products.
I started roasting coffee at my parent’s house and selling my product at local stores. It snowballed into getting set up and doing the groundwork to run a business, all the paperwork and filings and permits, and all of that. The whole time, It was becoming popular locally and I was kind of secretly setting up a coffee shop of my own in the retail space under an apartment I had purchased and moved into.
While all this was happening I was learning more and more about where my product was coming from. I made relationships with my main coffee broker, Royal Coffee, to ensure that the vast majority of beans I source come from ethical and environmentally conscious sources.
Basecamp Coffee Company has since, in about 5 years, grown into a wholesaler with many different local and regional accounts comprised of independent groceries, hotels, retail stores, and hospitals. We have most recently opened a second location inside of a building on Downtown Cumberland’s redevelopment project which sets to turn a pedestrian mall into one-way traffic with the ability to close the street down for events.
We are becoming a stronghold in our community and in a short time.
Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I want to say it has been a fairly smooth road. Other than initially getting set up, not knowing where to turn until someone said “You can’t sell that without doing this first” and that “this” could sometimes cost a lot of money… construction and permitting and all that. But that all kind of just became a decision whether to keep going or not.
The other setback has been equipment failure. This is a specialty industry and has specialty equipment that can only be serviced in larger cities. Sometimes I have to go to Pittsburgh or Baltimore to buy something or have things worked on. Most of the time it is me learning how to do the repairs.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
We specialize in fresh and locally roasted coffee. I roast 2 times a week, so a customer would be hard-pressed to find something that is not very fresh.
We are known for quality, consistency, and customer service and we are known for our very friendly staff at our shops. What sets us apart is our knowledge of our product and the care we take to ensure the quality of what we serve.
I am most proud of how well-supported our brand is. I think that it goes beyond just coffee. I think that folks around my area can see it as a company that was started here and is growing. It’s a brand that they can get behind and be proud of and that makes me proud.
Readers should know that Basecamp Coffee offers freshly roasted coffee that is ethically and sustainably sourced. They can find it at many local and regional locations in Western Maryland, and globally at our website www.basecampcoffees.com.
Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
I like that this city is experiencing a resurgence. It’s been high time and I have seen the folks putting in the work to get to this point. I like that there is a newfound pride in being from here.
Pricing:
- $15 a bag retail
Contact Info:
- Website: www.basecampcoffees.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/basecampcoffeemd/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/coffeebasecamp
