Jumpy Monkey Coffee Bags With Beans
When he was passing through Sioux City, Iowa, Schutz Family Foods grocery manager Todd Brockman used to visit the Jumpy Monkey Cafe.
It wasn't for the name, cool as it is; it was for the coffee.
A self-described coffee addict, Brockman jumped when the chance came to bring the brand to Sleepy Eye.
"We knew it was a good coffee, and for a good cause. When it showed up here, we said, ‘We have to get some of that in,'" Brockman said this week.
You don't often hear coffee described as "a good cause," but Jumpy Monkey is different.
When the cafe owners decided to try distributing their coffees nationally, Jumpy Monkey coffee first partnered with Opportunities Unlimited, a Sioux City, Iowa, non-profit corporation providing rehabilitation and therapeutic services for individuals who have sustained a traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, or physical disability.
In southern Minnesota, the brand is distributed by Service Enterprises, Inc. (SEI) in Redwood Falls.
A private, nonprofit corporation with offices in Redwood Falls and Marshall, SEI has provided vocational training, employment, and other services to individuals with developmental disabilities, mental illness, or other barriers to employment for over 35 years.
"It's kind of an odd story," said SEI Executive Director Stephen Kohn this week. "I'm always looking for new opportunities for our clients to try. I was surfing online last June or July, and just stumbled across Jumpy Monkey coffee. It's a win/win for two nonprofits in two states."
A precedent had already been set. SEI already owns and operates the Morgan Brand Popcorn Company, a regional company that's been in existence since 1932.
Kohn contacted Jumpy Monkey, and things were in place by September for SEI to add the coffee to its line.
Currently SEI's facility in Redwood Falls has 15 clients who package the coffee. It comes in five pound bulk bags, and is broken down into smaller bags for distribution.
"Right now we have 36 accounts in 30 different communities," said Marcia Heiling, resource development director.
Heiling began by approaching stores that were already distributing the popcorn, to see if they would be interested in adding Jumpy Monkey Coffee to their shelves.
"I think Todd really helped to get Jumpy Monkey coffee there at Sleepy Eye," Heiling said. "Schutz Family Foods is the first bulk set up Jumpy Monkey has. We didn't really envision anything like this so soon."
In late February, SEI set up in the bulk bins and existing display stand at Schutz Family Foods. The store currently sells 11 of the firm's 26 different flavors of coffee, with other blends sold in bulk.
Oh, and Todd Brockman's favorites flavors: snicker-doodle, and cinnamon sticky bun. Since when did doing a good deed taste so good? www.sleepyeyenews.com
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