We are extremely excited to announce that we are part of the new Kelly Center for Music, Arts and Community in Havertown PA. New Avenue Foundation will be managing the New Avenue Cafe and juice bar inside the center. You can learn more about Kelly Music For Life at http://kellymusicforlife.org/ and the center at https://kellycenter.org. The music center opened July 2019. Our coffee will be used there and we will be employing people with disabilities to help us run the cafe.
We are currently looking for employees. Please visit https://ourcommunitycup.coffee and download the job descriptions.
New Avenue Café Mission Statement
New Avenue Foundation’s mission is to create more meaningful lives for people with disabilities through innovative social and employment initiatives.
The café’s mission is to provide quality, locally sourced products while employing individuals from the local disability community. We will be a social enterprise supporting people with special needs, providing opportunities for people of all abilities to have meaningful work in our community. At the same time, the community will benefit from knowing us and seeing our value.
Our Goals
In an effort to create a social enterprise that provides challenging, yet therapeutic, work opportunities to promote skill building, it is also New Avenue Foundation’s intention to establish vocational pride, and develop professional identity among differently abled persons. Our café aims to produce and primarily deliver fresh roasted coffee and fresh, locally produced baked goods to customers. Our café aims to extend the goals of New Avenue Foundation by providing meaningful life skills opportunity. Our café benefits the community by demonstrating the richness and diversity that people with disabilities offer.
Our coffee is fair trade and directly sourced from farmers around the world. Our baked goods are as organic & local as we can source.
When you make a purchase in our café, you are investing in our local community as well as fueling a very intentional mission to do good in the world.
In further detail, our objectives are:
To further involve the local disability community by operating in an open fashion
To serve baked foods that customers crave
To offer items from the highest-quality, locally sourced products
To create an independent, profitable enterprise
To be environmentally responsible in all of our operations
As described above, our café aims to differentiate itself from the typical café by offering local and nutritious baked goods. The products will be catered to its customers. Gluten-free and vegan products will be available.
We add one more community-related program to our excellent list of goals:
Business employing people with disabilities: friendship, paycheck, inclusion.
Organization Structure
Our café will be owned by New Avenue Foundation and operated by James Wurster. The manager will oversee one or two counter employees.
Here is a proposed floor plan.
Products
The following product line has been developed for the cafe:
Beverages:
- Coffee – direct traded – brewed, packaged, whole bean. In addition to Our Community Cup Coffee, we will have the following since they are local roasters, for example:
a. HouseCup
b. Burlap & Bean
c. Horn & Hardart - Tea – brewed and packaged, local herbal, bio-dynamic when possible
- Healthy cold drinks including fruit juices, soda and water
Food:
- Pre-packaged sandwiches – wraps, for example from:
a. McCormick’s Deli, Drexel Hill, PA - Cookies, cupcakes, scones, brownies – different varieties from local bakeries; for example:
a. Batter & Crumbs
b. Kia’s Cakes & Café
c. Media Bean Company - Bavarian pretzels – from Media Bean Company
Strategy
Our café’s unique social cause will attract an initial onset of customers who are intrigued by the concept and the opportunity to contribute. This will guarantee interest in the new business, and will provide an effective channel for positive word of mouth marketing crucial to the success of all businesses.
Our café’s sustained competitive advantage, furthermore, lies in the quality of its products. The café’s goods will be crafted by local businesses. Such product quality and value will ensure that those customers who initially come for the social cause repeatedly return. Key to maintaining this continued success will be ensuring that customers recognize the implicit quality of the products and continue to seek it out in the future.
Regulatory Compliance or Health Department Standards
We will comply with all township regulations.
Our responsibility
- Manage the café with one manager on site at all times plus one or two staff.
- Purchase all items used in the café and music center and ensure all items stay in stock
a. Compostable and biodegradable cups, lids, napkins and utensils
b. Bags and food wrappers
c. Condiment bar supplies
i. Stirrers
ii. Napkins
iii. Coffee creamers
iv. Sugar
v. Sugar- substitute - Purchase all food items used in the café and music center and ensure all items stay in stock
a. Baked goods
b. Pre-wrapped sandwiches
c. Coffee
d. Tea
e. Fruit
f. Beverages
i. Juice
ii. Coconut water
iii. Water - Point of sale system (Square) – Do we both purchase?
- Create a menu that will be seasonal and flexible. Monitor and revise as needed.
a. Coffee, hot and iced (2 sizes)
b. Tea, hot and iced (one size)
c. Homemade lemonade (one size)
d. Smoothies, fruit and vegetable
e. Baked goods (vegan, gluten-free and regular where possible)
i. Scones
ii. Coffee cake
iii. Cupcakes
iv. Brownies
v. Bavarian pretzels
f. Packaged cold drinks – We should limit this to juices and water. But potentially get locally produced sodas. Everything should be as organic and healthy as possible.
Hours
To maximize revenue, the café will be open during the regular hours of KMC operation. In addition, the café should be open from 7:00 AM to 6:00 PM every day, including Saturday and Sunday. The operation of KMC may have different hours, but it is important to build community awareness for what KMC is all about. Plus being a regular coffee shop will increase revenue by giving the community an alternative to Wawa or other places where coffee can be purchased.
Staffing
We will staff the operation with a manager on site at all times. There will be one or two employees helping serve the customers. Jim Wurster with be the primary manager. Mr. XXX and Ms. YYY will also fill the manager role. Staff will be hired from primarily from the local Havertown community. We will work with the Haverford School district transition program as a source of employees/volunteers to work at the café. We will reach out to the community members who are disabled or who have a disabled member of their family who is looking for employment.
Some possible food presentations and display (photos from the Media Bean Company):
Some design sketches:
Some possible food presentations and display (photos from Breaking Grounds):
Some possible food items from the Media Bean Company, Kia’s Cakes, and atter & Crumbs:
