Andrea Allen competes in the finals of the 2020 U.S. Barista Championship, where she was named Best ... [+]
Call Andrea Allen, one of the co-owners of Onyx Coffee Lab, persistent or relentless. Both apply. Over the past five years, Allen had made the finals three times, always finishing second, in the United States Barista competition spearheaded by the Specialty Coffee Association.
But on February 24, 2020, Allen, who is 36-years-old, was victorious and was named Best Barista in the country. The final was held in Costa Mesa, California, where she had to beat out 120 qualifiers and 36 in the national competition.
Onyx Coffee Lab consists of four coffee retail stores, located in three Arkansas towns—Fayetteville, two in Bentonville and Rogers, a coffee roasting business and a barista training center,
Allen earned $4,000 as the winner, but the win transcended money. The victory was not only self-satisfying, but has strengthened the Onyx brand’s reputation and boosted sales.
“Once I started to do it, I wanted to win because I’m competitive. I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it,” she explained from her retail store in Rogers, Arkansas.
She participated in her first competition in 2014 and just kept working at it and improving her skills. In fact, it took her six months to prepare for the 2020 competition, and much of that took place after working hours while raising two young daughters.
The judges selected a winner based on three distinct score sheets: sensory, technical and presentation. Allen boils down the criteria to: who makes the best coffee and who knows coffee the best?
In her winning concoction, Allen used two blends of Colombian coffee, Cerro Azul Gehsa and Eugeoides, and won based on her ability to make espresso, espresso and milk, and a signature dish, which consisted of clotted cream, passion fruit puree, maple syrup, egg white, and shaken with ice to chill.
As winner, she would have been traveling to Melbourne, Australia in early May to participate in the world Barista championship. Due to the pandemic, it has been postponed until November (she’s not sure if she’ll be participating).
Besides her own competitive instincts, Allen was hoping to jump-start her family-run coffee business, and so far, it has done that. “The competition is a huge marketing arm for us. It’s watched by high-end niche coffee professionals and shows us to the exact right audience to demonstrate our quality. It’s helped put Onyx on the map,” she said.
Allen has honed her craft, co-running Onyx Coffee Labs with her husband Jon Allen. Allen serves as the head of operations, and Jon oversees creativity and quality control.
Before the pandemic struck, revenue at Onyx Coffee Lab was split down the middle: about 50% ecommerce sales for coffee beans and 50% from the retail locations.
Having been named best barista in the U.S., as well as the fact that more people are staying home and ordering coffee, ecommerce sales spiked 25%. Hence, ecommerce sales now make up 65% of sales and retail 35%.
Three of the four outlets remain open, with limited walk-up and curbside sales. Because of that spike and its steady pick-up and delivery sales, Onyx has kept 60 of its 75 full-time staff employed. Since its roasting business is up, she’s transferred staff into that division.
“It’s helped us not to have to close our business,” Allen said succinctly.
Besides its retail shop and ecommerce sales, it sells to Whole Foods and selected restaurants nationwide, and sells coffee beans to 30 countries internationally.
It also runs a barista training center, where Allen trains many staff of her 600 wholesale accounts to become skilled baristas. Mastering espresso entails three, three-hour in-person classes, and laymen are also taught an abbreviated three-hour course in espresso-making.
What will it take for Onyx Coffee Lab to reopen its retail sites? Allen replied, “We are planning to reopen when it’s safe, not when the state says it is. We don’t want to put any of our customers at risk.”
Allen said her clientele is very eclectic and encompasses students from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Wal-Mart employees since one café is situated a mile from its headquarters in Bentonville, and plenty of retirees. Its smallest location accommodates 50 customers and 150 at the largest.
Looking into the future, Allen would love to expand into two more towns, Springdale and Johnson, Arkansas.
Can we expect Allen to compete in the U.S. championships next year? “I’m done,” she exclaimed. “The U.S. competition is the most difficult and it’s very impossible to win twice.” She’ll just rest on her laurels and continue to make strong, flavorful espresso.
Andrea Allen and her husband Jon Allen run four Onyx Coffee Labs in Arkansas
