From Bird Food to 15–18 Million Pounds of Coffee a Year | Brad Gutwein, Copper Moon Coffee

On today's show I sat down with Brad Gutwein, co-founder and CEO of Copper Moon Coffee in Lafayette, Indiana. Brad remembers starting his career after Purdue by joining his family's feed mill business, where he and his brothers grew Morning Song Wild Bird Food from a small regional operation into a major national supplier for retailers like Walmart, Costco, Sam's Club, Target, and others, ultimately selling the company to Scotts Miracle-Gro in 2005. Inspired by parallels between blending bird seed and coffee, Brad and his brother, Cary, purchased Copper Moon Coffee in 2007 from a Marsh Foods-related entity and shifted it from convenience/office channels toward premium retail branding. After early struggles in a highly competitive category, moving to a new Lafayette facility in 2013 enabled upgraded equipment and K-cup production, helping scale to roughly 15–18 million pounds annually and 150–160 employees, with strong growth via Amazon, club, and grocery channels. If you like this episode and want to hear more Get IN. episodes where I interview Hoosiers making a difference, visit getindiana.com/podcast. You are going to learn about: - The Gutwein Family Feed Mill and Morning Song Wild Bird Food's Growth and Sale to Scotts Miracle-Gro - The Shift of Copper Moon Coffee to Premium Retail Branding - How Copper Moon Coffee Scaled to 15–18 Million Pounds Annually Thank you to our partners: Bloomrank AccountedFor Check out these great clips from the show: 00:00 Competitive Coffee Reality 01:11 Guest Introduction: Brad Gutwein, Copper Moon Coffee 02:05 Coffee Roots in Francesville 03:03 From Marriott to Feed Mill 05:26 Morning Song Takes Off 12:01 Landing Big Box Retail 16:42 Calling Walmart in 94 18:50 Selling Morning Song and Coffee Pivot 21:48 Discovering Copper Moon 24:57 Buying a Business Overnight 27:52 First Changes and Retail Push 32:02 Rebrand During the Recession 33:36 Move to Lafayette Turning Point 37:43 How a Commercial Roastery Works 40:03 Retail Expansion Plans 40:52 Top Sales Channels 41:09 Team Growth Moves 41:39 K-Cup Breakthrough 42:50 Scaling Up Production 43:53 Winning Shelf Space 45:40 Indiana Brand Awareness 47:01 Growth Strategy Secrets 49:01 Marketing Demos Ads 50:37 Future Growth Vision 51:09 Product Lineup Tour 53:30 Flavors And Trends 55:14 Regional Brand Acquisition 56:09 Start Versus Buy 58:06 Why Indiana Home 58:41 Rapid Fire Coffee Talk 01:00:28 Foodservice Behind Scenes 01:01:34 Working With Family 01:02:53 Indiana Hidden Gems 01:07:29 Final Wrap And Where To Buy Get IN. is brought to you by our friends at Sweetwater. Whether you are looking to start a podcast or level up your current show you need to hit them up.