Since Cleona Coffee Roasters was established in 2021, the business has diversified its product line, expanded to 20 retail and three wholesale locations, and opened the doors of its very own coffee shop inside 911 Rapid Response, at 700 W. Main St., Suite B, Annville.
Matt Zechman, the 25-year-old Cleona native behind the coffee business, took some time to speak with LebTown amid its record-breaking holiday season — roasting, packing, and distributing 1,500 pounds of coffee and serving 900 drinks in its coffee shop during the last five weeks of 2023.
And there are no signs of the business slowing down anytime soon, as it plans to add four more retail locations to its roster by mid-February.
“This started as a hobby and a passion, and it absolutely still is, although it’s definitely more of a business some days,” Zechman said the night before the interview, in which he got into bed at 1 a.m. and out of bed at 4:30 a.m., felt more like the latter.
The Cleona Coffee Roasters owner and roastmaster said going full-time with the coffee business this past June has given him more flexibility, but more stress along with it.
So what exactly — other than a cup of coffee — keeps Zechman running? Sharing a good one with members of his community.
“When they take their first sip of whatever the drink is that I make them and just the way some people’s faces light up because coffee brewed well is a beautiful thing and when they finally experience that or they haven’t had that in a long time,” he said.
James Hoffmann and other coffee experts continue to fuel Zechman with inspiration as a small coffee business owner. “As they progress and as we know more, [I’m] just staying up-to-date with the science of everything,” he said.
Cleona Coffee Roasters also employs Allyson, Jessica, Jonathan, Molly, and Vanessa, and two unpaid helpers — Zechman’s parents.
“My parents were also a huge help, kind of the free labor, but even if I tried to pay them, they wouldn’t take it anyway,” he said. “They were super helpful. … Rain or shine, they woke up. Never complained. … And I’m grateful for it, of course.”
Zechman hired Allyson, prior to the other employees, following a chance meeting while he was selling coffee products at the producers-only farmers market in Palmyra.
“She found my stand, mentioned she had barista experience, moved here from Arizona,” Zechman recounted. “And just the way her schedule worked out with where my business was going and what I needed her to do. She’s just an awesome employee.”
Allyson now works as a daytime barista at the coffee shop from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., four days per week.
Jessica, Jonathan, Molly, and Vanessa were hired after Zechman’s interview with LebTown, during which he mentioned that he was looking to hire part-time employees to work at the coffee shop and help with “sales, marketing, deliveries, and then someone to help me with packaging,” he said.
“I’m excited to see how things are going to go in the future,” Zechman said. “And yeah, I’m just grateful to work with such awesome people.”
Despite the small business’s rapid growth, Zechman said the biggest challenge it faces is marketing.
“Like I’ve lived in Cleona my whole life, and you’d be surprised how many businesses we just don’t notice because we’re used to them being there,” he said. “So, unless something makes us notice them, there may be services or products that we really like. We just don’t know about them because we’re not looking for them.”
Zechman has found word-of-mouth to be an effective marketing technique for his target demographic, which he defined as locals with a special focus on members of the military and first responders.
He hopes to diversify this demographic in the future as he increases the coffee business’s online presence and social media marketing efforts. But for now, he continues to invest in his community.
“My coffee shop is focused on more traditional espresso-based drinks, kind of originating to their Italian roots. Focusing on steaming the milk properly, using freshly roasted coffee, dialing in the espresso every morning,” Zechman said. The coffee shop also makes its syrups from scratch, which he said is a time-consuming but rewarding process.
“Lots of different coffee shops around here kind of have different things that we aim for,” he said. “One of the coffee trailers I wholesale for, Cool Beans, does really awesome cold brew drinks, a lot of the modern things you’d probably see on TikTok. The drinks that I don’t personally make and I don’t like making that they do very well.”
Zechman offers what he calls “coffee consulting” to coffee shops that use Cleona Coffee Roasters as their wholesaler.
“I show up, do training for free, kind of tailored around like okay, they have a little experience. They don’t have any experience. This is what their menu is. Here’s how we make those drinks. Something that I do that I absolutely love doing [is] being able to teach,” he said.
Zechman, who was raised in Cleona and bought a house in the borough after being deployed to Afghanistan, said he desires to give back to his community, which he also serves with the Pennsylvania Army National Guard, Life Lion EMS, and the Annville Cleona Fire Department.
The coffee business offers special blends where a percentage of the proceeds from that blend is donated to a specific cause.
An ongoing one is Crazy Eights, “which is named after the station theme from the Cleona Fire Company,” where 10 percent of the proceeds are donated to the Annville Cleona Fire Department. “I sell a lot of that surprisingly, even though it’s extra caffeinated and definitely on the stronger side of things,” Zechman said.
Another ongoing special blend Cleona Coffee Roasters offers is Pieces. “That’s a mix of whatever medium roasts I have left over at the end of the day. So, every bag is going to be different, and that’s more of like an autistic awareness bag.” Again, 10 percent of the proceeds are donated to the Lebanon Cedars Coffee Club.
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“I like to do fundraisers. … Basically, I just give people a wholesale rate, and then they sell it for retail price, and then whatever profit they get is what they get back,” Zechman said.
Cleona Coffee Roasters also donates baskets of coffee products to be raffled off for good causes.
“I’m just grateful that the business is doing well,” Zechman said. “Of course, I wouldn’t be where I am without the support of the community.”
Cleona Coffee Roasters’ future plans include offering sample packs and additional single-serve K cup blends as well as creating a selection of cold brew and nitro cold brew products for restaurants.
“Basically, I would do large products of it. Put it in kegs. Infuse it with the nitro. Distribute it. And it would essentially be on tap,” Zechman said. “Like you see with beer and whatnot, it would just be nitro cold brew instead.”
Zechman’s personal favorite in the coffee business’s regular line up is the Ethiopia Yirgacheffe blend, which he described as having “a lot of vibrant fruity flavors with some different types of citrusy acidity.”
When asked how people can have the best coffee experience, Zechman closed by saying, “Nobody ever thinks of this, but the water is about 98 percent of what brewed coffee is, except for espresso, that’s about 80 percent then.”
“But for regular filter coffee, it’s your water. So if you use [something] terrible like Annville Township tap water, your coffee’s not going to taste good.” Fluoride in the water, for instance, is going to have a negative impact on flavor, he explained.
Zechman suggested running your water through a Brita filter or a reverse osmosis water filtration system, or just using spring water.
“Likewise, buying beans and grinding fresh, that’s the way to keep your coffee fresh for the longest,” he said.
He suggested storing the coffee beans at room temperature and out of direct sunlight in the Cleona Coffee Roasters sealed bags they are sold in. “Don’t keep your coffee in the fridge. If you’re keeping it in the freezer, they should be beans, and they should be in a vaccuum-sealed bag.”
Then, for brewing the coffee beans, he named the French press as “being one of the easiest [brewing methods] with very little technique.”
“You can make very good coffee with nothing more than a French press and a water kettle.”
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