Pictured: Josh Gibbs
Dynamite Roasting Co. Links Local Coffee Drinkers to Global Growers
Story by Trevor Clark | Photo by Heather Hambor
As farm-to-table products become more popular across Western North Carolina, Dynamite Roasting Company seeks to connect local coffee drinkers to the source of their beans. Since coffee only grows in subtropical regions, however, this task proves more challenging than for locally sourced crops or meats.
Dynamite takes care to personally connect with the people who grow their coffee, making annual trips to coffee farms around the globe, and inviting farmers to visit the United States and share their stories with the people who drink their coffee.
Dynamite Roasting Co. started in 2008 by Andy Gibbon and Josh Gibbs in an effort to provide WNC with locally roasted, organic, fair trade coffee. With a smallbatch roaster bought on eBay, Dynamite began production as a wholesale roaster from a house just off Highway 70 in Black Mountain. When friends continued to visit their space in search of a great cup of coffee, Josh and Andy decided to open a coffee shop. In 2010, Thomas Lussier joined Dynamite as head roaster and, shortly after, they opened a larger production facility.
“Being part of the community is a big part of our mission, whether it’s giving donations for local schools or helping organizations with fundraisers,” Andy says. “We do a big project with WNCW public radio where we make a coffee blend for their pledge drive. Giving back to the folks who support us is a big part of what we do.”
In addition to collaborating with several WNC organizations and businesses, Dynamite works to ensure the welfare of the communities where their coffees come from. In Rwanda, Dynamite backs a program that provides cattle to members of a farmer cooperative. They also work with Africa Healing Exchange, an Asheville-based nonprofit organization that provides trauma counseling to Rwandans affected by the genocide against the Tutsi in the 1990s. In Honduras, Dynamite purchased some of the first microlots, which provide small batches of high quality crops in and around the town of Marcala. In the years since, the coffee quality in the area has increased dramatically.
In April, Dynamite hosted three farmers from Marcala to come to Black Mountain. “It was a great opportunity for us not only to return some of the hospitality we receive when we visit them, but also to introduce them to their customers… We made some T-shirts for (one farmer’s) farm, and he came into our shop and saw a woman wearing a shirt with his farm’s name on it and was thrilled,” says Andy
“Everything around here is farm-to-table,” he adds, “but you can’t grow coffee in North Carolina, so this is our way of connecting people with their farmers—we just have to bring them here.”
Dynamite Roasting Co. (dynamiteroasting.com) coffee can be found at several local grocery stores, restaurants, and retailers. Their coffee bar is located at 3198 US-70 in Black Mountain. Trevor Clark is a writer and barista living in Asheville.
