Interview with Simon Harper, Co-Founder of Holm Coffee
Holm Coffee is a small-batch roastery in Revelstoke, BC, founded by partners Izzy Lamoureux and Simon Harper during the pandemic. We spoke to Simon to learn about the duo’s journey from hospitality to coffee roasting and the philosophy behind their thoughtful approach to growth.
How did Holm Coffee come to be?
Both of us are from the hospitality industry. My partner Izzy is a sommelier and was managing a restaurant at the time. I was into cocktails and whiskey. COVID was difficult for many people in varying types of work, and we both just got a bit fed up. Izzy was looking to do something for herself and always wanted to open a little coffee shop, but coffee shops weren't great to open during COVID. So, we started looking into what roasting coffee looked like. We took those first couple years to really hone in on roasting, learning about coffee and experiencing it for ourselves, then slowly building a business plan. Holm was as much about producing beautiful coffee as it was a lifestyle we really wanted to build together.
What's in the name Holm Coffee?
HOLM is an abbreviation we made up. The H and O stand for "home," and the L and M stand for "la maison." Izzy’s from Quebec and I'm from England. We have our home here in Revelstoke. So, it's tongue-in-cheek: the English word for home, the French word for home. Luckily, the two together as an abbreviation sounds kind of homey.
What is your coffee origin story? How did you get into it?
I've always really enjoyed flavour. I'm big into cooking, whiskey, wine, everything like that. But my turning point was having a cup of filter coffee, probably an Ethiopian. I tasted blueberries in and thought, "Who put blueberry syrup in this?", but it was just the coffee. That really opened my eyes to what coffee could be.
What are Holm's goals for the near and far future?
Slow, organic growth is what we've done so far and what we want to continue. We have a really small team and want to keep it that way while treating them as well as possible. Having the ability to offer meaningful work in a small town really excites us. Our goal is to create really exciting roles for people to come in, learn, and feel satisfied. We can't do that if we stress too much about rapid growth. For us, it's all about slow, organic growth and all the great things that come with a thoughtful approach.
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