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Montana Coffee Traders, Inc. Business Information, Profile, and History

5810 Highway 93 South
Whitefish, Montana 59937
U.S.A.

Company Perspectives:

Montana Coffee Traders is dedicated to roasting and selling fresh coffee in a manner that respects, supports, and profits people, the community, and the land that sustains us.

History of Montana Coffee Traders, Inc.

Montana Coffee Traders, Inc. (MCT), a roaster and seller of high-quality, specialty coffee, is headquartered in a small resort town in the northwest corner of the state not far from Glacier National Park. In addition to great coffee, the company promotes positive working conditions, as well as a concern for the community and the environment. MCT has quietly spread into various markets for its coffee, in the process establishing a coffee-shipping service, three businesses in Montana, one in Texas, and a venture in Russia.

Early Years in Montana

Montana Coffee Traders was founded by R.C. Beall, who came up with the idea of roasting and selling his own beans after drinking a terrible cup of coffee in a late-night café in 1981. For years, Beall--a former logger, back-country guide, and golf course manager from Texas--had been trying to figure out how to make a living in Montana. Perhaps, he thought, coffee could be the answer.

Beall began conducting research on coffee and on Montana. He learned that coffee was the second-most important trading commodity--oil was first--and accounted for a third of all beverages sold in the world. As for Montana, the state had no coffee roasters at the time, meaning no competition. Then again, Montana was a poor state with a small population base. Nevertheless, Beall decided to pursue the idea, teaming up with Whitefish, Montana, artist Scott Brandt to conduct further research. As a result of many hours in the local library and on the phone, they discovered there was a ten-pound coffee roaster, a grinder, and five bags of green coffee beans in a local barn.

Beall sought to purchase the barn, but banks were reluctant to lend him the money. They could not imagine that gourmet coffee would sell in Whitefish. Eventually, First National Bank in Whitefish loaned Beall $4,000, which he used to purchase the barn and its contents. Immediately, Beall began roasting coffee, with some assistance from Michael Sivetz, who owned an airbed roaster business. Using trial and error, Beall attempted to bring out the different characteristics in each bean, recording the results in spiral notebooks. In the process, Beall learned how difficult and exacting it was to roast coffee. For instance, the temperature and time in the roasters had to be precise.

After a lot of practice, Beall became satisfied with the coffee he roasted. In 1982, he opened his coffee-roasting business in a restored old farmhouse in Whitefish, just 25 miles from Glacier National Park. Beall felt confident that he had a great product, but business was slow in starting. A year after opening, Beall sold his Houston golf course to keep the coffee business afloat. It took five years, said Beall, to get the business going. Gourmet coffee, after all, was a hard sell to Montanans, who were used to commercial coffees such as Maxwell House and Folgers. Beall heavily promoted his product in his community, mostly through serving coffee at community events. This, he believed, was the best way to sell people on MCT. He was convinced that once consumers tried one of his freshly roasted and ground coffees, they would agree that the tinned-can brands were under-roasted and stale. Eventually, when consumers did start to agree and MCT moved forward, Beall's motto became: "If you can do it in Whitefish, you can do it anywhere."

MCT Treks to Costa Rica and Russia: Late 1980s and Early 1990s

In 1989, Beall traveled to Costa Rica in search of high-quality coffee beans. He visited a number of cooperatives in the country, hoping to find one that shared MCT's values--community mindedness and concern for the environment--as well as having great beans. When he met with Guillermo Vargas, then the manager of the Santa Elena farm cooperative, Beall saw an opportunity. The coop, located near the renowned Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve, was at the perfect altitude for growing coffee. In addition, like Whitefish, Santa Elena was being threatened by rapid development. Beall thought if Santa Elena could earn a living growing coffee, its rain forest might be protected.

Ironically, the Santa Elena community--which had never before tasted roasted coffee nor even seen a roaster--did not realize the high quality of their beans. Beall, however, did. Having brought a small roaster with him, Beall allowed them to taste their coffee for the first time. In later negotiations, he agreed to pay a premium price--one of the highest prices given to a Costa Rican coffee grower--in exchange for exclusive North American rights.

Once negotiations were complete, MCT's first "Coffee with a Cause," Café Monteverde, was created. As part of their agreement, MCT committed to donating one dollar per bag sold to special projects for the coop. Such projects included reforestation, educating young Costa Ricans about their environment, and developing organic agricultural practices. Meanwhile, from its new profits, the coop opened a small roasting facility in 1990, finally making it possible to offer home-grown coffee to locals and tourists.

In 1992, Beall set out for another part of the globe: Moscow. Forming a partnership with Russian-born Whitefish residents Aleksandr and Laulette Malchik, MCT-Vostok (meaning MCT-East) was created. The Malchiks had convinced Beall to expand into Russia, claiming that its coffee was terrible. While the market did prove lucrative, and even became self-sustaining within a year, there were problems at the start. It was difficult to find adequate space in the overcrowded city of nine million, the company had no telephone service for months and no supplier for basic office equipment, and they had to bribe local officials at every turn, beginning with their attempt to get the coffee roaster into the country. Fortunately, officials accepted coffee as a bribe. There were also major difficulties with the country's unstable ruble. Because of this, the business largely marketed their product to the city's 100,000 or so foreigners.

By 1993, MCT-Vostok was selling 150 to 200 pounds of coffee a day. At the same time, they began selling grinders, plunge-style pots, and espresso machines. MCT later pulled out of its association with the Russian shop, handing ownership to a Russian resident. No sale was negotiated in the process, as MCT never owned the company. Instead, MCT's role in its "partnership" with the Malchiks was to get the business going. Still, MCT continued to provide assistance to the Russian coffee shop as needed.

MCT Grows Locally in the 1990s

Locally, MCT was growing. In 1992, the coffee roaster opened a shop in nearby Kalispell, Montana. The business, a limited-service restaurant that served specialty foods, snacks, and nonalcoholic beverages (including, of course, coffee), had sales between $500,000 to $1 million within ten years.

By 1993, Montana Coffee Traders had created 150 flavors of coffee, of which they had already sold 175,000 pounds, or fifteen million cups. Beall obtained his green beans through brokers in New Orleans, New York, and San Francisco (as well as Costa Rica), which he would then package and distribute throughout Montana, Idaho, and Washington. One of his most important business strategies simply involved doing the homework--including research and practice--required to achieve a great product.

Beall was also concerned with creating an appealing environment for his customers and set up his Whitefish log cabin/store with this in mind. He placed a covered wagon directly outside the store, while inside the shop was filled with espresso machines, coffee grinders, teapots and kettles, coffee cups, homemade jelly, and chocolate. Upstairs, customers could buy items made by local artists, including hand-woven rugs, baskets, wooden cabinets, and chairs. Pleasant music played in the background. To further enhance a customer's visit to his shop, Beall offered tours of the business. On a typical tour, customers were urged to smell just-roasted coffee beans to distinguish among the different regions from which coffee originated--including Indonesia, Central America, South America, and Africa--and were shown large bags of green beans and coffee roasters that were capable of roasting up to 150 pounds per hour.

To a large extent, Beall depended on his employees to sell his products. Conscious of this fact on both a personal and professional level, he was committed to treating his employees well. MCT paid good wages and provided health insurance for both full-time and part-time workers.

One business tactic Beall did not strongly pursue was advertising. Realizing he could not compete with the advertising campaigns of large companies such as Folgers--which spent millions of dollars a year on advertising--Beall preferred to advertise locally, mostly by providing coffee at community events. Still, convincing both local and out-of-town restaurants to buy MCT coffee--which cost about one or two cents more a cup than commercial coffees--proved challenging. However, when the company discovered that United Parcel Service would ship coffee anywhere in Montana in one day, the business reached a major turning point.

Restaurants and individual consumers were pleased to learn that they could receive MCT's coffee quickly and be billed for it later. The good-faith gesture, as well as the speedy delivery, proved to be effective sales tactics, as did MCT's guarantee of selling only freshly roasted coffee. To do this, MCT used a system of taking orders early in the morning, then roasting no more than the amount needed for the day.

Financial Growth and Community Commitment: Mid-1990s and Beyond

In 1994, Beall traveled to Austin, Texas, to open Texas Coffee Traders. The new location not only returned him to his

Related information about Montana

pop (2000e) 902 200; area 380 834 km²/147 046 sq mi. State in NW USA, divided into 56 counties; the ‘Treasure State’; most of the state acquired by the Louisiana Purchase, 1803; border with Canada settled by the Oregon Treaty, 1846; became the Territory of Montana, 1864; gold rush after 1858 discoveries; ranchers moved into the area in 1866, taking over Indian land; conflict with the Sioux resulted in the defeat of General Custer at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, 1876; six Indian reservations now in the state; 41st state to join the Union, 1889; new state constitution, 1973; capital, Helena; other chief cities, Billings and Great Falls; bounded N by the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan; fourth largest US state; crossed by the Missouri and Yellowstone Rivers; Bitterroot Range, part of the Rocky Mts, lies along much of the W border; highest point Granite Peak (3901 m/12 798 ft); the Great Plains (E) are largely occupied by vast wheat fields and livestock farms; W dominated by the Rocky Mts, covered in dense pine forests; part of Yellowstone National Park in the S; Glacier National Park in the W; tourism a major state industry; hunting, fishing, skiing, hiking, boating (glacier lakes); copper, silver, gold, zinc, lead, manganese in the mountainous W; petroleum, natural gas, large coalmines in the E; timber, wood products, refined petroleum, processed foods; cattle, wheat, hay, barley, dairy products.

Montana is a state in the Pacific Northwest and Great Plains regions of the United States. The state ranks fourth in size but has a relatively low population (with only six states having fewer people) and consequently a very low population density. The economy is primarily based on agriculture and significant lumber and mineral extraction. Tourism is also important to the economy with millions of visitors a year to Glacier National Park, the Battle of Little Bighorn site, and three of the five entrances to Yellowstone National Park.

Geography

With a land area of 145,552 square miles (376,978 km²), the state of Montana is the fourth largest in the United States (after Alaska, Texas, and California).

To the north, Montana and Canada share a 545-mile (877 km) portion of the world's longest undefended border. The state borders the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan, more provinces than any other state. To the south is Wyoming and about a mile of South Dakota, and on the west and southwest is Idaho.

The topography of the state is diverse, but roughly defined by the Continental Divide, which runs on an approximate diagonal through the state from north to southwest, splitting it into two distinct eastern and western regions. East of the Divide, several parallel ranges march across the southern half of the state, including the Gravelly Range, the Tobacco Roots, the Madison Range, Gallatin Range, Big Belt Mountains, Bridger Mountains, Absaroka Range and Beartooth Mountains. Among the best-known areas are the Flathead Valley, Bitterroot Valley, Big Hole Valley, and Gallatin Valley. The isolated "Island" ranges east of the Divide include the Castle Mountains, Crazy Mountains, Little Belt Mountains, Snowy Mountains, Sweet Grass Hills, Bull Mountains and, in the southeastern corner of the state near Ekalaka, the Long Pines and Short Pines.

The area east of the divide in the north-central portion of the state is known for the dramatic Missouri Breaks and other significant rock formations. Farther east, areas such as Makoshika State Park near Glendive, and Medicine Rocks State Park near Ekalaka also higlight some of the most scenic badlands regions in the state.

Montana also contains a number of rivers, many of which are known for "blue-ribbon" trout fishing, but which also provide most of the water needed by residents of the state, as well as being a source of hydropower. Montana is the only state in the union whose rivers form parts of three major North American watersheds: The Pacific Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, and Hudson Bay.

West of the divide, the Clark Fork of the Columbia (not to be confused with the Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone River) rises in the Rocky Mountains near Butte, flows west toward Missoula, Montana where it is joined by the Blackfoot River and the Bitterroot River and turns to the northwest, entering Idaho just above Lake Pend Oreille, becoming part of the Columbia River, which flows to the Pacific Ocean. The Flathead River and Kootenai River also drain major portions of the western half of the state.

East of the divide, the Missouri River, formed by the confluence of the Jefferson, Madison and Gallatin rivers, crosses the central part of the state, flows through the Missouri breaks and enters North Dakota. The Yellowstone River rises in Yellowstone Park in Wyoming, flows north to Livingston, Montana, where it then turns east and flows across the state until it joins the Missouri River a few miles east of the North Dakota boundary. These rivers ultimately join the Mississippi River and flow into the Gulf of Mexico.

Due to the configuration of mountain ranges in Glacier National Park, the Northern Divide (which begins in the Seward Peninsula) crosses this region and turns east in Montana at Triple Divide Peak. Man-made reservoirs dot Montana's rivers, the largest of which is Fort Peck Reservoir, on the Missouri river, contained by the largest earth-filled dam in the world.

Vegetation of the state includes ponderosa pine, lodgepole pine, larch, fir, spruce, aspen, birch, red cedar, ash, alder, rocky mountain maple and cottonwood trees. Flowers native to Montana include asters, bitterroots, daisies, lupins, poppies, primroses, columbine, lilies, orchids and dryads. Several species of sagebrush and cactus and many species of grasses are common. Many species of mushrooms and lichens are also found in the state.

Montana contains Glacier National Park and portions of Yellowstone National Park, including three of the Park's five entrances. Other federally-recognized sites include the Little Bighorn National Monument, Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area, Big Hole National Battlefield, Lewis and Clark Caverns, and the National Bison Range.

Areas managed by the National Park Service include:

Big Hole National Battlefield near Wisdom
Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area near Fort Smith
Glacier National Park
Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site at Deer Lodge, Montana
Lewis & Clark National Historic Trail
Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument near Crow Agency
Nez Perce National Historical Park
Yellowstone National Park

Several Indian reservations are located in Montana: Fort Peck Indian Reservation, Fort Belknap Indian Reservation, Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation, Crow Indian Reservation, Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation, Blackfeet Indian Reservation, and the Flathead Indian Reservation.

See also: List of Montana counties, List of Montana rivers

History

Main article: History of Montana

Native Americans were the first inhabitants of Montana. Groups included the Crow in the south-central area, the Cheyenne in the southeast, the Blackfeet, Assiniboine and Gros Ventres in the central and north-central area and the Kootenai and Salish in the west. The smaller Pend d'Oreille and Kalispel tribes were found around Flathead Lake and the western mountains, respectively.

Subsequent to the Lewis and Clark expedition and after the finding of gold and copper (see the Copper Kings) in the state in the late 1850s, Montana became a United States territory (Montana Territory) on May 26, 1864 and the 41st state on November 8, 1889.

Fort Shaw (Montana Territory), was established in the spring of 1867. Fort Shaw, named after Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, who commanded the 54th Massachusetts, one of the first all African-American regiments, during the American Civil War, was built of adobe and lumber by the 13th Infantry. Many of these homesteaders came from the Midwest and Minnesota.

Montana was the scene of the Native Americans' last effort to keep their land, and the last stand of U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer was fought near the present day town of Hardin. 16,500 of state residents are foreign-born, accounting for 1.8% of the total population.

The state ranks fourth in size at 147,000 square miles (381,000 km²) but has a relatively low population (with only six states having fewer people) and consequently a very low population density.

While German ancestry is the largest reported European-American ancestry in most of Montana, residents of Scandinavian ancestry are prevalent in some of the farming-dominated northern and eastern prairie regions. The historically mining-oriented communities of western Montana have a wider range of ethnic groups, particularly people of Eastern European and Irish-American ancestry, as well as people who originally emigrated from British mining regions such as Cornwall. Montana is second only to South Dakota in U.S. Hutterite population with several colonies spread across the state. Montana's Hispanic population is particularly concentrated around the Billings area in east-central Montana, and the largest African-American population is located in Great Falls. 18%

Economy

The economy is primarily based on agriculture--wheat, barley, sugar beets, oats, rye, seed potatoes, honey, cherries, cattle and sheep ranching--and significant lumber and mineral extraction (gold, coal, silver, talc, and vermiculite). Tourism is also important to the economy with millions of visitors a year to Glacier National Park, Flathead Lake, the Missouri River headwaters, the site of the Battle of Little Bighorn and three of the five entrances to Yellowstone National Park.

Montana personal income tax contains 7 brackets, with rates ranging from 1% to 6.9%.

Transportation

Major highways include:

Interstate 15
Interstate 90
Interstate 94
U.S. Highway 2
U.S. Highway 212
U.S. Highway 93

In addition, Amtrak's "Empire Builder" train runs through the north of the state, stopping in the following towns: Libby, Whitefish, West Glacier, Essex, East Glacier Park, Browning, Cut Bank, Shelby, Havre, Malta, Glasgow, and Wolf Point.

Law and government

See: List of Montana Governors

The current Governor is Brian Schweitzer (Democrat) who was sworn in on January 3, 2005. Montana's congressman is Denny Rehberg (Republican).

The state was the first to elect a female member of Congress (Jeannette Rankin), and was one of the first states to give women voting rights; nearly 90% of its residents are of European descent, with a large number of immigrants of German, Irish, Norwegian, Welsh, Cornish, Italian, Slovak and Scandanavian heritage arriving in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A significant portion of Chinese (Cantonese) immigrants also came and left an indelible mark on the state, especially in the mining cities of Helena, Butte, and Anaconda. The state last supported a Democrat for president in 1992, Bill Clinton's first election.

Thus, in recent years, Montana has been classified as a Republican-leaning state, and the state supported President George W. Also, incumbent Republican Senator Conrad Burns faces a tough fight for reelection against Democratic State Senate President Jon Tester in the 2006 election.

Montana is an Alcoholic beverage control state.

Important cities and towns

Some of the cities in Montana are:

Billings
Bozeman
Butte
Great Falls

Helena
Kalispell
Missoula

Some of the major towns in Montana are:

Anaconda
Belgrade
Columbia Falls
Cut Bank
Deer Lodge
Dillon
Glasgow
Glendive
Hamilton

Hardin
Havre
Laurel
Lewistown
Livingston
Miles City
Polson
Shelby
Sidney
Whitefish

Education

Colleges and universities

The state-funded Montana University System consists of:

Montana State University - Bozeman
- Montana State University - Billings
- Montana State University - Northern - Havre
University of Montana - Missoula
- Montana Tech of the University of Montana - Butte

Flathead Valley Community College
Dawson Community College
Miles Community College

Major Tribal Colleges in Montana include:

Little Big Horn College
Fort Peck Community College or Ft. Peck Community College
Salish Kootenai College
Stone Child College

Major Private Colleges and Universities include:

Carroll College
University of Great Falls
Rocky Mountain College

Professional sports teams

The Minor League baseball teams are:

Missoula Osprey
Great Falls White Sox
Helena Brewers
Billings Mustangs

Miscellaneous topics

The state's name is derived from the Spanish word montaña ("mountain"). Other nicknames include "Land of Shining Mountains", "Big Sky Country", and the slogan "the last best place".

The battleship USS Montana was named in honor of the state.

The Hell Creek Formation is a major source of dinosaur fossils. Palentologist Jack Horner, of the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, Montana brought this formation to the world's attention with several major finds. On May 1, 2004, a monument in honor of the basketball team was unveiled at the entrance of the present-day Fort Shaw Elementary School.

In the movie 'Star Trek: First Contact', Montana is the location of the fictitious first contact between humans and an alien race, the Vulcans. Star Trek producer Brannon Braga is originally from Bozeman, Montana.

Montana has the largest grizzly bear population in the lower 48 states.

Montana is one of two states (Pennsylvania is the other, see www.pennswoods.net/~tomdewey/fishing/watersh.htm) with a triple divide, allowing water to flow into three oceans: the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean (Gulf of Mexico), and the Arctic Ocean (Hudson Bay). This phenomenon occurs at Triple Divide Peak in Glacier National Park.

In 1888, Helena (the current state capital) had more millionaires per capita than any other city in the world.

Montana is one of two states in the continental United States which in addition to not having a major metropolitan area over 1,000,000 in population, also does not border a state that does have one (Maine is the other).

State symbols

State flower: Bitterroot (Lewisia rediviva), since 1895
State tree: Ponderosa Pine, since 1949
State animal: Grizzly Bear (Ursus arctos horribilis), since 1862
State bird: Western Meadowlark, since 1931
State fish: Blackspotted Cutthroat Trout, since 1977
State Song: "Montana", since 1945
State Ballad: "Montana Melody", since 1983
State Gemstones: Yogo Sapphire & Agate
State Fossil: Duck-billed Dinosaur (Maiasaura peeblesorum), since 1985
State Butterfly: Mourning cloak (Nymphalis antiopa), since 2001
State Grass: Bluebunch Wheatgrass, since 1973
State Motto: "Oro y Plata" (Spanish: Gold and Silver)

Ski areas

Montana has several ski areas including:

Bear Paw Ski Bowl near Havre, Montana
Big Mountain near Whitefish
Big Sky Resort near Big Sky, Montana
Blacktail near Lakeside
Bridger Bowl Ski Area near Bozeman
Discovery Basin near Philipsburg
Great Divide near Helena, Montana
Lost Trail near Darby, Montana
Lookout Pass near St. Regis, Montana
Maverick Mountain near Dillon, Montana
Montana Snowbowl near Missoula
Moonlight Basin near Big Sky, Montana
Red Lodge Mountain near Red Lodge
Showdown Ski Area near White Sulphur Springs, Montana
Snowbowl Ski Area near Missoula, Montana
Turner near Libby

References

Chronology

Key Dates:
1982: R.C. Beall starts Montana Coffee Traders (MCT).
1989: MCT works out a deal with Santa Elena coffee cooperative in Costa Rica.
1992: MCT helps to jumpstart a coffee shop in Moscow, Russia; the company opens a new coffee shop/restaurant in Kalispell, Montana.
1994: The company starts Texas Coffee Traders, a subsidiary of MCT.
2000: The company opens a new coffee shop in Whitefish, Montana. home state, but it also provided a good location from which to ship fresh coffee to accounts that were too far from Montana to ensure fresh delivery. It was at that time Beall married; his wife, Beth Beall, became president of Texas Coffee Traders. At TCT, the goals remained the same as in Montana: to sell the best coffee available and to have fun doing it, to treat employees well, and to contribute positively to the community and to the environment.
In its commitment to community and environment, MCT set up programs that contributed part of its sales to various organizations. The company continued its program with Santa Elena, as well as beginning a whole line of Special Project Coffees, all of which donated one dollar for each bag sold. Grizzly Blend provided money for the preservation of grizzly habitat, Four Directions Blend contributed to the Native Families Empowerment program, Abbie Blend furthered the Advocacy for People cause, and Wild Rockies Blend supported wild land protection. MCT has also been committed to fair-trade practices and to buying shade-grown coffee. Growing coffee in the sun, while yielding larger crops, came at a price, including soil degradation, water pollution, worker health risks, and a dependence of the farmer on chemical supplies. Furthermore, cutting down the trees normally associated with coffee plantations has threatened animal habitat.
Other community projects in which MCT has been involved include local land conservation. In 1991, when Beall heard rumors that a substantial piece of land along Whitefish Lake was to be sold, he reacted quickly. With a group of locals, he arranged for a public meeting before the city council, where they convinced council members not to sell the land. Later, the non-profit group convinced Fish, Wildlife, and Parks to lease the land to the group, which created a public park with 400 feet of gravel beach. In another project, Beall organized various fund-raisers (for which he provided the coffee) to bring National Public Radio to the Whitefish listening area.
Meanwhile, in 2000, MCT opened a new store in Whitefish, Montana, bringing its total Montana business to three shops. By 2003, with sales looming between $5 million and $10 million and 75 employees, Montana Coffee Traders had come a long way from its "beans in a barn" origins.

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