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Rouses Means Local

Good Community Members Build Relationships and Respect

about the father-and-son-working-together relation- ship to embrace new ideas while building confidence and trust.” The greatest change Saurage’s family business is facing in the immediate future is engaging their workforce in using technology to connect with the customer at all levels, so they can better understand their customers’ needs and respond more quickly to them. He sees technology as an immediate opportu- nity, one that will change the packaged goods industry as it changes the grocery channels where Community sells their products. Saurage has realized that a family business is much more than proving ideas or taking over ideas from one generation to the next, but in helping each other. Of working with his father, he says, “It was a great experience … I was able to implement a lot of my ideas and innovations and changes.” And working so closely with family members helped Saurage better appreciate, too, the contributions his father’s generation had made in advancing the company over the years. Good Community Members Look Toward the Future Saurage has five children of his own, as well as a number of nieces and nephews. He believes many of them will enter some area of the coffee business, either directly in operations, or in working to sustain the impact the family business can make locally in Baton Rouge and across Louisiana by giving back. “They will probably all be involved to some degree,” he says of that next generation, “and those who pursue their own interests will also remain engaged with ensuring that [Community Coffee] remains a multigenerational company. That’s our dream.” But Saurage also believes that Community Coffee, like many local businesses, is also owned by its customers. “This is not [just] my family’s business. It’s many families’ business. Many people are invested in this brand. So, our growth is really led by building value in and an affinity for the brand. Following that is the geography that we will gain. We’re not driven by growth for the sake of growth. We’re driven to build our brand and reach new consumers while delivering a great cup of coffee each and every time,” he declares, “because that’s what the people here in Louisiana expect from Community Coffee.”

When you sell or market a perishable good, particularly a food product, you really have to know a lot about its origin and the care that’s taken to preserve quality from the day the plant is placed into the ground until it is harvested. “Not only is going to origin very important in our business, but it was a starting point for my career,” declares Saurage. He explains that the coffee farmers in Campos Altos, Brazil who grow the beans for Community’s products are much like farmers in America — except that the farms are at high altitude and in a beautiful, tropical rain-forest environment. While Saurage is quick to say it’s a wonderful place to visit, he acknowledges that the job of farming there is as difficult as it is at any other farm in the world. He says, “I gained a true appreciation for the amount of work that goes into husbandry of a crop or plant, and the focusing on quality to ensure freshness.” He reveals that the greatest lesson he derived from that, other than a real love for the farming and the people, was an understanding of the culture of those who produced the product that Community would ultimately roast and sell in the United States. He has enjoyed the real exposure he’s received, through his family’s business, to Brazilian culture, and the culture throughout Central and South America. Good Community Members Always Work Together “What’s important in long-standing relationships — like our relation- ship with Rouses, or with a customer or with an employee — is honesty and listening. It’s all about being true to your word and listening for opportunities to help. I believe, as a local company, that the ability to have a handshake relationship, as well as the ability to solve problems or bring ideas to help solve problems for a customer, is important to the relationship,” declares Saurage. And he believes the success that Community Coffee and Rouses have had over time are because of the two companies’ demon- strated dedication to those two things: honesty and listening. Says Saurage: “It’s about listening to the customer, being open to ideas. We have thoroughly enjoyed our relationship with Rouses. They’re good people. They’re true to their word. And they’re always looking for new ideas. It’s been an incredible relationship.” Good Community Members Aren’t Afraid of Positive Change It’s a common challenge for any family business when the next gener- ation comes along; identifying where they fit in and how they can contribute value are crucial to guiding the family business. Saurage believed being part of the younger set of a generational business was quite daunting. But as he matured he began to realize that the older set in a generational business is also intimidated, hoping that they have taught their children, or their nieces and nephews, well enough to sustain the business. Saurage illustrates how learning to work with those generational differences can actually enhance the business as well as the family bonds: “It was kind of an interesting relationship with my father. I wanted to demonstrate my passion for the business and my new ideas, but I was always hesitant to implement them until he invited them. And that really flourished into a great relation- ship, where we had stories not just about the business, but

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