Carabello Launches Kickstarter | Expanding to do More Good

Watch Our Kickstarter Video Here

Back in 2009 when Emily and I started Carabello Coffee, we had no idea we would ever be where we are today. 

We were just two ordinary people, and knew we wanted to help these orphans in Nicaragua have the chance to be loved, go to school and have a dream.

So we took $300, bought a 1 pound home roaster and started a philanthropic craft coffee roasting company.

The idea was pretty simple.  We would source and roast the best coffee we can for people here in the States, and then take our profits and help improve the lives of these kids in Nicaragua.  We call it Coffee & Compassion in Tandem.

What we discovered was that a lot of people loved the idea that they could take their coffee dollars and turn them into a way to help someone else. 

Our initial vision was small, and an unexpected aspect of this whole thing is the people that started gathering around it.

  • We’ve been able to partner with bakers
  • Artists
  • Restaurant owners
  • Fishmongers
  • Bike mechanics
  • We met people at farmers markets
  • Raised money for fine arts programs, even the alley cat rescue
  • Businessmen, nurses, videographers, restaurant owners, stay at home moms, even local teenagers who would come and hang out…

Before we really knew it, we had this passionate community of people gathering around this business,  people who want to see this idea succeed.   

And now we need YOUR help!

We love our city and have been amazed at how quickly our shop has become a part of the fabric of Newport.   The truth is, we’re growing steadily and we need more space for the roasting and the café.   

A few months ago we were trying to figure out what to do, and then the business that took the corner space in our building just up and left. 

So we went to our landlords and asked if they’d be willing to sell us the entire building.  To our surprise, they not only said Yes, but they also said they would take $50k off the appraised value so that it would be affordable to us. 

So far we’ve self-funded this business the whole way, we’re debt free, and we’ve able to stay on mission the entire time.  We have been able to give away $10,000 in each of the past two years. 

But if we have to go to the bank and take out a big loan, it will force us to go off mission to some degree while we pay it back. 

So here we have this amazing opportunity, to not only build a dedicated coffee roastery that will give us the space we need, but to also revitalize a historic building on one of Newport’s busiest corners. 

Taking this pretty wonky, historic building, and making it beautiful again is exactly what our city needs right now.  We want people to walk by this place and be proud of where they live.  We want to add value to our community.    

We’ve met with City officials, talked to the historic preservation guy and other business owners, and everyone is saying the same thing:

This expansion of Carabello Coffee, and the revitalization of this building will be catalytic, something that really accelerates the entire revitalization of Newport’s urban core.

I know that’s a lot to take in, but Will YOU help us? 

We are setting a $40,000 initial goal for this campaign.  That will give us the money we need to do the interior renovations and build out of the new roaster.  That will include adding a training lab and a large space for coffee community events like barista jams and latte art throwdowns, and a great space for live music. 

It will also give us space to add a slow bar, almost like a shop within a shop for the true coffee geek.  This will be a first of its kind in the Cincinnati area: a place where we can do a lot of alternative brewing methods that really don’t work in a faster paced environment.

But let’s not stop there.  The City of Newport is willing to give us $15,000 towards the exterior renovation of the building if we spend $30,000 on it.  So, if we can raise $70,000 it will really be $85,000.  And that will mean we will be able to make this building something that is truly beautiful. 

Our goal is not “we need more space; help us grow our business so that we can put more money in our pocket. “ It’s that we can’t give more if we don’t get bigger. 

And for us it all goes back to helping those kids in Nicaragua.  We’ve never said this publicly, but our hearts desire has been that someday we would be able to give away $100,000 in a year.  

The only way that could ever happen is for us to grow large enough to accomplish it; and us launching this campaign is our way of saying, “we think it is actually possible.”  Because we know people like you care about our mission; you care about those kids.

Will you help us?