Today we’d like to introduce you to Steven Leganski.
Hi Steven, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Back in 2020, my partner Taylor Kirkman and I were sent to work from home during the pandemic, and we tried roasting coffee as a hobby. It actually turned out really well, and we started roasting coffee and selling it at a local farmer’s market. We figured the best way people could try the coffee was drinking it, so we took a leap and purchased a 1961 horse trailer. We spent three months building it in our driveway (in the summer). Our first event was for a huge fall festival downtown, and we learned a ton from it! By December, we had enough events that I was able to make the leap to quitting my full time job and was able to work the trailer full time instead. From there we’ve just been growing steadily with mostly private catering events, but a few regular open sales events every week.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It’s definitely not always a smooth road. We prioritize eco-friendly practices in our business which means the cost of our supplies is always more expensive. We don’t use any plastic so our cost of goods is always higher which is an ongoing challenge. It’s important to us that that our customers aren’t consuming microplastics with their coffee and that we compost our waste. Climate change has affected coffee bean farms in South America, plus the tariffs have added increased costs to green coffee, so overall the cost of coffee beans has been more expensive over the last couple of years. Every food trucker knows that you have to be handy to run a food truck business. Things are always breaking, no matter how well they’re built. You have to know how to work on espresso machines, plumbing, generator maintenance, electrical, flat tires. Something always goes wrong and you have to be able to fix it quickly so that you can finish a job. Additionally, we roast all of our coffee and learning to roast coffee is a whole different skill to tackle. It takes years to really learn the art of roasting. There’s so much science behind it too.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
We’re really proud of the fact that we have prioritized sustainability in our business. We both love to hike and get outside in Arizona, and that’s part of why sustainability is important to us. We don’t use any plastic supplies in our business. All of our supplies are compostable in the trailer, as well as all of our roasted coffee packaging. Additionally, we partner with Recycled City Phoenix to compost our waste. We also calculate our carbon footprint every year with our trailer business, and offset our carbon footprint through an organization called COTAP.org which stands for Carbon Offsets to Alleviate Poverty. Essentially you can donate to carbon offsetting projects that simultaneously address climate change and global poverty. We’re also really proud of the fact that we have invested a lot into coffee education for ourselves. We’ve gone through a lot of professional training for coffee roasting, brewing, espresso, coffee extraction, barista skills, as well as general coffee business ownership training. All of this education helps us create the best experience possible for customers.
How do you think about happiness?
I graduated college with a degree in education, and part of what I love about working in the coffee trailer is teaching people about coffee. When you’re passionate about something, it’s easy to share that passion with others. I think some of our customers have a new appreciation for their coffee as they’ve learned more about it. Plus we try to make the coffee trailer a whole experience; it’s not just buying a cup of coffee in the morning, it’s a chance to meet new people, make new friends, share a joke, and make your day a little better. We’ve learned the coffee trailer is an experience a lot of folks look forward to every day, and that’s a huge honor for us and something we take very seriously. Every hour of education, training, preparation, cleaning grinders, and roasting coffee is done with the customer experience as the priority.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://heatcoffeeaz.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heatcoffee
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heatcoffeeaz
