Q&A: Watsonville Coffee Roastery Misses Seeing Customers In Cafe

WATSONVILLE, CA — Patch is trying to support local businesses by giving them a platform to share their successes and tribulations during the coronavirus pandemic. The following comes from Amelia Loftus, owner and roaster of woman-owned Hidden Fortress:

Editor's note: These responses have been lightly edited for clarity.

What do you do and how long have you been in business?

I roast coffee and run a small cafe and farmer's market coffee stall. I started the business in 2013 and we opened the Watsonville roastery cafe in the fall of 2016.

What challenges have you encountered during the pandemic?

Cafe business dropped by 70% when shelter in place began. Our Watsonville Cabrillo College coffee cart ceased all operations in March and is expected to remain closed for the rest of the year. Farmers market sales in Santa Cruz have remained strong but there is a lot of extra work required to keep everything safe during the pandemic. Loss of revenue have made finances an ongoing worry.

How have you adapted and continued to serve people during this time?

Sales of roasted coffee to home consumers have increased. More people are working from home but still want quality coffee. We have allocated more time to roasting and getting coffee to the people.

We had to cut hours of operation at the cafe and removed seating and self serve stations. We streamlined our menu to focus on efficient, grab and go options, phone orders, and takeout.

Because we are such a tiny business, now with just 3 employees (we had 8 in February!), we decided not to do delivery of food and beverage orders. We fulfill some delivery orders placed through Doordash but do not feature this option as the fees are quite high.

What aspect of your work are you most looking forward to returning to when restrictions are lifted?

Being able to host customers in our cafe again and do coffee tastings without worrying about masks or spread of disease. But, I do not expect things to go back to the way they were for at least another year.

In the meantime it is a great joy to be able to provide a great coffee experience to our customers and friends despite the current restrictions.

Is there anything else you'd like to tell readers or customers?

Try and support local, homegrown businesses, especially now. You will not get the same level of care about the product and our community that you get at a big chain.

We are losing so many good businesses right now, and it is really heartbreaking. I think Hidden Fortress has enough local customers who truly appreciate the high quality and comfort value of our small batch roasted coffee to survive this... and with any luck we'll be able to reach new folks and find ways to thrive in the new reality of local business.

How can people get in touch with you and where are you located?

Roastery Cafe: 125 Hangar Way Suite 270, Watsonville, CA 95076

Open M-F 7:30- 12:30.
Phone orders: 831-228-1400
www.hiddenfortresscoffee.com