5 Minutes On A Park Bench: Jason Belkin, Owner Of Hampton Coffee

WESTHAMPTON BEACH, NY — Jason Belkin, co-owner of Hampton Coffee Company, has been the force behind the popular business for years. Working side-by-side with his wife Theresa, Belkin has worked tirelessly to see the business grow and expand; today, there are seven locations across the East End, with the most recent opening in January in Hampton Bays.

An iconic Hamptons business since 1994, Hampton Coffee Company is Long Island’s largest independently-owned roaster-retailer.

Recently, Patch spoke with Belkin for a newly unveiled feature, "5 Minutes on a Park Bench"; a Q & A with local business owners. The interview follows:

How was the idea for your business born?

A woman from New York City had an idea in 1994 for a place where you'd roast coffee on one side of the shop and serve it fresh on the other with some fresh bakery items. That is how it all began, 30 years ago, in an abandoned 1940s-era garage in Water Mill. Back then, most people outside of the Pacific Northwest didn't know what craft coffee was or what a latte tasted like. The Third Wave coffee movement was just beginning here in the East. When I was in college, I worked a summer as a barista for her and fell in love with the business — and the rest is history!

If you were to describe your business to someone new to the area, what would you say?

The best way to describe HCC to someone who hasn't visited one of our cafes yet is that we are what you'd expect a real espresso bar to be plus a breakfast and lunch casual cafe, welcoming and local. We have our own locally-roasted coffee, but we also bake fresh in each cafe every morning and serve hot breakfast and lunch food that we make ourselves. Real, fresh fruit Smoothies too! There are not too many places where you can enjoy coffee literally right out of the roaster.

What do you think are the keys to running a business on the East End?

It is extra-challenging running a business in a seasonal area like the East End but we think the keys to our success with that are two things. One is being a part of our communities year-round. We're open every day — even in Montauk. We're sponsoring events and volunteering all the time, whether it's summer or not. We're always thinking of our locals, they are our number one customers. Everything we do, we're always thinking of all the local people that support us. And second, since we are open year-round, no one on our team loses their job in the fall like at so many other places out here. Even when it's the coldest days of winter, we're keeping all our team working.

What about your products and team make your business such a treasured part of the community canvas?

I think what makes us a treasured local business is that we try every day to be our best for our customers — and a positive place to work for our staff. We're never cutting corners on our food or drinks, we try to absorb as many cost increases as we can, we say yes to supporting organizations and events as much as we can, and we offer year-round discounts on everything in our cafes to our uniformed customers, school staff, medical workers, and our military. We promote from within as much as we can and work with our staff on positive mental health, help with school, and whatever we can do to help. We have an internal mentoring program and a group of team members that help with new drink creations and other fun business and marketing activities.

What is the most important piece of business advice you were ever given?

The most important piece of business advice is what I learned from my previous jobs, including McDonald's and when I was a barista at HCC (under the previous owner) during college. It's important to set the tone of the business's culture from the top, everyone is influenced by their boss. And just to be nice and care. Being kind truly can go a long way. I'm always happy to volunteer my personal time and to do whatever I can to help our community members.

What is your vision for the future of your business?

Although Hampton Coffee Company just turned 30 years old, we still have a lot of growth ahead of us. We're constantly growing and changing, and I think that's what makes us successful. We think there is room for a few more Hampton Coffees on the East End. We just opened our newest cafe in Hampton Bays, a goal of ours for a long time. A growing business and new stores means new and more opportunities for our team members, which is so important to us.

How have you changed, as a businessman, since the first day you opened your doors for the first time?

I have changed so much since I first took over the business from the original owner. I'm a big proponent of constantly growing and learning and improving yourself. I try to learn something new every day. And a lot of that learning comes from mistakes. We make plenty of mistakes at HCC, we wouldn't be being honest if we pretended we were perfect. No one is. But we learn and we do better. That is the theme for all of us in the company. Sometimes a customer will feel awkward giving us some negative feedback, but that honestly can be the best advice. It allows us to address something we might not have known we were doing wrong.

What are the challenges and more rewarding parts of running a business today?

Running a business today is harder than ever. I'm conscious of that every day and I think it's true for most businesses in today's economic climate. It is so hard to find quality employees, especially on the East End, because of the affordable housing shortage. That's hurting our ability to grow our company. All our bills have gone up substantially since COVID. Whether it's insurance or the price of eggs, every time something goes up, it's taking from the overall success of our company. Even our main ingredient, raw green coffee beans, has doubled in price in the past two years, and that hurts a lot. It's so hard for us to increase prices because we don't want anyone in our community who would like to come to HCC to not be able to afford it. So, we offer so many discounts and promotions. We make sure our prices are in line with our national competitors as well as local ones. But sometimes we do need to raise prices, and we just hope our customers know that almost all of our spending takes place here in our communities. None of our spending or profits go to Seattle or New York City. It goes to supporting local people, fellow local merchants, and the organizations and events that we support year-after-year.

The most rewarding part of owning Hampton Coffee Company personally is the variety of my job. You never know what's going to come up or what you're going to be working on. And also that I have the ability to help other people and make a positive impact — whether in the community or with our own staff. One of the things I was most excited about in coming to Hampton Bays was that we finally are in the community and can start helping. It's such an amazing school district and such a great community, and we're all excited to be able to contribute here as well now.

What lessons would you like to teach your own children — what values would you like to impart — that you think will help them in whatever careers they choose?

Theresa and I have two boys, Cian and Oran, and both are in middle school right now. I try to constantly remind them to be nice to everyone, that's really important to us. Be a good community member and help people when you can. And while some business owners might be insistent on their kids joining the business, I want them to decide on their own. Owning Hampton Coffee Company was my dream when I was working here as a barista at 18, and it's amazing that it came true, but they should follow their own path. Whatever gives them happiness and job satisfaction.

What would you say to your customers, old and new?

There is really only one thing we could say to our customers, many of whom have been supporting us for literally decades. Thank you. We only exist because you support us and shop local with us. There are so many choices, and you do us the honor of choosing us. Because of you, we are able to hire hundreds and hundreds of local people over the years — many as their first jobs — and support more than 100 different local causes each year. Thank you.