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Americans drink 646 million cups of coffee per day and the pandemic has changed how and where many of us drink it. According to the Spring 2021 National Coffee Data Trends Report, 85 percent of coffee drinkers had at least one cup at home last year. That's up more than 10 percent from 2017.

Norte Café owners Yair and Sally Carvajalino took advantage of the shift and launched their online store in December 2020. Born and raised in Colombia, Yair was a third-generation coffee bean farmer and after moving to the United States, decided it might be the perfect business for him to start with his wife. 

MPR News host Tom Crann spoke to Yair and Sally Carvajalino about the motivation to start a business during the pandemic and what they’ve learned about introducing Americans to Colombian coffee. 

Use the audio player above to listen to the interview.

Tom Crann

Host

Lindsay Guentzel

Author

As Americans adjusted to life at home during the pandemic, they also changed many of their daily habits — including how and where they drink their coffee. It was that transition that caught the eye of Yair and Sally Carvajalino, the owners of Norte Café, an online store that sells coffee from Yair’s home country of Colombia. 

Norte Café Roasters was a dream of Yair and Sally Carvajalino well before the pandemic hit. But it wasn't until Americans were stuck at home that experts started to notice that coffee consumption was on the rise in our own kitchens. How a change in our habits pushed the Carvajalinos to launch their own company, bringing Colombian coffee right to your doorsteps. 

Appetites: the pandemic changed how we drink coffee and one local company took notice

Jennifer Simonson | MPR Photo 2012

Two people stand behind a display table serving coffee.

Appetites: Pandemic coffee trends open door for new business venture

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