Worthy Convos: Katherine Morris on Diversity in the Coffee World

Katherine Morris is in the right business. In less than two years, she has turned Cherry Coffee Shop into a beloved Magnolia landmark and is now entering the world of wholesale and e-commerce with her recent purchase of Dallas’ Novel Coffee Roasters. You might assume it’s all the caffeine that fuels her momentum, but it’s actually something that can’t be found in a 16-ounce disposable coffee cup –  entrepreneurial drive.

You are quickly becoming the coffee queen of Fort Worth. Is this surprising to you, or has this been the plan from day one?

That’s the first time I’ve been called that. Over the last several years, I have been working incredibly collaboratively with other coffee and tea shop owners who continually pour into me, and that has created the success you see at Cherry. I by no means consider myself the queen of coffee. My intention has been to provide a welcoming experience, a safe space, and to engage the community and explore the curiosity of coffee.

photo by Rebekah Ballesteros

Your newest acquisition puts you in a totally different market. What intrigued you about this opportunity?

Representation. There is a lot of diversity at the cafe level of coffee, which is awesome and so encouraging, but once you cross over to roasting, importing and the equipment side of coffee, it looks like a traditional Fortune 500 board room. Different perspectives and life experiences bring tremendous value to any organization and industry, and I want to help strengthen and grow the coffee world by helping diversify it.

I also want to control more of my own supply chain – vertical integration is intriguing, and I look forward to seeing how my TCU Supply Chain Management coursework comes in handy.

Will Novel Coffee Roasters keep its name, or will it go through a Morris rebranding?

Novel Coffee Roasters will remain. For the last 10 years, Novel has built an amazing product, a loyal community, and a niche in the lighter roast, clean profile realm of coffee, and I’m excited to continue that legacy.

Over time, we will be adding a Cherry brand of roasted coffee to the business. While Novel is known for its light-medium roast and clean profiles, Cherry will dive a little further into the experimental and curious side of coffee, working with more naturals, anaerobics, co-fermented processes – the funky stuff.

From working in a coffee shop to owning and operating a coffee shop and roastery, what business advice do you have to offer budding entrepreneurs?

Stay curious and keep moving! I’m constantly reevaluating our processes at Cherry. We’re always making incremental changes to bolster our efficiencies, make processes easier for the team, and we’re trying new things. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t – but that’s how we get better.

What are the daily functions of a roastery?

It’s been so fun discovering this process. Each position has a different start time because the whole operation depends on when the first batch drops from the roaster. So, our head roaster, Marisa, shows up first, usually around 6 a.m. to get the machine powered on.. it takes about an hour to warm up. Around 7:30 a.m., our director of production, Leslie, and production assistant, Brandon, arrive to begin getting orders organized, get the production schedule sorted for the day, set up the team cupping, and then we’re off to the races. The day is then filled with roasting, packaging coffee, and sending out shipments.

Meanwhile, in the office, it’s me and Abbey, our director of business operations. We spend our time evaluating and documenting processes, overseeing the construction happening at the warehouse, engaging with customers, and Abbey is a wizard on all things technology. We’re looking at ways to optimize our website, improve our processes so we don’t get blindsided when we begin a marketing campaign, and overall make the most out of our resources.

Novel is served all over the country. Do you plan to make the footprint even bigger?

Yes, we’d love to! I did an analysis, and in 2022, Novel shipped out to 44 different states. Our goal this year is to hit all 50. We’d love to have more cafe partners as well, and we will be hitting the ground soon to build up our wholesale partners.

Cherry launched in 2021. What has surprised you the most in two years of operation?

The way our community has accepted and loves Cherry. I wanted to create a space that feels like a cozy hug when you walk in, and the community has embraced that hug.

When you aren’t drinking coffee, what are you drinking?

Water, lots and lots of water! Then you can find me at The Holly, drinking some natural wine.