Blanchard's Coffee Company: About Us

Our passion is great coffee. The dirty little secret of the coffee industry is that coffee has a shelf life. Coffee is only fresh within the first month of its roast, a very limited time period. Most prepackaged coffees are at least three to six months old. After tasting fresh coffee for the first time, you can never settle for stale coffee again.

This company had been a dream of David Blanchard's for years. Somewhere on I-95 between Hilton Head, SC, and Richmond, VA , in early September 2004, he decided it was time to stop dreaming and start doing.

After numerous late night conversations between David and his wife, Kelly, the decision was finally made. In the middle of October, 2004, They sold Kelly’s college graduation present, a 1999 Limited 4 Runner, and bought a 10 Kilo Ambex Coffee Roaster.

The roaster arrived January 2005 to David’s parent's garage (a child never really moves away from home). It took three trips to a hardware store before the machine could fire up for the first time. The anticipation was palatable. Finally, the pilot lit, and seconds later the burners flamed! When the first batch of coffee poured out of the drum into the cooler smoking and cracking, a dream had become reality.

The original business plan was a mail order coffee of the month club.  This would help guarantee freshness by roasting mere days before shipment, often even the same day. In late January of 2005, Blanchard’s shipped out about 35 lbs of Ethiopian Yergacheffe.

April 2005 brought great news for Blanchard's Coffee Co. A chance encounter with a Ukrop's Supermarket executive landed Blanchard’s in the chain's specialty store, Joe's Market. Less than a year later, Blanchard’s was expanding into the company's larger stores. Today, Blanchard’s is in all Ukrop's Grocery Stores and Joe's Markets!

You can also find Blanchard's coffee in many of Richmond's popular restaurants from Can-Can to Cielito Lindo to Positive Vibe. Blanchard's is proud to be the brew of choice for so many.

Change continues to be our constant.  If you are ever in Richmond, drop by our shop and roastery.  Good things happen when we take the time to talk over a cup of coffee.

You can also find our coffee in these fine establishments:

• Bin 22 @ Betsy's
  3200 W. Cary St. Richmond, VA 23221
  Brewed & Espresso
• Blackstone Coffee & Bistro
  101 S. Main St. Blackstone, VA 23824
  Brewed
• Café Rustica
  414 East Main Street, Richmond, VA 23219
  Brewed
• Can Can Brasserie
  3120 W. Cary St., Richmond, VA 23221
  French Press
• Cartwheels & Coffee
  2820 W. Cary St. Richmond, VA 23221
  Brewed & Espresso
• Cielito Lindo
  4702 Forest Hill Ave., Richmond, VA 23225
  Brewed
• Cup a Joe
  909 E. Main St., Richmond, VA 23219
  Brewed
• Ellwood Thompson's Coffee Shop
  10 S. Thompson St., Richmond, VA 23221
  Brewed, Espresso, and Beans whole or ground
• Java Jodi's
  2918 River Road West, Goochland, VA 23063
  Brewed
• Joe's Inn
  205 N. Shields Ave., Richmond, VA 23220
  Brewed
• Joe's Market
  400 Libbie Ave. Richmond, VA 23226
  Brewed
• Max's Positive Vibe Cafe
  2825 Hathaway Rd. Richmond, VA 23225
  Brewed & Espresso
• All Ukrop's Locations
  Beans whole or ground, some outlets provide brewed and espresso
  
• Weezie's Kitchen
  3123 West Cary Street, Richmond, VA 23221
  Brewed