2020 got off to a difficult start for all of us. In the face of COVID-19 we take solace knowing we are all in this together, even if everyone’s individual experience may be different.
At our roastery here in Seattle, we are incredibly grateful to the continued support from you all, our customers, the brave work of all of our first responders and healthcare workers and the continued efforts of our local government. We have been taking measures ourselves to protect not only us but our community as well. As everyone should be, we have been diligently hand washing, sanitizing every surface and wearing masks while working.
As an overly anxious individual (I know excessive caffeine intake does not help), I (Zoe, the roaster for Kuma) have been working from home as much as possible and roasting on opposite shifts to minimize our contact within the warehouse. Although it is that time of year when Seattleites finally see the sun again and beaches and hiking trails are typically overrun, we have been keeping it close to home by enjoying the sun from our patios and occasional neighborhood walks. When not at home, we are hard at work in the roastery. We are grateful for your support to allow us to continue doing what we love. We are sincerely grateful for the smallest sense of normalcy being hard at work provides. Not only has making delicious coffee helped us to stay positive, but it has allowed us to use our resources to continue supporting other local businesses. We are doing our best to support local farms by each subscribing to a CSA, purchasing local flowers, donating to food banks (so far we have donated milk and 150 lbs of coffee!) and placing take-out orders from our neighborhood spots.
Each of us at Kuma has a different personal journey within the world of coffee, but we all appreciate the interconnectivity it provides across global communities. Although for many life seems to be in limbo, and the future may seem scary, if nothing else, our hearts are fuller thanks to the strong sense of community we have seen emerge. The internet has never felt so positive!
We hope you and your family are staying healthy and safe. Although things are difficult, we at Kuma are trying to stay positive, enjoying more time with loved ones (virtually or in person), taking more time for cuddles with our pets and providing some extra nurture to our plants at home.
With good coffee powering us, we can do anything!
-- The team at Kuma Coffee, 4/16/2020