January | February 2020
From the Publisher
The founder and publisher of Roast magazine, Connie Blumhardt has spent 25 years in magazine publishing and has worked in the coffee industry for the last 20 years. Connie brings the same passion and commitment to this industry journal that is present within the roasting community.
With each issue, Connie brings insight and inspiration to the pages of Roast with this column.
Connie Blumhardt, Publisher
STAY CURIOUS! ASSUMING YOU ARE NOT A CAT, I can give no better advice to readers of Roast who want to succeed in business (and beyond). Roast’s mission over the past decade and a half has been to create, nurture and fulfill our audience’s eagerness to learn—an eagerness that not only breeds creativity but inspires action. My firm belief is that an open mind becomes an engaged mind.
Opening that door—drawing and keeping attention—is very different today than it was when we launched the magazine in 2004. The concept of all magazines, especially those covering the trade, has changed over the years. Although competition for mindshare from various flashy and shallow sources of media is fierce, Roast readers have always responded to the quality technical editorial and to the straightforward, unpretentious design of the magazine.
To continue to stoke our readers’ curiosity, Roast must evolve. In order to prime our readers to engage with our technical content, we must first stoke their emotions. Coffee-industry professionals want the same sophistication and elegance in their trade magazine that they have come to expect from the best consumer magazines. Art and style are now essential in the trade magazine world.
In pursuit of that goal, we have redesigned Roast. By upgrading the paper, font, and size, we are giving the industry a trade magazine reminiscent of a luxury travel magazine. If you see this magazine sitting on a table, you won’t be able to walk by without picking it up to read the exquisitely designed pages. We aim to highlight the allure of our industry by using photos that are stunning and represent the beauty found within our industry in all forms.
Roast’s redesign also benefits our advertising customers. Engaged, active and curious readers are the key value we offer to our advertisers, who want readers who consume information and act on it. Our advertisers support us because they benefit from their product’s association with the art, craft and content of the magazine. Roast wants our readers and advertisers to be a community.
I am proud of our product, which is really the reflection of the talent and dedication of our creative staff. There is one man most of you have probably never seen (due to his severe allergy to trade shows), who has been through every day of Roast with me since the magazine’s inception. A true wizard with the keyboard (both computer and musical), our Art, Design and overall Director of Cool Jeremy Leff takes my nebulous flow of ideas and brings them to life. Everything Roast does has either Jeremy’s direct touch or the threads of influence woven from his style. Thank you, my friend.
At its best, our industry blends art and science, and all of us at Roast continue to challenge ourselves to live up to that standard. I hope you enjoy the look and feel of the magazine as much as we have enjoyed its creation.
Warmest Wishes,
Connie
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