Supplying Minnesota’s Breakrooms

From station wagon to number one office coffee service provider in the region, Berry Coffee’s dream becomes reality.

Written by Ann Bauer // Eden Prairie, MN

“I didn’t even drink coffee,” said Steve Brehm, recalling his life 40 years ago when he was just embarking on a new business adventure. Ironically, although he didn’t like coffee (yet), he found that he loved the coffee business.

Steve got his start in the coffee industry right out of college, when he went to work for a regional coffee company as a sales representative. He worked there for two years, followed by another brief stint with a national coffee company.

Worn out from all of the travel, Steve knew he wanted a change. He also saw people in offices struggling with how to provide coffee to their employees. So, in the fall of 1979, he started Berry Coffee Co. with nothing more than a station wagon and a dream of growing his own business.

Today, Steve’s son Joey Brehm works alongside him, and Berry Coffee has grown to be the number one office coffee service provider in Minneapolis, Minn. Their 12 drivers make between 150–350 deliveries a day.

Recently, they’ve expanded into the foodservice industry with their new espresso program designed for hotels and restaurants. They provide 24/7 service to accommodate these foodservice accounts.

“We have our roasting operation so we’re putting a lot of time, energy, and money into that,” said 

Joey. This is a fairly new service from Berry Coffee so people are just becoming aware of its availability.

“We can build out some wonderful blends, and we can do it any way they want it,” said Steve. “The freshness is something that people really love,” he said.

The history between Berry Coffee and Service Ideas dates back to the very beginning. “We were technically probably one of the first OCS customers you’ve done business with,” said Steve.

One of Steve’s earliest customers approached him looking to get their logo printed on a coffee carafe. Through some networking, he stumbled upon Service Ideas. Since then, he has supplied a number of Service Ideas coffee pots, airpots, and thermal dispensers to his customers.

“Our model is to always give free equipment and maintain it as long as they buy coffee from us,” said Joey. This is a huge advantage to their customers.