Mt. San Antonio Gardens, also known as The Gardens, is a Continuing Care Retirement Community located in Pomona, California. With over 500 residents who reside in its community, The Gardens services all levels of care including assisted living, independent living, skilled nursing, and memory care. For over 60 years, The Gardens’ facilities offer comfort and convenience that deliver a fulfilling experience to the residents and adapt to their continuously evolving needs and preferences.
As its community continued to expand, The Gardens realized its dining experience was not matching the brand’s level of quality. One area that needed to be upgraded was the community’s coffee experience. The Gardens was in need of a reliable coffee partner that offers both high-quality coffee and exceptional customer service to provide the best dining experience to their residents.
Becoming A Gaviña Partner
In late 2017, Jack Forrest, Director of Dining Services at Mt. San Antonio Gardens, discovered Gaviña after visiting his colleague’s service area wherein he met Mike, an Account Manager from Gaviña. After a fulfilling conversation about how Gaviña can grow their business by delivering high-quality coffee, Jack chose to transition from a well-known, highly reputable coffee company, to Don Francisco’s Coffee. According to Jack, he was “really impressed with both the Gaviña products and Mike’s exceptional customer service.”
During the transition, Jack held a tasting event for all the residents of the community. “Gaviña was so accommodating during our tasting event. They were there all throughout the week to answer questions and supervise the transition.”
As the COVID-19 pandemic started to spread across the globe, The Gardens made the decision to pause its self-service stations. This created an opportunity for Gaviña to provide hands-on training for The Gardens staff so they could deliver high-quality coffee to the residents at any time. During this training period, Jack commended Gaviña for its expertise and on-the-spot training. “Whenever we had a new employee, Gaviña came in and trained the staff so that they knew how to properly operate and clean the machine, as well as serve the best quality coffee.”
Mt. San Antonio Gardens currently serves Don Francisco’s Coffee, one of Gaviña’s premium coffee brands, to its residents. Some favorite drinks within the community include freshly brewed hot coffees, lattes, and hot chocolates.
A Dependable Coffee Partner
Mt. San Antonio Gardens continues to foster a close relationship with Gaviña through community events like outdoor BBQs and lunches. During the pandemic, The Gardens held a socially distanced outdoor BBQ for all their staff to show them how much they are appreciated. For this event, Jack reached out to Gaviña to join them. “Gaviña came, set up a table, and offered specialty iced coffees, iced teas, and frappuccinos to our team. They gave everyone their afternoon fix.”
This act of generosity touched Jack and the Mt. San Antonio Gardens community. It showed how Gaviña offers great customer service and is a partner who will always be there for you. “Gaviña’s kind gesture was really nice and very much appreciated. It’s a wonderful partnership. They really showed us the value of having vendors.”
A Continued Partnership
With plans to expand its community, Mt. San Antonio Gardens continues to serve its residents with high-quality coffee and beverages provided by Gaviña. “It’s the best move we ever made. Our residents love it and I love it. The customer service is phenomenal,” Jack noted. Over the years, The Gardens has referred Gaviña to several other senior living communities within the district, with “almost every one of [The Gardens’] senior communities brewing Gaviña.”
