Open since 1924, Original Pantry Café is an iconic café located in Downtown Los Angeles that is known for operating 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Over the years, Original Pantry Café has grown from a tiny one-room that could fit 15 stools to a staple of late-night dining in the heart of LA. It’s even been recognized as an official Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument, marking the 255th cultural landmark in Los Angeles.
Serving around 10.5 tons of coffee per year, Original Pantry Café was looking for a reputable and reliable coffee partner to help grow its business. Thankfully, Original Pantry found Gaviña Coffee, a partner dedicated to providing quality coffee its customers are proud to serve.
Growing the Business
For Jose Valdez, manager of Original Pantry, his goal has remained the same since his first day on the job: to deliver a great experience for his customers. As a café that has never closed or been without a customer since its establishment almost a century ago, it has been a tradition for Original Pantry to be open 24/7/365. So, like many of the managers that came before him, it was Valdez’s turn to carry the torch.
“My goal at Original Pantry Café has been to grow the business by selling and providing a great experience for our customers,” said Valdez.
While that seemed like a challenge in and of itself, it wasn’t anything Valdez couldn’t handle. His main objective was for his customers to have an enjoyable and memorable experience in his café. However, in its almost 100-year history, Original Pantry found itself in an unprecedented situation. Like the other 90,000 restaurants throughout California, the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic had disrupted the cafe’s normal operations. The LA icon saw a drop in revenue and, unfortunately, had to reduce the number of employees working. Employees at Original Pantry Café had to wear both masks and face shields to stay open.
Adapting to the “New Normal,” Original Pantry Café had to essentially re-establish a 100-year-old brand. Valdez explained, “We’re basically starting from the beginning again. It will be a big challenge to achieve.” While looking for ways to elevate and re-establish the brand, the first step he took to revitalize the café was to find a new coffee partner that he could trust to deliver quality coffee.
Gaviña Coffee’s Quality and Service
Original Pantry Café discovered Gaviña Coffee, a heritage brand like itself, in its search for a trusted coffee partner. Drawn to Gaviña’s exceptional reputation and quality coffee, Valdez knew Gaviña was the perfect partner for Original Pantry. “We were just looking for good coffee when we found Gaviña,” said Valdez. “Since they had a great reputation and are known for amazing coffee, we wanted to serve Gaviña’s coffees to our customers.”
Out of the gates, Valdez noticed that Gaviña brought quality and service to its partnership. Gaviña understood Original Pantry’s business needs, especially amidst the current situation, and delivered personalized support based on the café’s needs including:
- Equipping the café with coffeehouse-level quality coffee;
- Providing merchandising and marketing materials needed to help bring in more customers;
- Training the Original Pantry staff on both how to brew the perfect cup of coffee and how to use its new coffee equipment; and
- Directly delivering all of Original Pantry’s orders, which was a huge help for Valdez and all the staff at the café.
Although the Original Pantry’s partnership with Gaviña is relatively new, Valdez has noticed the benefits of serving Gaviña Coffee in this short amount of time. “Overall, our customers’ feedback has been great,” said Valdez. “People that are getting our coffee are really enjoying it!”
A Continued Partnership
Currently, Original Pantry Café continues to serve its customers with limited capacity while navigating the maze of new sanitation rules and guidelines. During this time, Original Pantry is excited to serve Gaviña Coffee and see more people come in for the delicious, quality coffee.