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What’s Brewing at Manzanita Roasting

Escondido Locals are Blending and Branding Quality Roasts and Check-Out Bonus Social Media Tips and Tricks

Manzanita Roasting on the corner of Grand and Juniper

While many spent 2020 working from home, couple Weston and Samantha Nawrocki discovered the perks of opening a new business closer to home. In November, they opened  Manzanita Roasting at 301 E. Grand.

“It’s just two minutes away from my house,” said Samantha whose family are the third-generation owners of Bernardo Winery in Rancho Bernardo. “It’s a good time to be opening because people want to go out for coffee. They want that 15 minute or half-hour interaction to grab a cup and sit outside.”

Local pups enjoying a coffee break with their person

The current state order doesn’t allow indoor seating but customers are sitting outside at the park across the street as well as taking their orders to go. 

“Manzanita Roasting was one of the 696 new Escondido-based businesses that applied for a business license from March 1 through November 23, 2020 during the pandemic.  This is a tribute to the resilience and perseverance of the Escondido community to forge ahead and build a business they can be proud of right here in our City,” said Amber Tarrac, Escondido’s Deputy Director of Economic Development. 

In addition to getting a hot cup of coffee or packaged coffee at the coffee shop, Manzanita Roasting also provides a subscription model that gives customers a home delivery option. 

Team Manzanita choice subscription allows you to choose your preferred coffee option

Samantha said, “The subscription started during the first lockdown.” People became interested in Weston’s local roasting and the couple found they were delivering to people for free as a way to get out of the monotony of lockdown and to do something with their, as Samantha put it, “our nervous energy.” As a result, customers got hooked on Weston’s blends and the subscription model was created.

Manzanita Roasting owners Weston and Samantha Nawrocki

Weekly or monthly orders are available with many blend options. “You can get our blend, the blend of the month, or the roaster’s choice, which is usually something fun from one of our new farms,” said Samantha who added, “We ship all around the country and an order of two bags or more ships free.”

Weston, who is a chef and accomplished Sommelier, is now master roaster, roasting beans from independently-owned small farms in Africa, South America and Central America. 

Every cup is made with love 

“It’s just really good, quality locally roasted coffee, that’s sourced,” said Samantha. “What my husband does is kind of upping the game, he’s always roasting it better and better, making sure that he gets the perfect sweetness from the coffee.”

The couple, who live in Historic Escondido, love that they have been able to open a coffee shop in their hometown. It’s their second cafe, their other location is on the Bernardo Winery grounds. They also feel the Escondido community has been extremely supportive since they opened. 

“The community’s really behind us. Everybody is coming out to support small businesses like ours,” said Samantha, who mentioned that even Mayor McNamara sent an email welcoming them.  City leaders have also trickled in to say hi and welcome them. “They have all said welcome and that they are here to support us with whatever we need.” One of those needs was to repaint the curb outside the cafe which ended up providing closer parking for customers. 

“They’ve just gone above and beyond,” Samantha added. “I feel like the support has just breathed a little more life into the streets and downtown.”

Manzanita Roasting is open daily 

Branding Beyond Coffee

Samantha feels this kind of support enhances the City and combined with the marketing efforts Escondido is embracing, will continue to make it a great place to live and do business.

Samantha who has run the successful marketing campaign for Bernardo Winery is now marketing her coffee shop. She is also planning to work with the City to host an online workshop on how businesses can promote themselves in today’s market on social media. She feels social media is a great way to promote any type of business. “I don’t like to see a business struggle because they don’t know how to use social media tools,” Samantha said. 

Samantha has some pro tips on how to use social media to promote any type of business:

Focus on Instagram

Unlike Facebook, which Samantha says is limited and only gives you an audience to the people who follow you, Instagram reaches a wider audience and by using hashtags smartly and often, the audience will widen even more.

Commit to Post Daily

Samantha suggests posting something every day on your feed or story and making sure the images are very clear and relevant to the post. 

Limit Your Marketing Message

While this might seem counterproductive, limiting your marketing message to every 10-to-12 posts, you will create a following of people who find your business interesting and want to know your story. Samantha added this is especially important for the millennial crowd. “You’ll lose their interest if you are constantly posting, buy this, buy that.”

Let Your Followers Get to Know You

“Take pictures, introduce yourself and your employees,” she said. Don’t be afraid to be a real person with real things going on in your life.” Followers want to relate to you and understand how you live and do business, she said.

Be Relevant

Story, photos, and effective hashtags can do wonders to boost your audience and get people talking about your business. Product hashtags will represent whatever you are selling, niche hashtags connect you within your industry, and community hashtags connect you with people around you. Special events and seasonal hashtags will also help connect you with others who participate in or sell timely products.

You are Never Too Old for Social Media 

Samantha emphasized that older adults should give social media a try. She said that with their knowledge and experience, they could gain a lot of followers who are looking for that expertise. She said not to just hand off your social media account to a younger person just because you think they might be more comfortable on the platform.  Remember, it’s free advertising!

For Samantha, social media has also proven to be extremely helpful during the pandemic. It has helped customers stay aware of the status of businesses like hers. “Are you open, are you closed, people are relying on social media to know what the status is of businesses,” she said. And it has also helped many find ways to support their local businesses. 

For now, she and her husband would like to let their community know they are happy to be here and don’t plan to go anywhere. “This is our home; we’re planted,” she said. “Our passion is to be here.”

Manzanita Roasting is located at 301 E. Grand Street. For more information contact them at info@manzanitaroasting.com