24 Aug 2023 The roast of Rosebud
By Judy Riley
A coffee roastery in Rose Bud? Absolutely! It was a long but interesting road to Arkansas for the creators of RoZark Hills Coffee Roasterie. The move was partly because of family and partly because of the lure of escaping the city that brought Rita Fox from Seattle to Rose Bud. But coffee roasting was in Rita’s roots in Seattle. Her dad, Glenn Curtis, an entrepreneur and visionary, had a metal fabrication business in Seattle. In the early 1970s, three young men approached him about refurbishing the first coffee roaster for what would become Starbucks.
“When people saw how Starbucks had overwhelming popularity, others wanted to get into the gourmet coffee roasting business. That changed the family business into full-time supply and fabrication of coffee roasting equipment,” Fox said. Ultimately, Curtis sold the business to son Marty and the Curtises set off to explore America. On one of their many trips through Central Arkansas, they fell in love with the Romance/Rose Bud area and bought an 80-acre farm. After building a house, barn and fencing, they reached out to Rita and Marty, asking them to move to Arkansas and start a coffee roastery business.
Twenty-six years later, RoZark Hills Coffee Roasterie now buys beans through green coffee importers supplying coffees from countries such as Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ethiopia, Guatemala, India, Kenya, Mexico, New Guinea, Sumatra, Tanzania and Panama. They roast these single-origin beans and have created six of their own blends. Popular ones are Country Morning Breakfast Blend and Roastmaster’s Blend. They sell decafs, organics, 14 flavored coffees and a few seasonal blends. They package, using their own label and sacks, right in their facility in Rose Bud (White County).
The beans arrive green in burlap sacks. The roasting only takes 10-12 minutes, but the skill is in the operator. “A roaster needs to know each beans’ characteristics to get their fullest flavor potential. Are they hard or soft, high or low acidity, heavy or light body? What flavors (re: chocolate, nutty, caramel) can be pulled out? You roast the beans to obtain the specific outcome you want,” Fox said.
RoZark originally served a wholesale-only client base. And it is still their biggest business. They sell and deliver to coffee houses in Central Arkansas. But as word spread, folks began to drop by and ask to buy directly. Curtis, ever the visionary, suggested converting what were offices to a retail space. Fox thought that was a very bad idea. In her words, “Who will drive to Rose Bud, Arkansas, to buy coffee?” The answer is carloads of coffee lovers! A painting of a steaming cup of coffee on the floor and the distinct odor of roasted coffee greets customers. RoZark displays their coffees, coffee-making equipment, teapots and various teas ready for the next customer.
Fox and her staff of five, some with long tenure, have a soft spot for schools, teachers and students. They offer roasted, bagged coffees at wholesale prices to student groups raising funds for projects. Students sell at retail and keep the profits. This arrangement is a win-win. RoZark coffees reach new audiences and student projects get support.
How do they market their coffees? Fox says mostly by word of mouth. “Our customers share their coffee with friends. They gift it for Christmas and birthdays. If our customers move from the state, they continue to order our coffee and take it all over the country. This has been going on for 26 years, so by now, we have a faithful following.”
Coffees are available online at https:www.rozark.com, by calling 501.566.5808. Their retail hours are from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday, 5898 Highway 36 West, Rose Bud. A short, picturesque drive from anywhere in the 501 to Rose Bud for a sack of deliciousness is no sacrifice. Worth the trip!
