Ogden, Utah
Founded: 2004
Privately Owned
Employees: 24
Industry: Food & Beverage
Product: Coffee
Jeff Furton’s manufacturing play: community wrapped in a coffee experience.
“I wanted to do something with my family,” Furton remembers. “I wanted to create something of our own.”
Eventually, Furton decided to pursue coffee, and it lead to providing a drive-thru to his community. “Ogden, Utah, was our first home,” Furton says. “We wanted to be a part of this community and we jumped all in, meeting people at farmer’s markets and promoting not just our coffee but positive energy. That’s still what we do, and our motto was born: Promoting Positive Energy.“
Farmer’s markets helped Furton introduce himself and his product to the community. Moving to a new area, without a support network, it was as equally vital to build new relationships as it was to sell product. Grass roots marketing, and giving back to the community, is what the Daily Rise is built on. “Local involvement and customer loyalty is one of the reasons why we are able to do what we love each and every day.”
Going back to 2004, when first choosing the coffee industry, Furton had to learn about how to properly roast coffee himself. Lacking personal experience, he travelled and talked to everyone he could. “We visited 10-15 different roasters,” he says. “We picked our roaster on taste alone. We used that roaster for about eight years until we were ready to roast our own in 2012.”
“During the recession, In Layton our neighbors moved out, and we were able to purchase the nearby lot. Once we had the building under contract, we knew that it was the right time to roast our own and take quality control in our own hands. Our roaster was in Boise, and when we called to let them know we were striking out on our own, and they said that it was about time! They supported us wholeheartedly and told us it was the right thing to do. They invited us to Boise to learn how to roast and meet buyers. The transition was better than we could have imagined,” Furton says.
Daily Rise has two brick and mortar locations: one in Ogden and one in Layton. “We roast in Layton, and we can be found in Utah’s major grocery chains: Smith’s and Harmon’s among other local establishments. We also have a lot of really good restaurant partners and wholesale accounts. Wherever we are, we take pride in providing our customers the highest quality beans along with the best customer service,” Furton says.
Getting into those locations can be attributed to participating in farmer’s markets and Furton’s ability to form relationships and rethink what could be done in his industry.
“We were trying out a cold brew at the farmer’s market when a representative from Smith’s came through. He tried it, and he thought it was amazing. We were the first to bottle in the state. Because we were the first, we had the wow factor. That allowed us to follow-up and get our beans into the same stores slowly and surely. The new location also allowed bottling to be done in-house. We converted a room and made it refrigerated. We could brew, bottle and store at our own temperature-controlled facility,” Furton says. “We do everything with passion and pride, and we like keeping our hands on it. We like the ability to control all aspects of the quality we offer our customers. Today we are certified organic and pride ourselves on roasting our beans to perfection.”
Challenges: Smart growth. Furton is amazed at how the growth of his company has been completely organic, just like his product. “We have not been aggressive in our marketing,” Furton says. “We’ve allowed people to come to us. And when they come, we don’t hold them under contract. Everything is a handshake deal, and we build real relationships, not contractual ones. We want to make sure that the fit is right. Once you get a little bit of success, more opportunities present themselves. We want to stay focused. We want to be strategic.”
Opportunities: A food truck. Furton is jumping on the popular trend and hopes that the coffee truck will help serving events throughout the state easier. “This truck will open doors for us. It’s going to be a big and exciting year.”
Need: Time. “Owning a small business, you wear a lot of different hats. It is all about the teamwork,” Furton says.
