Q&A: LEONOR GAVINA-VALLS
By Zain Shauk
Burbank Leader
January 26, 2010 8:40 PM PST
Leonor Gavina-Valls has brewed her family’s coffee blends for decades,
but in recent years she has grown accustomed to buying them at area
stores and restaurants.
The Glendale resident is co-owner of Gavina & Sons, which produces
popular retail brand Don Francisco’s Gourmet Coffee, as well as
private-label coffees sold at stores like McDonald’s, 7-Eleven,
Costco and Porto’s Bakery.
The company, which traces its roots to Cuba, has rapidly expanded in
recent years, upgrading its production space from 80,000 square feet
to 240,000 square feet in 2002.
Its new plant in Vernon handles about 40 million pounds of imported
coffee beans a year, funneling them through a complex system of
roasters and packing machines that show a dramatic evolution from
the original 2,000-square-foot Gavina operation of 1967.
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Although the recession has slowed down business — the company’s
revenues still grew by more than 5% in 2009 — Gavina-Valls discussed
the popularity of coffee as a part of Americans’ daily routines,
which is something the company doesn’t anticipate will change because
of spending habits.
ZAIN SHAUK: How has the business changed since your family began in
the United States 43 years ago?
LEONOR GAVIn’A-VALLS: We started back in 1967, my dad, my mom,
my brothers. I was still in high school, and our coffee was only
espresso. When we started saying "espresso," or saying "latte" or
a "cappuccino," nobody knew what it was. So we had to educate the
people. Coffee was coffee. Coffee was a commodity in a can, and that
was it. So little by little people became more sophisticated in how
they drank coffee. And we came out with a brand called Don Francisco.
Francisco was my father, and Don was a title of respect, so Don
Francisco was the title we came out with in retail to honor our dad.
Q: How has the growth in popularity of coffee shops changed your
business and what you provide?
A: Well, we are providers to some of those coffeehouses, so for us
it’s been awesome. On the other side, our Don Francisco brand, it’s a
premium-brand coffee. So people want better things for themselves. It
changed what people expect from coffee. Now people expect more.
Q: Do you ever find yourself out at other coffee shops, tasting and
comparing brands?
A: Of course. And we do it here as well. We bring in a competitor,
and we taste it against our own.
Q: Have you ever been out with somebody and had to buy your own coffee?
A: I have, and I have run out of coffee at home and I have gone to
the store and bought some of my own coffee.
Q: Are there places near your home that serve your coffee?
A: Yes, Porto’s Bakery and Coffee Express on Glendale Avenue.
Q: Do you ever buy your coffee from them?
A: Yes, I do.
Q: Some of your coffee blends target specific ethnic groups, like
Latinos and Italians. Has living among the Armenian community in
Glendale influenced any of your blends?
A: We are immigrants ourselves. We are originally from Cuba. So when
we came here my dad wanted to get back into the coffee business. And
our first product here was an espresso product because that’s what we
drank. And then he started selling to restaurants and eventually to
other ethnic groups. We sell to the Middle Eastern community. We went
in and we kind of asked them how it was they drank their coffee, and
we came up with blends for them. Armenians, Ethiopians and Vietnamese
the same way.
Q: How different are coffee blends targeted to different ethnic groups?
A: The roast is different, the beans are different. For example, for
Middle Eastern there are like three different roasts. It’s a light,
which is like regular coffee, medium, which is like an espresso,
and a dark, that would be the French.
Q: Isn’t freshly ground, brewed coffee somewhat of a luxury for most
people during the recession?
A: Drinking it at home is not expensive at all.
Q: Have you changed your strategy to target people drinking coffee
at home?
A: That’s always been our strategy.
Q: Why?
A: When you wake up in the morning, what is the first thing that you
do? Or maybe the third thing that you do. You go to the kitchen, you
open your pantry you get your coffee out, or you open your freezer and
you get your coffee out and you brew yourself a cup of coffee. Before
you get ready or you turn on the TV, etc. And then you enjoy that
cup of coffee. That’s what we want to have. That first cup of coffee.
Q: Has the recession affected the coffee business in general?
A: It has. In some areas of our business it has. Especially in
restaurants and even in some of the coffeehouses. I think it’s like 85%
of all coffee is drank before 11 o’clock in the morning. So breakfast
is a huge, huge area for your restaurants and coffeehouses.
If a person doesn’t have to go out to work because they don’t have
a job, they won’t go out to get a cup of coffee. They’ll stay home
and brew a cup of coffee.
Q: Do you think coffee shop culture is a fad that will die out?
A: I don’t think it’s a fad. If it was a fad it wouldn’t have stayed
with us for so long. It’s a way of people going out and being in
a community.
Q: How are American tastes now different from Cuban tastes? Would
Gavina coffee from the United States sell in Cuba also?
A: It would, if Cuba was free. But Cuban-style coffee would be espresso
with a lot of sugar.
Q: Would that be popular in the United States also?
A: It is. Our Cafe La Llave espresso is one of the No. 1 brands in
South Florida for the Cuban community.
Q: What happened to the company in Cuba?
A: Oh, Castro took it over. It’s gone.
Q: How do you feel about the Castro regime?
A: I’m not political.
Q: Have you ever tried one of your blends that you thought was just
plain bad?
A: There are some flavors that I don’t like. And that I learned a long
time ago that you have to give the customer what the customer wants.
You cannot force a client to drink what you like. It’s what they like.
Q: Have you ever had too much coffee?
A: Never.
Q: How many times a day do you have coffee?
A: Probably seven cups, eight cups.
Q: Do you have the same kinds of coffee the whole day?
A: I change. My first thing is always the same. I make myself an
espresso with milk.
Q: Do some of your relatives not like coffee?
A: Not that I know of.