Jackie Siegel’s Queen of Versailles Coffee is Fit for a Queen
By John Meyer
“Our coffee is going to be better than Starbucks,” says Jackie Siegel, the entrepreneur, philanthropist, and now-owner of her latest venture, premium coffee brand Queen of Versailles Coffee. In fact, Siegel’s prediction has already come true, for the organic coffee has been awarded an impressive 87 out of 100 points by the Specialty Coffee Association, beating out both Starbucks and Illy, according to brand creator Michael Glovaski.
Several factors have led to this prestigious recognition, starting with the brand’s high-altitude coffee beans, which are grown along the mountainsides of their Guatemalan finca.
“They’re all hand-selected and hand-picked by our Master Blender,” Siegel says. “We really do get the ripest of the ripe.” Explaining that many plantations rely on machine harvesting to indiscriminately strip the beans, Glovaski assures that Queen of Versailles Coffee’s beans are always cultivated and selected with richness of flavor in mind.
The second factor to the brand’s success is the nutrient-rich soil found in the mountains of Acatenango, nearly 5,400 feet above sea level.
“The best coffee in the world comes from Central America – Nicaragua, Guatemala, Colombia and Costa Rica,” says Glovaski, on account of the high elevation, the volcanic soil, and the local farming traditions.
Indeed, the self-sustained plantation on which these beans are cultivated dates back almost 250 years to 1790. Not only are the beans grown and harvested on the finca, but they are also inspected and roasted on-site, as overseen by Italian restaurateur and master coffee maker, Matteo Drocco.
“Matteo is making this coffee like the finest of wines,” says Siegel. “It’s a very similar process – you need a great plant, maximum sunlight, great soil and an expert Master Blender to put it all together. He’s brought such finesse to the entire venture.”
This streamlined process results in a product backed by a farm-to-home model; the time between cultivation and delivery is virtually cut in half, compared to brands which outsource production to other countries.
Most coffee brands, such as high-end European companies, will purchase their coffee beans from Central America, explains Glovaski. Those beans are then transported to Italy—where no coffee plants are actually harvested—to be roasted, ground, and shipped to mass international retailers.
This process takes around eight months, by which time the coffee is no longer fresh. With Queen of Versailles coffee, the average turnaround time is reduced to around two to three months, with an even shorter delivery date if shipped by air, according to Siegel.
The single-origin nature of this coffee not only preserves its quality but contributes to the brand’s commitment to social sustainability by keeping jobs within the local indigenous community. Fair wages, a church, a school, and a medical clinic further help support the village, according to Drocco
“By creating jobs in the local economy, people don’t have to undertake the arduous journey to the US, because we’re providing them with a livelihood,” points out the brand creator. “A lot of times, you get people that don’t care about the local community, because they’re only focused on utilizing the cheapest methods to generate the most net profit,” adds Jackie.
The sustainability measures extend to the environment, too. The crops are cultivated free of mold and pesticides. Furthermore, each canister is meticulously numbered in limited edition batches, safeguarding traceability of the cultivation and roasting process.
So, the big question remains: why start a coffee brand in the first place?
“At our Westgate Resorts, we provide free coffee in the rooms, but the guests still stand in long lines in the lobby waiting for coffee,” Siegel says. “I thought ‘Wow, that’s a market I really think we should be targeting.’”
It’s safe to say that this impresario is in the process of doing just that. In addition to being sold online and in Westgate resorts, Queen of Versailles Coffee will be offered at Sexy Fish locations and Setai hotels, with further luxury hotels and retail locations to be announced at a later date. A line of chocolates is in the works too. Jackie could say “Let them eat chocolate… and drink coffee,” but Marie Antoinette was never this entrepreneurial… or sustainably minded.
qvcoffee.com
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