LeT's Chat Local - With Adi Gegic from Gleam coffee Roasting

I decided to create a platform for the blog called "Let’s Chat Local ” shining a light every Wednesday on some of the incredible businesses and owners within the Coachella Valley. I have realized especially during this time how important it is to recognize the people within in our community who are living out their dreams while providing us with the products and services we love!

Thank you so much for being here and I truly hope you enjoy our very first installment of "Let's Chat Local"! xx, Taylor

Q: Your name?

A: My name is Adi Gegic.

Q: Name of your business?

A: My business name is Gleam Coffee Roasting

Q: How would you describe your business/what you do?

A: Gleam’s primary focus is promoting quality coffee in a lighter roast. Light roasts are quite popular in places like Los Angeles, San Francisco, and other big cities in Europe.

My goal is to bring this down to the Coachella valley and show my community that light roast specialty coffee is an excellent coffee to drink straight up without cream and sugar.

Q: How long have you had your business?

A: Gleam has been around now for about 3 or 4 months.

Q: What inspired you to start your business?

A: Something that inspired me to start a coffee delivery service was actually the pandemic itself. My previous job before the pandemic, had let me go due to all restaurants and bars being closed down. I’ve always had a passion for coffee and making it, so I figured I might get back to doing what I love. I thought of the idea of delivering coffee to either peoples homes while they’re quarantined or delivering to their jobs for essential workers(obviously while taking precautions such as mask and gloves). I felt that this was a time that nobody wanted to go out and put themselves or their families at risk so I figured I’d offer a service that spares them the risk.

Q: What would you say sets you and your business apart?

A: Something that sets me apart from others is the variety of things that I do for my company. Meaning that I roast my own beans, I use that for espresso, cold brew, and selling bags. I also do create some of my own syrups for lattes. While there are other businesses that do very similar to what I do, I still feel that I’m very different from others.

Q: Since COVID-19 set in what are the direct impacts you have felt? How have you pivoted?A: Actually COVID 19 really made me honestly. While a lot of businesses have been severely damaged by it, and while that’s extremely unfortunate, COVID created a path for me to start delivering coffee to people so that they didn’t have to leave their homes to get it.

Q: What is your ultimate dream for your business?

A: My ultimate dream is to open up a roaster/coffee shop. I really want my shop to be community involved. Though coffee is a huge passion of mine, I’ve always wanted to be able to bring a community together and what’s a better way to do that than gathering over a cup of coffee? I really want my coffee shop to be known as a local hang out spot where all locals can come hang out and everyone knows each other.

Q: Do you have any new items, specials or deals you would like to share?

A: Well speaking of new items, I have recently transitioned to glass only to preserve plastic waste so I’m doing a 16 oz glass bottle and a 32 oz glass bottle and you can actually pour the coffee into a glass with ice and just keep pouring. I’ve also got plenty of new coffees that I’m very excited about. One of them being an Ethiopia Dry process which tends to be a very fruity coffee. If there is anyone who truly enjoys black coffee by Itself I seriously recommend getting a bag.

Q: Can you name a favorite local Coachella Valley Business?

A: Favorite local business, I'd have to say Sixth Street Coffee. The owner has been a really close friend of mine for a few years now and he’s been a huge inspiration to me in starting my own empire. Steve (the owner) has been a huge mentor to me when it comes down to coffee.

Thank you for reading!!

***Now head over to Instagram for instructions on how YOU and a friend can each win a $10 to Gleam***