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read and resommend
Sunbelt Foodservice Magazine.
B EVER A G E S
Coffee as Storyteller:
Dazbog'sTalesof Russia
by HeatherBlount/staff writer
Two brotherscome to tl'LeU.S. from Russra.They start
DazbogCoffeeCo. and sell coffeein red. black artd green
coffeemugsemblazonedwith stars.Drinkersget a little taste
of Russiain euerysip, seernga little rnoreof Leo artd Tottl'
Yuffa'scultureeachtime.
foundedD azbogi n May 1996i n C ol orado.A fter 16 year s,t he
company now operates30 franchisecoffeestoresin Colorado
and di stri butesw hol esal enati onw i de to restau r ant s.hot els.
spas and speclalty stores in 26 states.
The company focuseson quality, as competition in the coffee industry is fierce and a clear point of differenceis needed.
While the company already has a national presenceas a
distributor of coffee, Leo said that conpeting against massnarket coffee shops i s di ffi cul t because the' "m r Le it
about pri ce."
H e al so bel i evesthat D azbog' scoffeeputs mor e em phasis
on i ts pure, dnp coffeethan the competi ti on,which f ocuses
rlore heavily on espresso-based
drir-rks.
Dazbog'scoffeeusesa Vienneseroast, which the company
i nterprets as " a chocol ate brow n w i th oi l s j ust st ar t ing t o
come out," Leo sai d.
The Vienneseroast is well suited to drip coffee customers
who "want to be able to tastethe difference"between origins.
These customers,Leo sai d, " w ant you to rea lly br ing it , "
meani ng they w ant to taste the di fference bet ween a
S umatran and C osta R i can coffee. For these cust or . ner s.
Dazbog choosessourcescarefully.
"l f
Leo and Tony Yuffa
Wh i l e t heir s t or y s o u n d s l i k e i m m i g ra n ts w ho w ere
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5rrdrlrtru
d
^r
ul
tdJtE
the
American Dream, Leonid
"Leo" Yuffa does not see
it a s so m et hinggiv en.
"Wh a t we got we re
t he h a rd r oot s and t h e
w o rk e thic , and f ailu re
ha s n e v er been an o p t i o n ," Leo Y uf f a t o l d
Sunbelt Foodseru[ce.
L e o and his br ot h e r
Tony were born in St.
Petersburg, Russia. In
par en ts
19 7 9 , t heir
mo ve d t he f am ily to
Denver, Colo.
"We
br ought y o u
here," they told the boys.
"You need to go out and
ge t a n educ at ion and g o
to work and make somethino
n f rzn rrrce l f
"'
That is exactly what
the two brothers did.
Leo and Tony co26
JANUARY2013 | sunbeltfoodservice.com
vnrr'rp
nnl
snrrrci nq
thp hcqt
"- ...,
\/nrr'rp
f
able to tell mucl-rdifference," he said.
nnl
oni rro tn he
BEVERAG ES
Creating a rich, authentic brand
Leo and Tony have painstakinglycreateda brand to
communicatethe Yuffa story.
"The coffeebags,the cups,the mugs-we usethem as
a canvasto tell our storv,"Leo said.
red and forest green,
With bold, Russian-evoking
Dazbogalso decoratesits productswith starsand Russianlanguagetext to further envelopecustomersin the culture.
Its nameis a mix of the Russianwordsfor "give" and "Cod."
"When you walk into one of our stores,you're know
you're at a Dazbogstore,"he said.
haveworkedon what Leo called"follow
The co-founders
through,"sayingit is importantthat "you get what you see."
The company'sbold brandingand red and blacklogohelp
enforcethat Russianexperience.When asked about the
Russianinfluence,Leo said:"Thereis nothingmadeup. We
simply tell our story.
"The best way to reallydescribewho we are is we're authenticto the brandand to the coffeeitself,so that when you
drink our coffee,you're tastingthe true originsand the origins in the blends."
The philosophybehind the companyshowsthrough in
its relativelysmall size-small becauseLeo and Tony
decidednot to take partnersor ventures,"althoughI'm sure that
we could do it to grow
faster,"Leo said.
"We believeour coffeeis iustnaturallythe sweetest,and most
peoplete/l us that theydon't needcreamandsugarfor it,"
LeoYuffasays.
He addedthat the companyshouldgrow for the right
or pressurefrom outside
not becauseof investments
reasons,
plans
for growth.
have
does
The
company
sources.
Accordingto Leo, "2013 is going to be the year of
growth for us."
New locations should be announcedin the second
half of 2013.
"We'reseeinga lot of supportfor our company,"he said.
"We'rereallyseeingit when we'reexpanding...peoplelove not only our
branding but the quality
for repeatbusiness."
While Dazbog
focuses on its coffee,
its tea, mostly for "hardcore
tea lovers," according to Leo Yuffa,
drives the brothers' storv home as well.
27
JANUARY2013 | sunbelt{oodservice.com