Newsmakers #10: 30 years of evolution for Crimson Cup Coffee and Tea - Women Of Influence

It’s almost hard to believe there was a time when good coffee just wasn’t a thing.

But it wasn’t that long ago.

Greg Ubert was working in computer software in the late 1980s, but what really captured his imagination was coffee — real, good coffee; the art and science of roasting.

And, of course, the potential for business.

“Good coffee just wasn’t widely available,” he said. “It wasn’t around. It wasn’t accessible.”

When he started Crimson Cup Coffee and Tea in 1991, local-based Stauf’s had been open just a few years, but industry giant Starbucks was still years away from stand-alone Columbus shops.

Ubert started not with a plan to seed the city, state or country with shops, but rather to be a resource — a wholesaler of beans and other supplies and consultant to those who wanted to run shops of their own.

Its customers are those who serve the end customers. That’s still the heart of the business today with hundreds of clients in 40 states plus a franchisee in Bangladesh, but Crimson Cup is gradually building up name recognition of its own with industry awards and a slow rollout of its own stores, including the newest unit at Easton Town Center.

Ubert sat down with Columbus Business First for our Newsmakers podcast. He shared not just the history of the brand and how its evolved in the past 30 years, but also the impact the Covid-19 pandemic had on the business — he shares his personal record for consecutive days wearing sweatpants to work — and his hopes for the future.

“People enjoy having a great drink,” he said. “I don’t think that’s going to change.”