Leaves ‘n Beans Coffee Rakes in More Production Space in Peoria

Inside the new Leaves ‘n Beans roastery and production headquarters in Peoria, Illinois. All images courtesy of Leaves n’ Beans.

Leaves ‘n Beans Coffee is gaining traction in Peoria, Illinois, moving its roastery and headquarters into a 7,600-square-foot space formerly occupied by a K-Mart tire center.

The company’s existing Diedrich IR-12 roaster remains the company’s primary engine of production at the back of the new facility. Up front, a retail store occupies approximately 1,000 square feet with merchandise on shelves and a service counter where walk-in customers can order quarter, half or full pounds of fresh-roasted coffee.

While not offering a full retail coffee shop like Leaves n’ Beans’s three other locations around Peoria, the new facility boasts a small espresso, brewing and tea bar so guests can taste samples before they buy. 

The retail and tasting bar at the new Leaves ‘n Beans headquarters.

“To complement the experience when you come in to pick up some good single-origin beans, you can also get a double shot of espresso or samples brewed up,” Leaves ‘n Beans Coffee Owner James Cross told Daily Coffee News. “Once we get settled in we’re planning to start offering tea flights, coffee flights, things like that, so people can really have that experience.”

A major element of the new headquarters is a large walk-in cooler, efficiently supported by a loading dock, that allows the company to receive and store large volumes of fresh produce and other cafe supplies. 

“Our business model is a little different,” Cross said. “We get the better volume discounts through our vendors because we are buying as one big location, then we’re able to portion out smaller amounts to each store so our stores hardly have any food spoilage. We’re not wasting any food whatsoever, and since we can deliver to them three times a week, they barely even have to have cold storage. A fridge or two can hold enough groceries to get them through two days, and they always have all the freshest ingredients possible for their food.”

Leaves ‘n Beans Coffee was founded over 40 years ago in nearby Groveland, serving coffees from a roaster in New York. In the mid 1990s, the second owners brought roasting in house. Cross came to work for them in 2006 and began training on the same Diedrich IR-12 that’s humming away today. 

“We’ve kept it. It’s Frankensteined now — I don’t think we have an original part on it — but it runs great,” said Cross. “We’ve moved it three times now, and it’s still wonderful.”

Cross secured financing to purchase the company following its bankruptcy, reopening it in 2008. 

For green coffees, Leaves ‘n Beans leans heavily on Intercontinental Coffee Trading, working with other importers based on seasonal supply and demand. 

“We like to keep our options open when we’re sourcing our raw coffee, just to make sure we’re always getting something unique. It’s hard to be on a fine line between unique and consistent,” said Cross. “You know, you can get a Costa Rica Tarrazu that’s delicious one year and the next year, the climate is going to affect that taste. We do our best to make sure it’s as consistent as we can.”

A wide selection of coffees and gear at the Leaves ‘n Beans roastery.

With its newly expanded space for production, storage and distribution, Cross said Leaves ‘n Beans is ready to rake in more accounts from farther afield. 

“We don’t have to stay within a 30-minute drive of our location anymore. We can use our trucks to go an hour or two hours away,” said Cross. “We can look at Bloomington, Champaign, Springfield, Galesburg — all those kinds of locations now that we have the roastery.”

Leaves ‘n Beans Roastery is located at 901 W. Lake Ave. in Peoria. Tell DCN’s editors about your new coffee shop or roastery here.