Firefighter Coffee: Strong enough for first responders, brewed for all of us
A Marine veteran and firefighter in Illinois who started his own coffee company recently left the fire service to focus full-time on his successful brewing business.
Luke Schneider, 37, a former Rockford, Illinois firefighter, started Fire Department Coffee in 2016 with a 10-pound roaster in a small space at a mall — and the company took off quickly.
Today the company produces 6 million pounds of coffee a year. It has a fulfillment center capable of shipping more than 20,000 orders per day.
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Since speaking with FOX Business in 2019, the company has been preparing to open its first brick-and-mortar coffee shop, having just signed a building purchase agreement.
“At that point we didn’t have a business plan. [We] just did it because we loved coffee.”
With all his successes, Schneider said, things have been busy. So earlier this year he decided it was finally time for him to focus 100% on the company.
“It went so far that I was really overwhelmed,” said Schneider. “There’s something going on every day.”
“It started to grow very quickly”
Schneider first started drinking coffee when he joined the Navy in 2004.
When he started in this role in 2009, he continued his career as a firefighter; He said it helped him stay alert during long hours.
Luke Schneider (left) founded Fire Department Coffee in 2016. He later met Jason Patton (right), who later became the company’s vice president. (Firefighter Coffee/Fox News)
He shared Schneider’s love of a good cup of Joe with Emily, his wife, whom he met before he joined the Rockford Fire Department.
The couple began roasting and selling their own coffee.
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“We didn’t have a business plan back then,” says Schneider. “[We] just did it because we loved coffee.”
When their signature blend – the fire department blend – became very popular, Schneider decided to start Fire Department Coffee in 2016.
“It just started growing very quickly,” Schneider said.
Next stop: grocery stores
Schneider still used the little roaster at the mall and said he roasted coffee 24 hours a day, 7 days a week — for three months straight.
Schneider even snoozed in the roastery, feverishly recruiting other firefighters to work shifts on their off time “just to keep up with demand.”
Fire Department Coffee started small, with just a 10-pound roaster in a mall, Schneider told FOX Business. (Firefighter Coffee/Fox News)
As demand grew, Fire Department Coffee acquired another building.
There it handled all aspects of the business, including roasting, shipping and customer service, Schneider said.
However, the company has also outgrown this space.
“I don’t know how I’ve been doing this for so long… But in a short amount of time it was really non-stop.”
Fire Department Coffee has acquired two additional buildings, one of which is the company’s logistics center.
This facility can ship more than 20,000 orders daily.
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Along the way, Schneider said, he managed to recruit mostly firefighters — either active or retired — to run Fire Department Coffee.
His partner, Jason Patton, has since become the company’s vice president and co-owner. Schneider said Patton, who is also a firefighter, has done a lot for the company, including increasing its social media presence.
As Fire Department Coffee has grown, it has developed ready-to-drink cans that will be launched soon.
According to Schneider, the company also works with retailers, including some Albertsons grocery stores and some Sam’s Club locations, to sell their products.
Additionally, the Fire Department Coffee Café is slated to open later this year, Schneider told FOX Business.
More than just “good coffee”
Growing his business wasn’t Schneider’s only priority. In preparing to launch Fire Department Coffee in 2016, Schneider said it was important to him to make sure his company “firefighters.”
Today, Fire Department Coffee produces 6 million pounds of coffee annually and has a fulfillment center capable of shipping more than 20,000 orders per day. (Firefighter Coffee/Fox News)
“We didn’t want to use this fire department brand or create a brand around the fire department and not do anything more than just make good coffee,” said Schneider.
Schneider’s company continues to donate 10% of net proceeds to the Fire Department Coffee Charitable Foundation. It also supports other organizations that help first responders.
“We really built that similar culture that you have in the fire service, very family-centric, very mission-centric.”
The primary focus of the Fire Department Coffee Charitable Foundation is to help sick and injured firefighters and first responders; According to Schneider, these people do not have many resources.
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The foundation also works to build a community for sick and injured first responders.
“It’s like a second home at the fire brigade,” says Schneider. “You spend a lot of time at the fire station.”
However, when firefighters and first responders become ill or injured, they no longer have equal access to this home away from home.
“With the Fire Department Coffee Charitable Foundation, we don’t just want to provide resources, we want to build a community [in which] We can connect the sick and injured first responders and do activities with them and really start that family,” Schneider said.
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He added, “That made it easier for me to retire from the fire department because at Fire Department Coffee we’ve really built a similar culture that you have in the fire department, very family-centric, very mission-centric.”