The #1 Selling Coffee at Sprouts Nationwide | Hovik Azadkhanian, Heirloom Coffee Roaster

On this episode, we're joined by Hovik Azadkhanian, CEO of Heirloom Coffee Roasters - the fastest-growing coffee brand in the natural channel and the first nationally available 100% regenerative organic certified specialty coffee. Hovik has been in the coffee roasting business for over 30 years, starting alongside his dad as a kid and spending years in private label and toll roasting before launching Heirloom.We dive into how roasting millions of pounds of coffee for other brands gave Hovik the data to develop Heirloom's proprietary Culinary Roast - a technique that manipulates time, temperature, air pressure, and gas flow to unlock specific flavor profiles at scale. That process led to winning the Good Food Award against 1,700 coffees, a first for any regenerative coffee.Hovik walks through the realities of the coffee supply chain, including a USDA study that found 43% of certified organic products tested above the legal limit for banned substances. He breaks down Heirloom's triple-testing protocol across 311 synthetic pesticides and the story of rejecting tens of thousands of pounds of glyphosate-contaminated coffee.We also get into Heirloom's direct trade model, which cuts out 15-20 middlemen and pays farmers three to six dollars per pound versus 30-60 cents under the traditional model. ---------------Episode Highlights:☕ 30+ years roasting coffee (started at age 8)🏭 From private label to building a national brand🧪 The Culinary Roast (manipulating time, temperature, gas, air pressure)🏆 Winning the Good Food Award against 1,700 coffees⚠️ 43% of organic products failing pesticide standards (USDA study)🔬 Triple-testing protocol for 311 synthetic pesticides🌱 Direct trade model (farmer to roaster, no middlemen)🤝 The Pacayala cooperative story in Honduras🛒 Going national at Sprouts and becoming the #1 selling coffee🎯 Land and expand in natural, then break into mass retail---------------Table of Contents:00:00 – Intro00:33 – Origin story and why behind the brand04:17 – Reacquiring the Oakland roasting facility05:25 – Developing the Culinary Roast process08:29 – Iterations and the Good Food Award win10:20 – R&D and SKU strategy12:41 – The glyphosate contamination story15:25 – USDA organic study and the limits of certifications17:37 – What CPG brands should do about independent testing19:39 – Vertical integration and cutting out middlemen20:45 – Building direct farm relationships23:06 – The Pacaya cooperative in Honduras26:00 – Farmer economics (30 cents vs $3-6 per pound)28:45 – Retail trajectory and going national at Sprouts30:58 – Tactics for driving velocity in natural channel31:56 – Retail expansion plans and breaking into mass32:22 – Food service as a brand awareness channel33:13 – Brand identity and packaging design decisions34:43 – 2026 goals and new form factors---------------Links:Heirloom Coffee Roasters – https://heirloomcoffeeroasters.com/Follow Hovik on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/hovik-azadkhanian-a2404830/Follow me on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-martin-steinberg/For help with CPG production design - packaging and label design, product renders, POS assets, retail media assets, quick-turn sales and marketing assets and all the other work that bogs down creative teams - check out https://www.kitprint.co/Shout out to my friends over at Glimpse, the go-to partner for automating retail-related back-office operations and unlocking margin trapped in invalid fees and manual processes.Are you in the market for a new flexible packaging partner? Check out HD Packaging. Third-generation, family-owned and built for the needs of category leaders like Newman’s Own and A Dozen Cousins. Faster launches, lower costs, and no artwork fees.