If you've been to the Fort Mill Farmer's Market, chances are, you've met Nick and Ashley Conforti.
What started as a humble dream with a moveable coffee stand quickly grew into something bigger for the husband-and-wife-duo of Humble Coffee Co. The Conforti's moved to Charlotte in 2014 and envisioned starting a family business that combined their love of local coffee shops with their commitment to community. From there, Humble Coffee Co. was born.
Earlier this year, the pair celebrated the grand opening of a permanent location in downtown Fort Mill. We sat down with Nick Conforti to get a look behind the scenes.
Nick and Ashley's Story - Why Coffee?
Funny enough, Ashley and I had our first date at a coffee shop. When we moved to Charlotte, we fell in love with the atmosphere of all the small, local coffee shops. We started brewing for ourselves and it didn't take long before we created our own coffee brand selling only to neighbors and family friends.
At that time, the Fort Mill area was just beginning to take off and the Fort Mill Farmer's Market was just starting up. With lots of support and encouragement from family and friends, we set up a table at the Market and things just kept getting bigger.
Why Fort Mill, SC?
We have always felt very welcomed by the Fort Mill community and we thought, 'why not bring that same spirit into our own coffee brand?' Everyone around us, from the people at the Farmer's Market to even our neighbors beside us, they supported our brand and made this area feel like home. The support we got from this community is the only reason we were able to grow our small table in the beginning to now a flourishing small business.
If you visit or live in Fort Mill, you know it is incredibly family friendly. We have a kid's room in our new shop because we want to support that culture and and encourage families to enjoy being together. The intent with our brand is to represent the Fort Mill area: close, community centered families and friends.
What's Unique about Humble Cup?
The word, 'Community' is part of our logo. Community is at the root of our business and how we always intend to operate. A lot of our customers have known us throughout the years. No matter how big or how small we get, we want to ensure we keep that close-knit feeling as a part of our brand. We are happy, excited, thrilled, and blessed to see our brand grow the way it has. But what sets us apart are the people who have been with us along the way that have seen where we started and how far we've come.
What's the story behind the name?
We have four different blends of coffee and for every bag, we sell of each, we donate a dollar to one of four charities we have for each specific blend. We wanted to always give back to the community. Our original tagline was, 'Nothing more, nothing less.' We're a coffee company, nothing more and nothing less. Coffee is just a conduit to bring people together. If two friends are just sitting and talking over a cup of coffee, the coffee itself is just humbling. That's all that it is, just coffee.
What's next for Humble Cup?
As we grow and create a stable increase in sales, we want to also increase our capacity to give back to those who need it more than us.
Our hope is to join with other local brands, like 'The Market' (a local boutique business) beside us, and create a gathering/event space that includes an outdoor area with space for kids to play. We started with the mindset of being for the community and we want to continue that as we grow.
Visit Humble Cup Coffee Co. at 414 Tom Hall St. in Fort Mill, SC.
Pro tip: Order Nick's recommendation of a cortado, no flavor, regular milk, straight up.