What’s in a name? In the crowded world of speciality coffee, names are a huge differentiator. For the coffee company formerly known as Toby’s Estate, a new identity was in order. The Brooklyn-based coffee roaster with five locations around the city, including one in Bushwick on Wilson Avenue, is now Partners Coffee.
Toby’s Estate is a coffee chain in Australia with dozens of locations and founders Amber Jacobson and Adam Boyd had been licensing the name since 2012. The company has always operated independently and it was time for the name to reflect that without any licensing fees.
The rebrand took place last Friday and the Bushwick cafe now reflects the new Partners identity, from cups to packaging. Customer feedback has been overwhelmingly positive thanks to strong aesthetics from Love & War, a creative agency. As Australian coffee grew in popularity in the US, the staff saw some confusion from the previous name.
The new name was selected to honor the many people involved in creating a cup of coffee, from the farmers to the importers to the cafe staff. Jacobson and Boyd say “We are only as great as the sum of our partners, and we are excited to continue evolving and growing with a new look, feel and name that fully embodies who we are and what we stand for.”
If you stop by the shop, here’s what to expect:
What’s changed:
– New cups, with different colors for each size. These are very cute.
– There’s a new slogan, “only as great as the sum of our partners.”
– New sustainable and colorful packaging for the coffee beans. Partners partnered with Savor, a coffee bag producer that uses waste-free manufacturing and offers zero-waste compost solutions. The used bags are collected and shredded to become garbage bins and watering cans, never reaching a landfill. Beans in the previous packaging are in temporary bags for usage within cafes.
– Merch: Partners Coffee has t-shirts and stickers for devoted customers.
What hasn’t:
– Ownership and operations
– Prices
– The coffee itself, which is roasted in small batches in Williamsburg and Bushwick
Cover image by Ethan Covey courtesy of Partners Coffee.
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