Blip Roasters

What Blip Roasters does

Blip Roasters is a privately held Kansas City, Missouri specialty coffee company founded in 2014 that operates across retail, wholesale, and direct-to-consumer channels. The company's core offering is house-roasted specialty coffee, produced at its 19,000 square foot West Bottoms flagship facility that consolidates roasting operations, a café open 7am–7pm daily, a merchandise and shipping warehouse, conference room rental, leased office space, and the Anchor Moto motorcycle shop. A second outpost café operates at 30th and Troost in the Wonder building (opened 2019). Revenue is generated through five primary streams: café retail sales, a $40/month DTC subscription delivering two boxes of coffee, a wholesale program serving coffee shops, restaurants, offices, and small business owners across the United States since 2014, merchandise and gear sales, and event hosting including corporate retreats, vendor markets, and community programming such as Bike Nights and Sunday Meet-Ups.

The business model blends specialty coffee with motorcycle culture under a #BUILTNOTBOUGHT brand identity, positioning the café and surrounding events as a community-anchored third place. Ancillary revenue lines include authorized dealer sales of Bell Helmets and Biltwell Inc. helmets with professional fitting services, hourly conference room rentals, and a monthly vendor market. The customer base spans specialty coffee consumers, motorcycle enthusiasts, B2B wholesale accounts, and event/meeting space renters. The company is founder-owned (Ian is named as Founder & Owner), with no disclosed institutional investment, no funding rounds, and no acquired subsidiaries. Sustainability initiatives include full LED lighting conversion, planned solar panel installation (2022), compostable packaging, and partnerships with Compost Collective KC and Ripple Glass that have diverted 808,450 pounds of waste from Kansas City landfills.

Name

Blip Roasters

Legal name

Blip Roasters

Website

https://bliproasters.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Blip Roasters is a Kansas City specialty coffee roaster and café operator founded in 2014, selling house-roasted coffee via retail cafés, a $40/month subscription, and a national wholesale program to coffee shops, restaurants, and offices. The 19,000 sq ft West Bottoms flagship combines roasting, café, merchandise, helmet sales, and event space.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Specialty Coffee

NAICS

Coffee and Tea Manufacturing (31192), Other Specialty Food Retailers (44529)

SIC

Beverages (2080), Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810)

akta.pro primary industry

Coffee Roasters with Cafe (Roastery Cafes) (THAFADAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Coffee (Roasted, Ground, Whole Bean) (CRADAHAG), Specialty Coffee Shops (Single-Origin, Third-Wave) (THAFADAA)

Keywords

• Specialty coffee roasting
• Coffee wholesale distribution
• Coffee subscription services
• Café retail operations
• Private event hosting

Headquarters

HQ city

Kansas City

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Café Retail Sales: Direct café sales of specialty coffee drinks, pour-overs, and food items at their Kansas City locations. The flagship café operates 7am-7pm daily.
2. Coffee Subscription: Monthly subscription delivering two boxes of coffee for $40, with customers selecting their preferred coffees after subscribing. This is a recurring revenue stream with direct-to-consumer delivery.
3. Wholesale Coffee: B2B wholesale coffee sales to coffee shops, restaurants, offices, and small business owners throughout the United States since 2014. Roasted-to-order beans delivered fresh weekly.
4. Conference Room Rental: Hourly and multi-hour conference room bookings available 7am-6pm with WiFi, TV casting, whiteboard, and printer access.
5. Helmet Sales: Authorized dealer for Bell Helmets and Biltwell Inc., selling DOT-certified helmets (3/4, retro styled, and modern full face) with professional fitting services by Bell University Certified employees.
6. Event Hosting: Event space rental for corporate retreats, artist showcases, vendor markets, bike meetups, poetry slams, and various community gatherings. Vendor markets held every third Saturday.
7. Merchandise: Sale of branded merchandise and gear through their online shop and in-café.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Blip Roasters is a Kansas City-based specialty coffee company founded in 2014. They roast their own coffee and distribute it through a flagship 19,000 square-foot café in the West Bottoms neighborhood, an outpost café at the Wonder building, a monthly subscription service, and wholesale partnerships across the United States. The flagship location also serves as a multi-purpose venue offering helmet fitting (authorized dealer for Bell and Biltwell), event hosting, conference room rental, vendor markets, and branded merchandise.

Product overview

Blip Roasters is a Kansas City-based specialty coffee company founded in 2014, operating as a single-brand, multi-service business. The core offering centers on house-roasted specialty coffee beans, available through retail (whole bean and subscription), wholesale partnerships, and an on-site café. The company runs a flagship café in the West Bottoms neighborhood within a 19,000 square foot facility that also houses a roasting space, merchandise area, conference room, and Anchor Moto motorcycle shop. Additional services include helmet fitting (as an authorized Bell and Biltwell dealer), venue rental for events, and a monthly vendor market. The business integrates motorcycle culture with coffee, positioning both as community-building catalysts.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• House-Roasted Specialty Coffee
• Coffee Subscription Service
• Wholesale Coffee Supply
• Flagship Café (West Bottoms)
• Wonder Outpost Café
• Motorcycle Helmet Fitting and Sales
• Conference Room Rental
• Private Event Hosting
• Vendor Markets
• Branded Merchandise

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 808,450 pounds of waste diverted from Kansas City landfills through composting partnerships
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Compost Collective KCcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to compost Blip's coffee grounds and chaff waste, diverting significant waste from landfills. Kansas City community has diverted 808,450 lbs of waste through this partnership.
• Ripple GlassminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to divert glass from landfills, keeping 100 pounds of glass from landfills each month.
• Bell HelmetscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorAuthorized dealer for Bell Helmets. Staff are Bell University Certified for professional helmet fitting services. All helmets sold are DOT certified with most being both DOT and ECE/SNELL certified.
• Biltwell Inc.coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorAuthorized dealer for Biltwell Inc. helmets, offering sizing and fitting services alongside Bell Helmets products.
• Rangel Worm FarmminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInitial composting partner that vermi-composted coffee grounds and chaff at their West Bottoms facility, feeding 100,000 worms monthly. Partnership ended as Blip's production outgrew their processing capacity.
• Anchor MotocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerService-oriented motorcycle shop housed within the same 19,000 sq ft West Bottoms facility as Blip Roasters, creating a synergistic motorcycle destination.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Blue Bottle Coffee: Oakland-based specialty coffee roaster with significant national cafe footprint, wholesale, and DTC subscription. Well-capitalized broader incumbent operating in the same third-wave specialty category.
• Intelligentsia Coffee: Chicago-based specialty coffee roaster with cafes, wholesale, and Direct Trade sourcing program. Established specialty coffee incumbent comparable in category but larger in scale.
• Stumptown Coffee Roasters: Portland-based specialty coffee pioneer acquired by Peet's/Strauss Group with cafes, wholesale, and DTC operations nationwide. Larger incumbent in the same specialty coffee category.

Direct peers

• Verve Coffee Roasters: California-based specialty coffee roaster operating multiple cafes, wholesale, and direct-to-consumer subscription. Comparable third-wave roaster with similar cafe-plus-subscription-plus-wholesale business model.
• Counter Culture Coffee: Durham, NC-based specialty coffee roaster with national wholesale distribution, training centers, and sustainability focus. Direct operational peer in third-wave specialty coffee wholesale.
• Onyx Coffee Lab: Arkansas-based award-winning specialty coffee roaster with cafes and wholesale distribution. Comparable mid-size specialty roaster with competition-grade positioning and direct-to-consumer subscriptions.
• The Roasterie: Kansas City-based specialty coffee roaster founded in 1993, operating cafes, wholesale distribution, and a community-focused brand. Closest geographic and operating model peer to Blip Roasters.
• PT's Coffee Roasting: Topeka, KS-based specialty coffee roaster with cafes, wholesale, and competition-focused brand. Comparable Midwestern specialty roaster with similar geography and operational scope.
• Oddly Correct Coffee Roasting: Kansas City specialty coffee roaster focused on single-origin and small-batch coffee with cafe and wholesale operations. Comparable in size, regional scope, and third-wave positioning to Blip.
• Parisi Artisan Coffee: KC-area specialty coffee roaster with cafe, wholesale, and direct-to-consumer offerings. Comparable mid-size regional roaster competing in the same Kansas City market.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/bliproasters
• Xx.com/bliproasters

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Blip Roasters