Automatic Merchandiser - 37

family business, the Wilbur Curtis
Company, which manufactured commercial coffee brewing equipment. In
1969, he decided to take a chance and
move to San Diego to launch Coffee
Ambassador.
"In a way, you could say that we're
third-generation coffee people," Curtis
said. "My father was very entrepreneurial, to leave an established family business in Los Angeles and come to San
Diego. To take that risk was something
I always appreciated."
Despite Sean's admiration for his
father's risk-taking spirit, he didn't initially plan to join the family business.
"I was actually pre-med at UCSD,
but found out that wasn't really my
calling," Curtis recalled, laughing. "I
moved over to San Diego State in the
business school and got a degree in
marketing. The whole time I was working at Coffee Ambassador, so it was a
great eye-opener for me because of the
diversity of the companies we serviced.
It was a great experience."
Barb Smalley also worked at

the family business while attending
school, and she ultimately decided
that joining the company was the
right choice for her.
"I was working at Coffee Ambassador during college, and even in high
school, so I had to decide what I was
going to do. Was I going to go outside
the family?" Barb Smalley, president
of Coffee Ambassador, explained. "I
looked at other options, but we're a
pretty tight-knit family, so I decided to
go with Coffee Ambassador because it
was long-term sustainable. I majored
in business, so it just made sense. And
when you grow up in it, you find a
love for it."

O P E R AT I O N P R O F I L E

Coffee Ambassador
Headquarters: San Diego, CA
Owners: Sean Curtis, CEO and
Barbara Curtis Smalley, President
Date founded: 1969
Number of employees: 35
Equipment providers: Newco,
LavazzaPro, Nespresso, Keurig
Technology providers: Quick Books
Enterprise (migrating to Oracle/
Netsuite)
Main suppliers: Vistar, Gavina,
Newco, LavazzaPro, Nespresso,
Keurig

Sean Curtis and
Barbara Curtis
Smalley in the
Nespresso tasting
room at Coffee
Ambassador.

Number of OCS routes: 6

Photos by Arlenys Castillo

September 2019 * VendingMarketWatch.com

37



http://www.VendingMarketWatch.com

Automatic Merchandiser

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Automatic Merchandiser

Editor's Note: Why OCS is so important
Industry News
OCS Update
Fuel Continued Growth in Office Coffee Service
How Do You Take Your Coffee?: A look at the latest flavor and creamer trends in OCS
Snack Break: How snacks and candy fit into the better-for-you trend
Small Op: Questions are the Answer
Above and Beyond: Coffee Ambassador exceeds client's expectations with scalable, adaptable service
Classifieds
Social Hubs
Automatic Merchandiser - 1
Automatic Merchandiser - 2
Automatic Merchandiser - 3
Automatic Merchandiser - 4
Automatic Merchandiser - 5
Automatic Merchandiser - Editor's Note: Why OCS is so important
Automatic Merchandiser - 7
Automatic Merchandiser - Industry News
Automatic Merchandiser - 9
Automatic Merchandiser - 10
Automatic Merchandiser - 11
Automatic Merchandiser - OCS Update
Automatic Merchandiser - 13
Automatic Merchandiser - 14
Automatic Merchandiser - 15
Automatic Merchandiser - Fuel Continued Growth in Office Coffee Service
Automatic Merchandiser - 17
Automatic Merchandiser - 18
Automatic Merchandiser - 19
Automatic Merchandiser - 20
Automatic Merchandiser - 21
Automatic Merchandiser - 22
Automatic Merchandiser - 23
Automatic Merchandiser - 24
Automatic Merchandiser - 25
Automatic Merchandiser - How Do You Take Your Coffee?: A look at the latest flavor and creamer trends in OCS
Automatic Merchandiser - 27
Automatic Merchandiser - 28
Automatic Merchandiser - 29
Automatic Merchandiser - Snack Break: How snacks and candy fit into the better-for-you trend
Automatic Merchandiser - 31
Automatic Merchandiser - 32
Automatic Merchandiser - 33
Automatic Merchandiser - Small Op: Questions are the Answer
Automatic Merchandiser - 35
Automatic Merchandiser - Above and Beyond: Coffee Ambassador exceeds client's expectations with scalable, adaptable service
Automatic Merchandiser - 37
Automatic Merchandiser - 38
Automatic Merchandiser - 39
Automatic Merchandiser - 40
Automatic Merchandiser - Classifieds
Automatic Merchandiser - Social Hubs
Automatic Merchandiser - 43
Automatic Merchandiser - 44
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/automaticmerchandiser/november2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/automaticmerchandiser/septemberoctober2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/automaticmerchandiser/august2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/automaticmerchandiser/junejuly2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/automaticmerchandiser/april2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/automaticmerchandiser/februarymarch2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/automaticmerchandiser/november2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/automaticmerchandiser/september-october2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/automaticmerchandiser/august-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/automaticmerchandiser/june-july-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/automaticmerchandiser/april-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/automaticmerchandiser/february-march-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/automaticmerchandiser/november-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/automaticmerchandiser/september-october-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/automaticmerchandiser/august-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/automaticmerchandiser/june-july-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/automaticmerchandiser/april_2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/automaticmerchandiser/february-march-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/automaticmerchandiser/december-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/automaticmerchandiser/october-november-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/automaticmerchandiser/September_2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/automaticmerchandiser/august2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/automaticmerchandiser/automatic_merchandiser_june-july_2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/automaticmerchandiser/automatic_merchandiser_april_2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/automaticmerchandiser/automatic_merchandiser_february-march_2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/automaticmerchandiser/december2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/automaticmerchandiser/AUTM_1020
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/automaticmerchandiser/september2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/automaticmerchandiser/august2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/automaticmerchandiser/junejuly2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/automaticmerchandiser/april2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/automaticmerchandiser/Automatic_Merchandiser_February-March_2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/automaticmerchandiser/december2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/automaticmerchandiser/octobernovember2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/automaticmerchandiser/september2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/automaticmerchandiser/august2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/automaticmerchandiser/junejuly2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/automaticmerchandiser/april2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/automaticmerchandiser/februarymarch2019
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com