Today we’d like to introduce you to Wyatt Mund.
Hi Wyatt, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Dakota Dirt was founded by three friends who were sick of coffee that didn’t deliver. We’ve made it our mission to guarantee fresh grounds and great taste – bringing premium coffee to the hardworking, everyday coffee drinkers.
My brother, Landon Mund, approached me with the idea to roast coffee back in 2019. My brother, good friend, & I, always knew we wanted to start a business together. Landon farms and got very interested in the agricultural aspect of coffee. Our good friend, Beau Goolsbey, owns a lawn care company and local apartments so he has a good business head on him. And I have a marketing background – specifically in the CPG food industry working as a marketing manager at SunButter. I know they say not to work with your friends/family but our complementary skills have helped contribute to our success.
So, we started roasting in Landon’s basement in 2019 (not selling at this point). The result was great coffee, but we needed a brand and operations to support an actual launch. Fast forward 6 months into 2020 and we had Beau’s garage converted into our facility, along with a brand that was ready to launch. We called it Dakota Dirt – premium coffee for the hardworking, everyday coffee drinkers.
dirt • /dərt/ noun
– a slang term for coffee
“Danny brews a mean cup of dirt. He says it’s his secret recipe, but we all know it’s Dakota Dirt. No other coffee is that fresh and flavorful. Just too bad he can’t fry an egg worth a damn.”
No jokes here — Just the best cup of dirt you’ll ever drink.
We knew there were lots of coffee companies out there so we had to get super niche, focusing on the Midwest coffee consumer. It’s also important to note that we aren’t a physical/traditional coffee shop – we operate online as a direct-to-consumer coffee experience.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It’s been one heck of a ride – ups, and downs would be an understatement. We launched over covid so logistics the first year were an absolute nightmare. The idea of running a production facility was also new to us which presented its challenges. I can’t stress enough how important it was for us to have community support from the start.
Community being our local town of 700 to the community of Midwesterners – people wanted to see us be successful with our venture. That type of support gives you a reason to keep going. And we guys understand the value of a good work ethic so we kept at it, growing the brand into what it is today.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Dakota Dirt was founded by three friends who were sick of coffee that didn’t deliver. We’ve made it our mission to guarantee fresh grounds and great taste – bringing premium coffee to the hardworking, everyday coffee drinkers.
dirt • /dərt/ noun
– a slang term for coffee
“Danny brews a mean cup of dirt. He says it’s his secret recipe, but we all know it’s Dakota Dirt. No other coffee is that fresh and flavorful. Just too bad he can’t fry an egg worth a damn.”
No jokes here — Just the best cup of dirt you’ll ever drink.
Slogan – “Good From the Grounds Up”
Slogan – “Damn, That’s Good.”
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/DakotaDirtCoffee
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/dakotadirtcoffee
Risk-taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
I think anyone who starts a business has to be comfortable with risk. I will say it felt somewhat easier to take on risks with your brother and good friend alongside you. The risk was much lower the first year in Beau’s converted garage. But, as Dakota Dirt grew, we had to make plans for a larger production facility. We decided to put up a building in late 2021. That also involved a larger roaster purchase and equipment to scale operations.
And just for context, these coffee roasters are in the ballpark of a high-end vehicle. All of a sudden we had a monthly break-even number that we had to hit, This is where that strong work ethic paid dividends. We kept grinding both literally and figuratively – growing our direct-to-consumer (website sales) and adding on wholesale accounts (retail locations). Without taking on risks, there is a lack of motivation/drive to keep growing.
Pricing:
- Including a few PowerPoint slides for you to pull info from
- bags cost $15
- k-cups $24.99
- Voyage20 – 20% off the fresh Dirt
Contact Info:
- Website: https://dakotadirtcoffee.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dakotadirtcoffee/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DakotaDirtCoffee
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com
- Youtube: @DakotaDirtCoffee
