Cafe Real makes way through shut down, continues mission to bring authentic coffee experience to Bristol

The wall to the right as one enters Cafe Real, on School St., features photos of the farm where the beans are grown and some of the people who attend to the beans. (Photo by A. Sanchez)

Posted By: David Fortier July 25, 2020

By Adriana Sanchez

Cafe Real didn’t have to shut down when COVID-1 hit, but they did anyway. Eduardo Garces, owner of the coffee shop at 156 School St., said he wanted to be part of the solution. 

Garces, the former owner of Latinos and a native of Colombia, said he didn’t want to remain open and take the chance to have one of his customers or family members catch the virus.

Being shut down did not mean vacation time for Garces and his family, however. Rather, he spent his time building a patio there is now and adding a room.

This renovated and expanded part of the building provides customers with the opportunity to see his staff grinding up the beans–an authentic scene that is a rare experience in most coffee shops.

The interior of Cafe Real has many reminders of the origins of the coffee and the people who grow, pick and prepare it. (Photo by A. Sanchez)

Although the coffee shop was closed, Cafe Real had customers ordering online. 

“It’s been better than expected, it’s the one challenge we had — keeping up with the demand,” Garces said.

When taking a sip of coffee not a lot of people think about how the coffee landed in their hands, he said.

“It’s about the labor behind the coffee,” Garces said.

While preparing to open up the coffee shop originally, Garces and his family started a company called “Sembrando y Produciendo.”

It’s Colombia’s federation for coffee growers, Garces said. In this program, the federation sets a price for selling their beans.

He explained how big companies will go to Colombia and purchase the beans for a really low cost that doesn’t benefit the farmers at all. Garces said with deep sadness that there’s an issue with child slavery and poverty in Colombia.

He said companies need to pay the farmers four times the amount than what they do get paid to have a decent living. With this program, he does just that.

He added that his family is one of the largest producers of Colombian coffee, and it’s his duty is to represent it in a way that’s going to transmit or convey these efforts. 

This program launched last October, and 2,900 families signed up. It started off with one town.

In April three more towns were added. This program has built 32 homes and three rural schools. Before the schools went up, kids had to walk two to three hours to get to one.

“The size of Cafe Real is relatively small to the eyes of my customers,” Garces said, “but it’s huge to the eyes of the people who are providing us the coffee.”

Garces said all the obstacles he endured, previously, have led him to this moment in time and his operating philosophy–which is to change and improve the lives of others. 

“It’s about giving back to the community, the conversations, creating jobs,” he said and added that he would love to see more local shops to go to like Cafe Real.

“My journey through my life, proved to be useful to this. Even the mistakes I’ve made with the other business, ventures and partnerships.”

Garces went through some rough times, and he flew back to his native land, Colombia, to help him start fresh. 

“That’s where I grew up, that’s where I went to school, I found myself there for three months,” he said. “I took notes and wanted to see what I enjoyed doing.” 

That’s when Cafe Real started coming to life. He wanted to sell coffee but with the beans from his family’s farm — true authentic Colombian coffee.

Garces went to his family to figure out the logistics. He was familiar with opening a business, but he did not know what it meant to actually grow the coffee beans. Garces spent hour after hour at farms to educate himself.

“In Colombia farming coffee is really not seen as a business. It’s more of a tradition passed on,” he said. 

To get started, Garces brought back 30 pounds of coffee back to Bristol. He went on Facebook Live and was showing people he was roasting the beans. While being on Live, he told the viewers if they wanted some to comment below. He had 68 orders almost instantaneously. 

Due to the demand, he had to fly back to Colombia quickly to bring more. He did not make a profit that time around, but Garces says that didn’t matter to him.

As the business grew, he had to figure out a smart economic way to bring the beans over here. He started off at the Bristol Farmers Market, where he still has a booth most Saturdays, at the market’s location across from City Hall.

Not a lot of people realize the science behind making true authentic coffee. Garces said he has studied it for years and still is to keep up with the expertise.

Garces said he wants to provide his customers with an experience rather than just walking in, grabbing the cup of coffee and heading out. Real Cafe does just that.

Walk in and the aroma of the coffee beans greets you, while Colombian music plays in the background. On your left side are the bags of beans that are brought by cargo straight from his family’s farm. On the right the cafe has pictures of his farm back home.

It gives the customer a chance to see a glimpse of the beautiful scenery and what it really means when you brew a cup of coffee. Garces said he wants there to be a connection with the farmers and the consumer.

“I wanted them to be connected at another level… my family is the one farming the coffee for the guy that’s holding the cup at the office,” Garces said.