Covid-19 Update and Phase 3 of Illinois' reopening plan
Carrie Masek
Our part of Illinois is on tract to enter Phase 3 of the state’s reopening plan by the end of this week. Many more businesses will open and small gatherings of people will be allowed. Since coffee roasting and all other food manufacturing have been considered essential industries from the start, we will continue custom roasting coffee and shipping it fresh to our customers’ doors.
At the start of the stay-at-home order, we made some changes necessary to continue doing business during the pandemic. Since a couple members of our team are at higher risk for Covid-19, we will be continuing some of those practices and relaxing others.
We are still taking our temperatures every morning and working with a reduced staff to help maintain social distance. We also still encourage our customers to let us mail their coffee. However, if you would prefer to pick up your coffee, we are now allowing “no contact” pick ups. Please let us know when you order that you would like to pick up your coffee and the best way for us to tell you when it’s ready. You can leave a message in the box for Additional Instructions, email us, or give us a call at 847-578-0772. Once your coffee is roasted and packed, we’ll put it in a bag with your name on it and set the bag just inside our front door. Then, we’ll contact you via email or text, depending on your preference. We’ll let you know your coffee is ready and when we’ll be open for you to pick it up. All you have to do is open the door and grab your coffee. After you pick it up, we'll refund the automatic $7.50 shipping and handling charge. We'll disinfect the door knobs and surfaces between each customer.
Since the stay-at-home order is in effect through the end of this week, we’re still sending out Thank You Coffee. If you are an essential worker and place an order before Monday, June 1, we will include an extra 1/2 roast of Thank You Coffee with your order at no extra charge. Just leave us a note in the box for Additional Instructions or send us an email and let us know the important work you’re doing. "I’m a long distance truck driver" or "I work in a nursing home," for instance. We’ll roast the coffee you ordered, the additional 1/2 roast of free coffee, and mail it all with our most sincere thanks.
If you are an essential worker, please let us thank you in this way. If you know an essential worker who loves coffee, we’d love to send a bag of Thank You Coffee* for them. Just tell us about them. “My daughter is a doctor,” for instance, or “My cousin works in a meat packing plant.” We’ll add the free 1/2 roast of Thank You Coffee to your order. All we ask is you find a socially-distant, safe way to give them the coffee. Sharing good coffee really is our favorite way to say, “Thanks!”
What are you looking forward to as the economy in your area starts to reopen? Maybe it’s getting a hair cut or having a few friends over for a backyard barbecue. Whatever it is, please join the conversation and let us know. You can share your thoughts on the Facebook thread or in a comment on this blog. Or, if you have thoughts about coffee you’d like to share with the wider world, leave us a coffee review on Google or on your favorite review site. Not only do we value your opinions, but reviews help more people find us. Help us connect coffee lovers to fresh, quality coffee!
We wish all our customers good health and calm as life slowly moves back to normal.
~ Carrie, Paul and all of us at Coffee by the Roast
*We can only afford to send one free 1/2 roast of coffee per order. If you know more than one essential worker (we do!), please share the coffee love and let them know about us and the coffee we'd like to share with them. Thanks!