Wausau Pilot & Review
Editor’s note: This sponsored weekly feature shares the stories of locally-owned and operated businesses and organizations in the Wausau area, highlighting the products and services they offer and the ways they contribute to the metro area’s unique flavor. Learn how to feature your business by emailing [email protected].
Though the name of this week’s featured Wausau-area business might not be immediately familiar, chances are they’ve designed the eye-catching packaging for some of your favorite products. Roastar launched in 2011, during a time when many coffee roasters were ordering their packaging from China. Now, those same companies can find high quality packaging options right here in Wausau – from a talented and friendly staff that believes in great customer service. The team consists of president Will Reif, sales and marketing manager Jessica Petersen, operations manager Jamie Emanuel, CFO Bill Schein, quality and engineering manager Sara Rutten, web development manager Lance Mattson and senior HR generalist Vicki Tessmer. Roastar creates much more than just coffee packaging, though. They’ve branched into packaging for products in the food, health, beauty, pet and other industries, with custom-printed graphics that can make even small businesses look like a very big deal. Each order goes through a specific set of steps, from choosing bag specifications to final order delivery, with an online tool that makes the process seamless and easy. They pride themselves on their fast turnaround – all without setup fees or other added costs. Best of all, each bag is made locally with the latest digital printing technology to ensure your complete satisfaction. Read on to learn more about this innovative company!
Q: How did you choose the name of your business? What are you trying to convey?
A: From day one the target for the business was specialty coffee roasters, particularly the smaller roasters. We felt that with our help we could put them in position to compete with larger more established brands. The name Roastar is a made up word that comes from combining the words ‘roast’ and ‘star’, to sound like the words rock star. So if you are roaster and you use us for your packaging you can become a Roastar!
Q: Tell us about your business. What products or services do you offer?
A: Roastar makes custom printed pouches for the specialty coffee industry and other niche industries like specialty food, pet treat, health & beauty and nutraceutical markets. Roastar focuses on small to medium sized businesses and is able to manufacture small orders with fast order turnaround. Customers are able to place and manage orders online and Roastar ships orders to customers to all parts of the US and Canada.
Q: What makes your business unique? What sets you apart?
A: Roastar has a couple of unique aspects. From a manufacturing stand point we use the latest in digital print technology to service our customers. This technology enables us to be efficient with smaller orders and provides us flexibility in scheduling and delivering orders within a fast timeframe. From a service stand point we focus on the online experience and couple that with great service from our customer service and pre-press teams. We set ourselves apart by tailoring our product and service to the smaller customer.
Q: What do you love most about your job? What drew you to this work?
A: Roastar is an entrepreneurial company that services entrepreneurs. There’s a lot of freedom and creativity involved in this environment. There’s not a lot of structure or history to pull from when figuring out how to do things. For some people that type of environment might not be the best fit. But for group of people that make up Roastar it is a challenge that I think everyone has embraced. We’re constantly evolving and we have been very good at adjusting our product and service to a changing market.
Q: How have you changed and evolved over time?
A: Identifying and making products that fulfill needs in the marketplace and actually servicing the customers that have those needs are two very different things. The biggest evolution that I can see is how we have committed to learning who our customers are and tried to improve the process in all aspects of ordering and communication.
Connect with Roastar
Roastar – 200 S. 84th Ave., Wausau | 866-580-4109 | [email protected] |
Visit the Roastar website here. On Facebook here.
