Celebrating Small Businesses: Little Goat Coffee Roasting Owners and Employees Team up to Transform Their Shop, Support the Local Business Community

Each week in May, WSFS Bank and FOX 29 are teaming up to honor a small business in the Greater Philadelphia and Delaware region that overcame the odds to persevere and succeed during the COVID-19 pandemic. WSFS Bank is proud to provide Little Goat Coffee Roasting, with a $2,000 award and a live segment on FOX 29’s Good Day Philadelphia as part of the WSFS Bank Small Business Resiliency Program.

The COVID-19 pandemic proved to be a turning point for Little Goat Coffee Roasting’s owners, Joe Lins and Olivia Brinton.

After having started Little Goat in 2017 at a local framer’s market with two dollars in savings, bucking the odds was something they were accustomed to.

So when the COVID-19 pandemic forced Joe and Olivia to close their over-the-counter retail business in Newark, Del. for six weeks, they pivoted to wholesaling the coffee beans they import and roast to local supermarkets and built an e-commerce site to sell beans directly to consumers.

These changes to their daily operations helped to cover expenses and avoid laying off employees, who helped fulfill online orders.

When they we able to re-open, Little Goat’s small indoor space was not able to serve customers, so they opened ordering and pickup windows, which have proved so popular and successful that they have become part of Little Goat’s main operations.

Meanwhile, Little Goat has remained active in the local community to support other small business through selling their over-the counter products, such as pastries, and sourcing supplies such as milk locally.

Check out Joe and Olivia’s appearance on Good Day Philadelphia!