A family-owned coffee business in Western Kentucky has continually grown since a modest beginning in 2017.
Founded by Madisonville First Baptist pastor Kevin Maples and his family, the operation of the business is transitioning to the children of Kevin and his wife, Suzanne.
Daughter Anna Grace graduated from Liberty University last year and is now running the company. Her sister, Madison, is at Liberty pursuing a degree in accounting, and another sister, Sydney, is a high school senior and handles some of the roasting duties.
In November, Campfire Roasters added another store in another Kentucky community. Besides the two brick-and-mortar stores and a food truck with coffee options in Madisonville, the business opened a store on heavily traveled Fort Campbell Boulevard in Hopkinsville.
“It was really her (Anna Grace’s) dream to take over the business,” said Kevin.
“When we finished the two stores in Madisonville, we asked what would be next,” said Anna Grace. “Hopkinsville is only 30 minutes from Madisonville, so we decided to try the next monster.”
Campfire Roasters began with a coffee truck in Hopkinsville last April, then opened a store on Nov. 26, 2022.
“We’ve had good response,” she said. “It’s at the end of a shopping center, and we have a drive-thru as well as the inside having couches and music. We added food, too. People have enjoyed [being] here.”
She spends four to five days a week at the Hopkinsville location.
Campfire Roasters menu consists of brewed coffee hot and cold, specialty drinks such as chai latte, caramel macchiato, americano and other specialty drinks with flavors such as vanilla, cinnamon, caramel, white mocha, peach, toffee nut, brown sugar and more. The cafe also offers tea, lemonade, smoothies and food options from breakfast meals including scones, muffins and breakfast sandwiches.
While each of the family members owns 20 percent of the business, the three siblings’ role in the business operation frees Kevin to give full attention to pastoring the church while Suzanne teaches at Madisonville-North Hopkins High School.
This article is republished with permission from Kentucky Today. Read the original here.
Chip Hutcheson is a content strategist for Kentucky Today, the online news website of the Kentucky Baptist Convention. He also does supply preaching and interim pastorates. He retired as publisher of The Times Leader newspaper in Princeton in 2017 after serving as a publisher for 41 years. He previously served as president of the Kentucky Press Association, Kentucky Baptist Convention and the National Newspaper Association.
