H and H Coffee

Dedicated to the history of the Hoffmann-Hayman Coffee Co. founded 1899 in San Antonio, Texas.

Joe (joe.coffee)

Not a roaster or café. A technology platform providing POS, mobile ordering, and loyalty infrastructure to independent coffee shops — positioning itself as “the operating system for independent coffee” and an alternative to the corporate-chain app ecosystem (Starbucks, etc.).

What it is

Mobile ordering app + POS system + loyalty program bundled for independent operators. Customers can pre-order and pay via the Joe app at any partner shop; loyalty rewards travel across the entire network (not shop-siloed).

Directory of 64,000+ independent coffee shops; 665+ active Joe partner shops as of last check. Merit Coffee (SA) is a listed partner.

Founding

Founded ~2014 by brothers Nick and Brenden Martin and Lenny Urbanowski, all Seattle-based. The Martins had worked as baristas at a shop in West Richland, WA, where Brenden learned small-business operations firsthand. The idea emerged on a drive from Eastern Washington to Seattle. Lenny Urbanowski joined after enrolling in a coding school to help build the MVP.

Business model

  • Consumer: 35¢ convenience fee per transaction
  • Shop: 8% fee on app purchases
  • Philosophy: “Industry-owned infrastructure” — framed as value flowing back to grower, operator, and community rather than to a corporate intermediary

Scale and funding

Fully remote team of ~15. $3.5M raised from Gravity Payments, Craft Ventures, and Flying Fish Ventures. Products in 1,500+ coffee shops across the US.

Relevance to this wiki

  • Useful as a directory tool: joe.coffee/locations/tx/san-antonio/ lists SA independent coffee shops and can surface operators not yet in this wiki
  • Represents the tech infrastructure layer of the modern independent coffee economy — a layer H&H-era operators had no equivalent for

See also

  • [[merit-coffee]] — SA chain listed as a Joe partner
  • [[shotgun-house-roasters]] — independent SA roaster; potential Joe partner type
  • [[sa-coffee-roasters]] — long-running SA independent; contrast with app-era model