Java Enabled
For this former film student, the road to Hollywood--and business success--is paved with coffee beans.
Vital Stats:
Jeremy Gursey, 30, of Mocha Kiss Coffee
Company:
catered coffee bars; retail stores (on movie lots) serving hot and
ice-blended coffee beverages; gourmet coffee beans wholesaler
2005 Projected
Sales: $3 million to $5 million
"People were so enthralled by the product, I
got a pager. I was like a legal drug dealer."
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Cold Call: As
a 19-year-old Los Angeles film student, Gursey saw the popularity
of ice-blended mochas at the coffeehouse he worked at and thought
offering them on movie sets would help him get into the business.
With four months of research, he developed a recipe of his own. His
first break came when casting director and regular customer Bill
Dance hired Gursey to serve his office and the Ed Wood production office. Word-of-mouth
landed Mocha Kiss on one movie set after another. Two years later,
Gursey added hot coffees to his catering menu.
Take Two:
Gursey "broke" into TV by contacting the line producers
of sitcoms Hearts Afire and Seinfeld, both on the same lot. By telling
each that the other had Mocha Kiss on the set, he convinced both to
try him out. "When you have nothing," says Gursey,
"you've got nothing to lose." His star clientele
prompted him to work with food chemists to create his own
distinctive flavors.
Now Appearing:
A private-label deal with entertainment show Access
Hollywood in 1998 resulted in great exposure--baristas donned
Access Hollywood T-shirts and hats to offer Mocha Kiss at movie
premieres and award shows. Building on the connections he had
established through his TV and film setups, Gursey sealed beverage
contracts and opened retail stores on the lots of NBC, Paramount
and Sony. He travels for films and special events like the NBA
All-Star party and the Super Bowl, and has backstage contracts with
major venues including the Hollywood Bowl.
Spill the
Beans: Mocha Kiss is in talks with specialty retailers and
chain stores to carry the roasted coffee beans. Gursey's goal
"is to give the world the opportunity to taste the coffee the
biggest stars and musicians taste."