Disney's Roast

In 2001, when Ted Abrams was asked to take over as chief executive officer of Joffrey's Coffee and Tea Co., one of the first things he did was walk up to the company's longest employee and ask a simple question: “What is it that we do best?”

Roastmaster Chris de Mezzo started his answer by telling Abrams what the company didn't do best: run coffee shops. “But we've always roasted great coffee,” de Mezzo said. Abrams was quick to act on the advice.

Within two weeks, Abrams shut down the company's bakery, and within six months, he had shut down or licensed out all of the company's retail locations, the main drivers of revenue but also financial drains, he says. He told executives they needed to refocus on producing great coffee, concentrating on manufacturing, distribution and the company's business with Disney.