Knoxville's newest coffee shop sprang from a mission trip to Haiti

Morgan Benson said she hopes not only to give customers a morning boost, but also Haitian businesses through some of the proceeds from her Seed Coffee Co. shop that opened recently at 2558 Sutherland Ave.

Benson, along with fellow managing partner Andrea Land, opened the business in June in part of the former Marble City United Methodist Church building where Golden Roast Coffee Roasters had been before moving to larger space in Cherokee Mills.

And so far, their first venture into owning a coffee house has been going well, she said.

“It is very fun,” Benson said, adding that local architect Stacy Cox and her mother, Beverly Linkous, are also part owners. “It’s a lot of work but mostly fun for the most part.”

She said the transition has been almost seamless because people were used to coming to the Golden Roast. The layout is basically the same, and they have made only minor changes, like a little painting, to make it feel like their place, she added.

But for those whom Benson hopes to help through proceeds and a nonprofit she helped start, their lives have been anything but seamless transitions. The Grace Christian Academy graduate − who later attended Maryville College, Liberty University and Carson-Newman – said she took a mission trip to Haiti after the devastating 2010 earthquake.

A subsequent visit made her realize the handouts of basic necessities were not really making a long-term impact. That planted the idea to use coffee seeds and various other projects in the blossoming stages to help people. She helped visualize a nonprofit that would partner with individuals and communities in education, entrepreneurship, and development projects.

And part of that is with coffee growers, since Haiti had once been traditionally known as a major coffee grower due to its ideal location, geography, and climate.

The nonprofit, which is faith based but not connected to any particular church, was founded in 2018, she said.

A fundraising sale of some Haitian coffee beans for the nonprofit beneficiaries and some work at a coffee house also made Benson dream of one day opening a brick-and-mortar coffee house.

She was also busy with a home construction and renovation business when architect Cox, who is on the board of SEED International, learned from architects Smee and Busby, whose offices are in the Sutherland building, that the coffee shop space was available.

“I said, ‘Let’s check it out.’ And we fell in love with the space,” Benson said. “It’s been really great to have a permanent place in Knoxville, a place where we can tell our story every day.”

Besides a variety of coffee drinks from the Caribbean farmers they are trying to help, they also sell bagels, bagel sandwiches, scones and croissants provided by local vendors.

They also sell packaged coffee and merchandise which, along with some proceeds, go to help the beneficiaries of their nonprofit.

She said she met partner Land while they were working at the same coffee shop in 2016 and have been friends ever since, including being roommates for a period. Land has also volunteered at SEED International doing photography, she added.

Benson − who plans to focus strictly on the coffee shop and nonprofit after finishing renovating a home for her and husband Blake Benson − added that she wants the whole operation of their business to be one of goodwill and fair and friendly treatment. That ranges from the growers to the customers. And so far, the results have been positive, she added.

“We want to make a cozy space and make everyone feel welcome,” she said. “It’s important how we treat each other.”

She hopes to get even more customers when more students from nearby University of Tennessee arrive in August for the fall semester. She also hopes that − with the changes coming to Cumberland Avenue and the construction of student apartments − maybe Sutherland Avenue can become the new Strip-like hangout for students interested in locally owned places.

Regardless, her experiences have created quite a journey for her so far, both in travel and work.

“It still seems surreal,” she said. “I walk in the shop and sometimes have to remind myself that it is all real and something I’ve worked hard for.”

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Knoxville coffee shop on Sutherland will fight poverty in Haiti