The Modern Hotelier #222: How Coffee Can Increase Revenue & Guest Experience | with Gage Johnston
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David M.: Welcome to The Modern Hotelier, hospitality's Most Engaged podcast. Steve, who's on the program today. 
Steve Carran: Yeah, David, today we have on Gage Johnston, the Marketing Manager from Dalla Corte. Thanks for sitting down with us Gage, how you doing today?
Gage Johnston: I'm doing great. I'm excited to be here, be a part of the podcast and share some insight I have from my background and coffee.
David M.: Awesome. Great. So we're gonna dive in. We're gonna go through a lightning round. We're gonna get to know you a little bit better, your background, your career, and then we're gonna jump into some industry topics. Sound good?
Gage Johnston: I love it. Let's rock and roll. 
David M.: All right. What's something you wish you were better at?
Gage Johnston: So I try to make time for extracurriculars and hobbies among all the travel, among all the work. I'm really getting into violin now and I just don't spend a whole lot of time with it, but I'm still keeping on the train. I keep pushing. I keep trying. I've even got a teacher. I'm trying to hold myself accountable, so I hope to just push more into that, uh, especially in 2026.
David M.: Yeah. So what's the emoji you use the most? 
Gage Johnston: The emoji I use the most is probably, this is kinda weird. The lightning bolt emoji, huh? Ooh. I just, it rings of like passion and motivation and especially if I talk about things, a part of the work I'm doing, uh, just something about it is like energy and electrifying and I love adding an electric bolt wherever I can.
David M.: Alright. Can't be coffee, but what's a luxury you can't live without? 
Gage Johnston: A luxury I can't live without is probably. Man. Coffee's most of it. I know that. I'll tell you, as much as I don't like it, I need my phone. I gotta have it. I'm a screen time crazy person. It's way too much. I'm trying to get better at it, but I have a lot of screen time, so I use my phone quite a bit.
David M.: Alright. Now, if you had a time machine, are you gonna go to the future or to the past? And what year are you gonna go to? 
Gage Johnston: I would have to go to the future. The past is the past, so I wanna look forward. So I'm gonna head forward and I'm probably gonna go to 2200. Just a nice skip, a nice even number to see what's happening, even if it's just like a glance at what's going on. I just kind of wanna take a look at what's coming. That would, that would be super exciting for me. 
David M.: What's the best piece of advice you've received? 
Gage Johnston: The best piece of advice I've received is it's all in my head. Right. Everything that I do, everything that happens to me from me, it's all processed in my own head. There's nothing else anybody does that can change that. It's in my own head. And so it was recently I was given that advice and so I said, okay, if it's just me, I can reach. Work the way I think, the way I process emotions or how people talk to me and it's just all me. Nothing can really bother me because nobody's in my head except me. So that was the best piece of advice I've ever gotten, and that was super recent. So I've been trying to apply it a lot more to my life.
David M.: That's great. What's your favorite city in life?
Gage Johnston: Favorite city? Oh my gosh. It would have to be Tokyo, Japan. I absolutely love Tokyo. I love the Japanese culture. I fell in love with it at kind of a young age, and it was really not anything about it other than just the, the appreciation of the food to start. And then the people. And having visited Tokyo and gone to Kyoto and a few other places, I really do love Tokyo, Japan. It's one of my top cities. 
Steve Carran: That's great. That's great. So now we're gonna dive into a little bit about your background, what makes you tick. So let's do it. You traveled around quite a bit growing up. You were born in Savannah. Grew up in California, traveled around, also lived in Japan for a little bit. For a little while as well. How did that shape you into who you are today? 
Gage Johnston: So I think the moving around constantly was just the adaptability. So understanding how to get into a new environment and really mold myself, the people around me, the community, into as some new form of relationship that changes between cultures. I mean, it's even state to state, city to city. It's just an amenability that comes along with it, of getting into new relationships, getting into new communities, and just really being able to thrive no matter where I'm at. And so I use that nowadays, especially if I'm traveling for work or for shows or to talk with people, meet new people.
I use that same attitude that I grew up with where it was like. I just want to get along with the community and enrich the community I'm in no matter where I go. So it, it helped me out a lot and sometimes it can be challenging. It can be challenging to be in a new place, especially at a formative age.
At a young age, it can be difficult, but I really do think most of those challenges made me into a better person now, especially in my work. 
David M.: That's great. I like that answer. Yeah. So you went to Fort Hayes State, you got your degree in philosophy. What led you there and what led you to that degree? 
Gage Johnston: So I'm a non-traditional student, so you'll love this. I started college right out of high school. I went to a local community college. Tried for a couple years. I just realized I wanted to be ground hitting the ground running, doing work, being busy, like getting out in industry. Yeah. And just being a part of something bigger. So I stepped away from college. I didn't think it was something that I wanted to follow. It just wasn't clicking at the time. Also, 18 is still a really young age. And so forced into a path like some people have it really figured out. I didn't really have it figured out yet, and so I went away. I started working in coffee.
I started working in some other industries, and that's where I fell in love with the coffee industry now, but more importantly, as I got older. I realized I can use what I've learned in industry through my experience, through my newfound wisdom to go back and finish a degree. And so that's when I got involved with Fort Hayes and was like, I just wanna finish off my degree.
My first step into college was. No surprise here 'cause I'm a little bit crazy. Uh, astrophysics, that was my very first track. I did plenty of calculus courses, physics courses, computer science. I was doing pretty well, but it just was a lot of friction in my own head, and so I stepped away. I did a lot of insight and introspection on myself, what I like.
And I came out of it really knowing that I like philosophy and I like asking deep, complex questions that are a little bit bigger than reality. So I went back, I said, what do all the great physicists in our universe and our timeline have ever done? They were also philosophers. And I was like, I can use that power of my physics to put it into something a little bit more metaphysical. So that's why I enjoy it. 
Steve Carran: That's great. And you know, you mentioned before that you've traveled a lot. You're, that's one of your hobbies, you're always traveling. Where is Japan's your favorite place? Where's a bucket list place that you still want to hit? 
Gage Johnston: Oh, bucket list. Let's see the development advisory side. I think Australia, I have to get to Australia. I haven't been there. Big coffee scene, uh, really intense coffee scene. I want to experience it. I wanna observe it, but also it's just a long place away to get to, right? It's far away and it's sometimes seen unattainable. I mean, my Japan flight was a lot shorter than an Australian flight, so it's one of those things that is kind of just out of reach enough for me to not jump yet, but I need to take that leap so it's on my bucket list to get to Australia and then hop over to New Zealand too and experience the Kiwi vibe as well. 
Steve Carran: Very nice. I heard when you grind coffee in Australia, it actually goes the opposite way, I think.
Gage Johnston: I think it's one of those forces. 
Steve Carran: So that was great. Now we're gonna dive into your career, how you ended up with Frankie and Dalla Corte. So, you are very passionate about coffee. Love it. And it's awesome because you get to live your passion on a daily basis. What got you so passionate about coffee?
Gage Johnston: I started in coffee in a little shop in Laguna Hills, California. This was when I was taking a break from college and, and I wanted to just figure life out. And I was blessed enough that that shop was roasting their own beans. Not many shops do that, and so I got early access to understanding the supply chain of coffee.
So coming from the Farm to America to be roasted and served as espresso or whatever beverage you have, and I don't, something clicked about it early on that I was like, I want to support the supply chain. Coffee is, 99% of it is grown in developing countries in traditionally called Third World. And so a lot of these areas don't have the same access, the same resources, the same education, the same opportunity.
And I got really passionate about selling coffee here and doing coffee here because I knew my impact would benefit that supply chain. And that's still my primary why every day in this coffee industry is farmers. That's my focus. For sure. 
David M.: So we go through some of the jobs in San Diego. You worked at Bird Rock. Yep. Nostalgia, fringe Coffee. What did you learn from those experiences that you, you take with you today in your world of coffee? 
Gage Johnston: Sure. Yeah. Bird rock was huge. So after I was done with the little shops, I was kind of bouncing around getting the experience Bird Rock Coffee was one of those locations and roasters in San Diego County. That was on a pedestal. It was sitting up top and baristas tried to apply there to become better baristas, to become better professionals. It's really well renowned for its coffee program. The owner, Jeff, is amazing. He's been sourcing for 30 years now, and so he's done a lot for the community and I wanted to be a part of that.
I knew I could learn a lot. So Bird Rock is where I learned. All my fundamentals, how to taste coffee, how to roast coffee, how to run an operation, how to run a cafe, how to really build out a good coffee program that supports the supply chain. I went over to nostalgia. That was a startup, so me and Taylor Fields.
Started this company that was a roasting company. I figured I had learned everything I could from bird rock, right? And so I was like, I gotta start up something. So, uh, we started that up. We ended up creating a product that was a steeped coffee bag. Uh, we pitched that to angel investors, got a $5 million valuation on the invention that we made.
So that was a lot of fun. I learned a lot about starting up. I learned a lot about successes and failures too. We failed on a lot of things. Got ahead in a lot of things. So that was where I really just understood what the actual industry was about. And then Fringe was one of those passion projects where we brought up coffee from developing countries to grow in San Diego County.
So there are coffee trees in San Diego County now that are producing coffee, and I got to be a part of that company, that very foundational level of growing and harvesting and doing things in the United States where right now we only have coffee in Hawaii. It's not domestic, it's not continental. So this was our first push on Continental US Coffee, which was pretty cool.
Steve Carran: That is really cool. Yeah. And then from there, you were at White Rhino. Yeah. Coffee. And now you're working with Dalla Corte on the marketing side. What made you come to Frankie and Dalla Corte to work with, with them as far as coffee goes? 
Gage Johnston: Sure. I have identified my own personal pipeline now, which has been awesome looking back, being a little bit introspective, I've understood what I was doing the whole time. Starting as a barista in Laguna Hills, California, going down to San Diego, starting my own company. Into Dallas, running and managing a coffee program for 15 cafes, doing the whole executive operation level, and then moving into now the backside, the B2B stuff, so all business to business, the actual manufacturing of equipment.
And I don't think my pipeline has stopped. I don't think I'm done getting into other parts of the industry, but the whole time I've just known I wanna see it all. I wanna harvest coffee a fringe. I wanna source and roast coffee at Bird Rock. I wanna actually sell stuff to companies and sign contracts at nostalgia.
I wanna manage 300 baristas at White Rhino. I want to do all the different parts of the industry. So I don't think I'm done yet, but Frankie Coffee Systems and Dalla Corte is just that next stop where I get to learn and see and do more in the industry. 
David M.: Yeah. So for I think Steve, Jon and I was great hearing about the history, but for those who don't know, can you tell us more about Dalla Corte?
Gage Johnston: Yeah. So Dalla Corte started in 2001, founded by Bruno and Paolo, Dalla Corte. They were both technicians at other espresso manufacturers. So what they did was say, Hey, let's come together and create this company with the tools and resources we've learned and actually make a better espresso machine.
So when they started the company. They innovated all this new technology for espresso equipment that at the time just didn't exist. One of the main points was multi boiler technology, so, uh, group heads on the espresso machine that can have different temperatures at the same exact time, so you can adjust what kind of coffee comes out of each with the temperature, with the pressure with everything else. And so these were some innovations that they created that they wanted to express and put out into the world. They founded the company now it's been running in Milan, Italy since then and we're just the next part of their journey coming into the North American market, which is where I step in to help them get there.
Steve Carran: Yeah. That's cool. That's great. So now we're gonna move on to the thought leadership section. Let's coffee, let's do it. And I'm excited to pick your brain because you're probably the most coffee expert I've ever met in my life. So, one thing, we travel quite a bit. Both Jon, myself, and David, all our coffee fans had some of this morning. Why do coffee programs matter so much for, for the guest experience in independent hotels specifically? 
Gage Johnston: So coffee programs are part of the broader food and beverage program, right? It's all about what element of F&B do you add to hospitality? And it doesn't have to just stop at resorts, at high end hotels.
It goes all the way down to even economy, hotels, budget hotels. But we stop here at independent and boutiques because we know there's a gap. We know there's something there to have further development to elevate a food and beverage program. And there's most often more consumer sentiment toward coffee programs than even just food and other beverages in general these days and age.
So it's often coffee purchases that are driving some of these things. It's not necessarily high ticket food items. It's not like the most crazy cocktail you can imagine. Espresso martinis help out a little bit. Yes, absolutely. But you use a coffee component, right? So we understand there's a little bit of a gap right now in consumer expectation for the beverages they actually want, which are coffees, a fun statistic I always throw around is last day 66% of Americans had a cup of coffee. And so if you don't have a program to capture that, or you are not helping them get to that coffee. That's a huge miss in sales. So that's our goal as a solution is coming in and helping build out those programs.
Steve Carran: Well, I guess it just kind of clicked for me with this, like in food and beverage programs, people focus on local food. Local sourcing and like what a great opportunity to connect that local coffee shop. To that local experience as well. 
Gage Johnston: A hundred percent. You don't have to do your own thing. Use local resources and people often think, okay, well I'll use a local produce vendor. I'll use something local, do a partnership. Yeah. Be strategic about a local partnership where you can put some coffee brand that's really well appreciated in the community into your space in some way. And people are gonna love you even more because one, they don't have to walk out the door to go find that roaster.
Right, exactly, to find that local company. Two, that local company is gonna come and be the experts for you. So you don't have to hire on baristas or learn all the coffee like I do to run a coffee program. You have those experts in your community and they wanna be a part of that growth too. So leverage those partnerships from that community and don't try to come in and say; Hey, we've brought somebody with us. That's not gonna go well, especially for independent and boutique hotels utilize those partnerships within the community and really build that outreach through some of those strategic initiatives. 
David M.: Yeah. Well said. You've touched on it, but dive a little deeper. What are some of the mistakes that you see that hotels make when they're trying. Implement a coffee program. 
Gage Johnston: Sure. It's a lot of standard menu application, right? So what everybody else is doing, we're gonna do implementing an espresso martini with no further innovation, but just having the espresso martini, I can throw a stone and hit 20 spots right now that have an espresso martini. And they all probably taste pretty similar. So how are you being innovative beyond that? It's one about the innovation, two, about the convenience. Is your shop convenient enough? Do I have to figure out, navigate through the lobby, figure out where the coffee is, figure out where good coffee is sourced.
I don't wanna have to bother with that. So one, I want some innovation. I want something new, evocative, uh, some new creation that really highlights your space. Two, I need it in some convenient format. So those are the two things that are often lost and operators often assume, Hey, I need a lot of labor to do those things. That doesn't need to be the case. We don't need a lot of labor. We don't need a lot of infrastructure to have. Some of those minor innovations that really set you apart from the competition, right? 
Steve Carran: Absolutely. So how do you see technology evolving in the coffee industry that's gonna shape hospitality?
Gage Johnston: Sure. There's a lot of talk about automation and AI and all of these big words, all of these, uh, automatic functions. I really do think a more appreciated approach to automation. Is what's gonna propel everybody forward. Uh, consumers are okay with it. It's often more of an operator concern of, I don't want the automation, but consumers are fine as long as they're still being met with their other demands of new and innovative ideas, convenience, high quality, and even some partial staff attentiveness.
So don't fully automate. Apply minor automated solutions. That free up your staff to do the important things that they could be doing to really elevate that guest experience, right? If I've got a limited maid service for turning over a room, they don't have time to add a nice little swan in a towel on the bed, or leave a handwritten note or do something out of their way because they're so focused on just getting through all the rooms and getting it done, where a lot of those things can be automated.
Same with the coffee shop, right? If I'm not focused on getting the exact. Steamed milk for my latte, the perfect temperature, the perfect shot. I have time to focus on the guests, to ask them how they're doing, what their plans are in the city, offering my local advice, Hey, go check out this speech where nobody knows, that creates that emotional connection that keeps people coming back. If I'm totally focused on making the coffee beverage as perfect as it can be, I'm not engaging with that guest and I'm losing that emotional connection. Yeah, so automating some of those things through innovative coffee technologies is essential. 
Steve Carran: What does that look like? What does it look like? An automated coffee shop or automating more processes? 
Gage Johnston: Sure. Yeah. So automation can come in a few forms. It could be, uh, some light recipe, maintaining automation. It could be fully automatic solutions where guests walk up and select the coffee they want from a micro market and then walk away.
What guests really want is not either the totally manual thing where they have to do it themselves, or the totally automated thing where it's like, Hey, nobody's there to engage me, right? They want something in the middle where I still have somebody in front of me, but they're focused on me. They're not focused on doing whatever they're doing, right?
I get that emotional connection. So in coffee equipment, it looks like automated milk steaming solutions. It looks like automatic recipe mapping through Grinder and the machine, so I don't have to focus on that. Component of the coffee beverage. I can free that up with automation and focus on the guests.
So it's a hybrid model operators should employ. For the coffee program to really capture that guest engagement. 
David M.: Yeah. Very smart. Yeah. So you gave a lot of great information for hotels. So kind of as we look at it, to actually start that coffee program, to grow it, what are just maybe some simple, you know, advice that you would give to hotels just to get started to grow it and start somewhere to get to eventually maybe the promised line.
Gage Johnston: Sure. Ideally we get better business, right? Right. The rising tide floats us all. That's what we want. That's the end goal. For starters, focusing on what your guests actually want is essential, and it's something I often see missing among all operators, is not just sitting down and understanding what their customers or their guests or their any sort of occupants want from that facility.
They're just focused on creating something that they think will work. But it's really easy to look at your customer journey and understand which gaps are actually missing in that customer journey, all the way from brand awareness, right? How do people find out about my hotel to the guest checking out and leaving, and maybe, hopefully coming back at the end, but what does that entire customer journey look like and is it being made the best way they want it to be made?
So just masks over all the hotels. Two big things come to mind that are really easy to implement, convenience and innovation. So making my coffee program super convenient. How easy is it to access? How easy is it to get a good quality beverage? The second one that consumers want is something innovative.
Am I well known for a beverage? Do I have a sparkling orange juice coffee that nobody else makes? Am I known for something that's innovative, maybe a little evocative, but draws in that attention? That's what guests are wanting out of lodging, especially this year and into next year. It's just something innovative like I can, again, I can go anywhere and get an espresso martini. What's setting me apart from that competition? And guests know that. They know there's differentiators that they can source. 
Steve Carran: So we talked about automation a little bit. But is there anything else on the operations side that can help hotels be more efficient while still delivering that high quality barista level experience?
Gage Johnston: Yeah, I think it really is about training programs, and that's the best part about partnering with somebody local who runs a coffee program, who has coffee shops already, because you can leverage those standard operating procedures, right? Those SOPs that make. Training really easy. There's turnover still.
The labor market is pretty good these days, 4% unemployment is solid that means 96% are either working or looking. That's awesome. So turnover is going down, but it's still about the training and maintaining and sustaining that coffee program because. Some people just aren't as passionate as I am. It's, it's hard to build that.
It's hard to find that I'm kind of wild and crazy, so it's easy for me to self-motivate, but sometimes it's more difficult and challenging to find employees that do self-motivate and have passion for that guest experience. So really standardizing some of those practices. Those operations that you can put into writing are quick manuals to show the employees how to operate some equipment, how to make a really high-quality beverage.
Just takes that extra piece off and again, promotes the idea of getting involved with that guest, talking to them, engaging with them, and developing an emotional connection. So when the guest leaves, they can say, Hey, thanks again, gage for the coffee. I'm just a barista. Right? And on the way out, they feel compelled to say thanks again, gage for the coffee. That's the goal. That's what's driving that emotional connection. 
Steve Carran: That's great. And I have to ask. What's your favorite type of coffee? 
Gage Johnston: Oh my gosh. Okay. If we're talking about something seasonal, I'm pumpkin spice guy, I gotta do it. I'm a pumpkin spice latte lover. If you're asking me in a professional coffee tasting setting, um, it's any Ecuadorian coffee. I'm a big fan of Ecuadorian coffee. It doesn't get a lot of exposure. It doesn't get a lot of, uh, imports into the United States, but when it comes in, it's some of the best tasting coffee and I just have to be a little bit biased toward it. 
Steve Carran: Hey, gotta keep an eye out for that. So, Gage, we've been asking you questions this whole time. This is where we turn the tables and let you ask David and I a question. 
Gage Johnston: Ooh, I like it. Okay. You're the industry experts. I'm calling you that you've seen it all. You've been interviewing a lot of people. What are some, maybe one or two of the biggest trends you see coming in 2026 for boutique or independent hotels? What's gonna be a big driver for the next year?
Steve Carran: We've been talking about hyperlocal this year. And I think people are finally seeing, especially indies, how important it is to be connected to the community. And so we're not only gonna see like more partnerships, things like that, but especially in those boutique hotels that might be smaller, that hey, maybe they don't have space to have their own you.
Coffee, full coffee shop, they're gonna have somebody come in and help them, or a spa might be outsourced instead of somebody in. But having those partnerships, and then I think we're gonna see a lot more hyper or a lot more hyper personalization as well, where you walk in, I had an experience where I parked my car valets like, oh, Mr. Karen, thanks for coming. And I'm like, oh my gosh. How did you know? It was me getting outta that car. And it blew me away. So I think we're gonna see a lot more of that because it makes you feel good as a guest and a human being when you're recognized. Yep. So. I think those are two things that we're gonna see a ton of next year.
Gage Johnston: Sure. I have to agree on the personalization. That's coffee in general too. Yeah. And it's even something that's going into CPG, one of the biggest soft drink brands in the world started back putting names on the bottles. There was a reason for that marketing campaign. It's personalization is coming around and customization and premiumization.
So is it a premium experience? Is it a customized experience? That's big in coffee too, so I'm glad you say that about the indies and some of the more boutique hotel spaces.
Steve Carran: And I feel like Starbucks was onto something with writing the names on the cups. Maybe they were absolutely far ahead of their time with, uh, doing that, but I absolutely, I agree. I think it would be great. 
David M.: Yeah. I think I'll just piggyback on some things that, as you and I were talking, there's this idea of keeping people on property, giving them things that they want. You know, it could be a destination where it's either hot like here it's humid. Do I really wanna walk a block and a half to get that coffee, or can I just. Get it. So I think even to me, I feel like the more we travel, it's almost like the minibar is making a comeback and there's more and more of these like pre-made Yep. Drinks and things than where before you were thinking like, okay, the minibar's going away.
Like it's a headache, it's not a profit center, it's too expensive. And now I feel like it's shifted where the prices have come down, but the selection and quality are better. And I think independents do a really good job of that because there's not a lot of the branded properties that really have, you know, good mini bars or things of that nature.
So that's kind of what I see. And I think you guys are onto something with trying to keep people at the hotel and give 'em a good cup of coffee. 
Gage Johnston: Absolutely. Yeah. And kind of put a period on that. It's showing up in the consumer data. So when we look at the spaces and the areas that consumers wanna spend the most money, right on premise is the fastest growing outpacing QSR outpacing full dining outpacing almost everywhere, where consumers wanna spend money away from home on coffee, it's on premise.
So whether that's work lodging somewhere on the property where they can go and get a cup of coffee that's big and it's growing super quick. So again, that's why we wanna keep people in the space. It's easy, it's efficient. You can capture more sales, and it's not just about, Hey, it's another transaction, right?
You're building that relationship. You're saying This is your home away from home, and we're here for you. We're here to help you have the best experience with you, your family, and we want you to come back and experience it again. In an even better way. We wanna keep innovating, we wanna keep growing, not just doing the same thing over and over. So I'm glad you say that too. 
David M.: Well, that does it for another episode of The Modern Hotelier. This is where you get to let people know how to get in touch with you. Awesome. Dalla Corte. Any products you wanna plug, the floor is yours. 
Gage Johnston: Sure. If you wanna find more about Dalla Corte, please visit us at dallacorte.com/usa. Reach out to me through any contact information from the podcast. I'll be happy to get you in touch with a machine. More information, or more importantly, just simple solutions to solve any coffee business issues you're seeing today, and we can work through some of those things. 
David M.: Well, that does it for another episode of The Modern Hotelier Hospitality's Most Engaged Podcast. Whether you're watching or listening, we appreciate you and hope to see you again soon. Thank you for joining us.
Gage Johnston: Thank you both. I appreciate it.
Steve Carran: Thank you, Gage.