New in Town: Coffee roasters set up shop in East Lansing

As one of the first tenants to open in a $125 million mixed-use redevelopment on Albert Street, Foster Coffee Co. sports a 2,000-square-foot interior with two levels of chairs, tables and benches dedicated to coffee.

The design is minimalist and modern with black-and-white design elements. The company motto “fostering community through coffee” commands the attention of the room.

Foster Coffee Co. owners Nick Pidek and Jon Moore of Owosso made moves on the location over a year ago. The organization has two locations, Owosso and Flint.

The pair developed a love for the bean after perusing coffee shops throughout the Midwest while they were on tour with their band.

“We’d go to these different states and people became connected to you,” Pidek said. “They'd start singing our songs in Franklin, Indiana. There is a connection there and a sense of community. Our goal was trying to translate that to coffee.” 

The company started small with pour-overs one day a week at an Owosso farmers market, Moore said. Within a year, the pair opened up their first location.

“There wasn’t really a central place for community to happen and we came in and filled that void.” 

Lansing is a natural step in that evolution, Pidek added.

Foster Coffee Co. roasts all of its coffee in house in Owosso. The Flint and East Lansing locations are only about 30 minutes away in either direction.

“Being from Owosso, we’ve been to this community since we were old enough to drive. The same goes for Flint. It really just comes back to relationships and being at the right place at the right time,” Pidek said.

One of these relationships is with Groovy Donuts, which stocks the coffee shop with dozens of fresh-baked treats.

“It is the first step in getting open and tapping into our community partnerships,” Moore said.   “We want to make sure we can tap into the local economy.”

Producing coffee en masse are two La Marzocco espresso machines.

Despite some high-end coffee places frowning on flavored lattes, Foster is trying to up its game with them, Moore said.

“We use real extracts, real fruit and raw, organic sugar base. We want to be approachable from anyone who wants a single shot of espresso to someone who wants an iced creamy drink. We want to be supportive of that.”

Foster Coffee Co. brings 18 jobs to the area and plans to host weekly community events. 

“We can’t wait to meet our future familiar face customers,” Moore said.

Foster Coffee Co.

Mon.- Sat., 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Sun., 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.

196 Albert Ave. East Lansing

(989) 277-0385, www.fostercoffee.co