When Jody and Chris Treter decided to relocate their coffee company to Traverse City from Lake Leelanau this past summer, the impetus was the ability to offer delivery by bike, a service found in other parts of the country that they wanted to bring to their community. At its new home, Higher Grounds also has a new roastery and a coffee bar, which Karen co-manages.

The Beans by Bike service is the next extension of the Treter’s socially-conscious business philosophy of bringing exposure to issues they care about.

“Traverse City is a natural fit for bike deliveries,” said Jody, adding that this effort is just one piece of a desire to make the community more bike-friendly.

The coffee trailer was designed by Bikes At Work Inc, a company in Ames, IA, that builds custom trailers for hauling all sorts of cargo. At full capacity, Karen’s trailer can carry 200 pounds of coffee.

While the service has a growing list of business customers, Karen hopes to add more residential deliveries, too. “It is such a cool thing to leave beans on someone’s porch,” she said.

And just like the mailman, Karen is planning on four-season delivery. She honed her bicycle commuting chops in Boston years ago and logged hundreds of miles road and mountain biking while living in Vermont before moving here. Although she’s never been a winter biker and this will be her first northern Michigan winter, Karen said she and the bike are ready.

“When I get on that bike I can’t believe I’m getting paid,” she said. “It’s a pretty sweet gig.”