CRM CASE STUDY
A CRM suitable for Specialist Wholesalers
From HASBEAN to Ozone Coffee: How Capsule Helped Bring Structure to a Growing Coffee Business
Few businesses are built around passion quite like HASBEAN.
Founded by coffee enthusiast Stephen Leighton, HASBEAN grew from a small market-stall operation into a respected specialty coffee roaster and wholesale supplier. Along the way, it developed strong relationships with coffee producers, built an online following and established itself as a specialist in high-quality coffee.
As the business grew, however, managing an expanding customer base became increasingly difficult.
That was when Capsule CRM entered the picture.
HASBEAN introduced Capsule in July 2018 to help bring customer information, sales opportunities and forecasting into one place. The results, according to the company’s team, included better visibility of the sales pipeline, fewer missed opportunities and a clearer understanding of customers.
There is also an important chapter to the story today. In 2018, Ozone Coffee acquired HASBEAN. The two businesses initially retained separate identities while operating as one team. In March 2024, HASBEAN officially became Ozone Coffee. The Stafford roastery and the company’s coffee-producing relationships remain part of the business’s continuing story.
The original HASBEAN experience with Capsule therefore remains useful because it illustrates a common challenge for growing specialist wholesalers: when customer relationships become too important and too numerous to manage from spreadsheets, email and memory alone, a CRM can become an essential business tool.
When Growth Makes Customer Management More Complicated
HASBEAN had developed an effective way of managing customers using spreadsheets, emails and a good memory.
That worked while the business was smaller.
But growth changes the equation.
As the number of customers and sales opportunities increased, there was a greater risk of information becoming scattered or opportunities being overlooked. Customer relationships were valuable, but keeping track of every interaction while also managing the wider business became increasingly difficult.
The company needed a system that could give its team a clearer picture of what was happening with customers and prospects.
Capsule provided that central point for managing customer relationships and sales opportunities.
The original Capsule case study records the integration of Capsule with HASBEAN’s customer service and accounting systems, including Zendesk and Xero. This gave the team a more connected view of customers, including information relating to orders, payments and support.
As Dale Harris, then Director of Wholesale at HASBEAN, explained:
“Capsule is a real game changer for us. We started using it and instantly things like customer information and sales forecasts were a lot easier to manage.”
A Clearer View of the Sales Pipeline
For a specialist wholesaler, winning a new customer is only part of the process.
There may be multiple conversations, product requirements, equipment considerations, follow-ups and purchasing decisions before a prospect becomes a customer.
A CRM gives a sales team somewhere to record those interactions and track where each opportunity stands.
For HASBEAN, Capsule provided a much clearer view of its leads, conversion rates and sources of new business. The sales pipeline also gave the team a visible picture of the opportunities they were working on.
That visibility had another benefit: motivation.
Specialty coffee is a product that requires knowledge and enthusiasm, but it will not necessarily be right for every potential customer. Not every sales opportunity can be won.
With Capsule, members of the HASBEAN sales team could see their pipeline and the business they were generating.
The original case study describes this as a morale boost, allowing salespeople to see their individual contribution to the wider business.
That is an often-overlooked benefit of CRM software. A good CRM is not simply a database. When used properly, it can help a sales team understand its progress and see where its efforts are producing results.
Putting Customer Information in One Place
One of the most useful lessons from the HASBEAN story is the importance of having a complete picture of a customer.
Instead of information being spread between different spreadsheets, emails and individual team members, Capsule gave the team a central customer record.
The original case study describes the ability to see information such as the equipment a customer had, when it was last serviced and what they were spending on coffee.
That meant staff could prepare for meetings without having to search through several different systems or rely on someone’s memory.
For a growing business, that can make a considerable difference.
The customer relationship becomes something the whole team can understand rather than something that exists primarily in the head of one salesperson.
Capsule’s current contact-management tools continue to focus on this principle, bringing contact information, interaction history, notes, tasks and other relationship details together in one place.
Better Sales Forecasting Can Affect More Than Sales
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the HASBEAN case study is the connection between CRM data and coffee sourcing.
Specialty coffee depends on relationships.
Ozone describes its current approach as building long-term relationships with producers and sourcing from partners working towards more sustainable and ethical coffee production. Its wholesale operation also provides coffee, equipment, training and ongoing support to cafés, restaurants, hotels, offices and retailers.
For HASBEAN, better sales forecasting helped provide greater confidence when planning future coffee purchases.
The team could look at confirmed leads and existing conversion rates and use that information when considering how much coffee it might need to buy.
That matters because forecasting does not stop at the sales department.
More reliable forecasts can potentially help a specialist wholesaler plan purchasing, stock requirements and relationships with suppliers more effectively.
In HASBEAN’s case, the original Capsule story highlighted how greater confidence in expected sales could also give coffee producers greater certainty about future demand.
The HASBEAN Story Continues
Although the HASBEAN name has now been incorporated into Ozone Coffee, the story behind the business has not disappeared.
Ozone says HASBEAN and Ozone joined forces in 2018 and that the combined business rebranded as Ozone at the beginning of 2024. The Stafford roastery built by Stephen Leighton continues to be part of the company’s operations.
Today, Ozone operates across the UK and New Zealand and employs more than 150 people across both countries. Its current UK operation continues to roast coffee at its Stafford roastery, using 2kg, 12kg, 25kg and 60kg roasters.
The company’s wholesale operation has also developed considerably. Ozone now supports businesses including coffee shops, cafés, restaurants, hotels, offices and retailers, offering not only coffee but equipment, training and technical support.
The company’s sustainability credentials have also developed since the original HASBEAN story. Ozone became B Corp certified in 2022 and has since been recertified with a score of 97.6, up from its original 83.6. The company says its global emissions have fallen by 37% from its baseline years, equivalent to 398 tonnes of CO₂.
That gives the original case study a much more interesting modern context.
The business that began with a passion for specialty coffee has evolved, but the emphasis on relationships, quality and thoughtful growth remains.
What Can Specialist Wholesalers Learn From HASBEAN?
The HASBEAN experience offers several lessons for other growing specialist wholesalers.
1. Spreadsheets have a shelf life
Spreadsheets can be perfectly adequate when a business is small. But as customer numbers, salespeople and opportunities increase, they can become difficult to maintain as a central source of truth.
2. Customer knowledge should belong to the business
When important customer information exists only in someone’s inbox or memory, the business becomes vulnerable when that person is unavailable.
A CRM makes customer knowledge accessible to the wider team.
3. Sales pipelines make opportunities visible
A visual pipeline allows sales teams to see what is coming up, what needs attention and where opportunities are being won or lost.
4. Forecasting can support better decisions
Reliable sales information can help businesses make more informed decisions about future demand, purchasing and resources.
5. The best CRM is one people actually use
A CRM does not need to be complicated to be useful.
Capsule is designed around core CRM activities such as contact management, sales pipelines, tasks, reporting and integrations, with additional capabilities available as businesses grow.
Capsule CRM Pricing in 2026
Capsule’s pricing has changed considerably since HASBEAN first adopted the platform, so the old pricing information should definitely be removed from the original SmallBizCRM article.
Capsule currently offers a Free plan for up to two users and 250 contacts. For businesses needing more capacity, the paid plans start with Starter at $18 per user per month when billed annually. The Growth plan is $36 per user per month, Advanced is $54, and Ultimate is $72 when billed annually. Capsule also offers a 14-day free trial of its paid plans without requiring a credit card.
| Capsule plan | Price per user/month* | Contact limit |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 250 |
| Starter | $18 | 30,000 |
| Growth | $36 | 60,000 |
| Advanced | $54 | 120,000 |
| Ultimate | $72 | 240,000 |
*Prices shown in USD and based on annual billing. Capsule also offers monthly billing.
For a small wholesaler, Starter provides a substantial increase in capacity over the Free plan, along with features such as email templates, shared mailboxes, basic reporting and premium integrations. Growth adds workflow automation, advanced sales reporting, multiple sales pipelines and project management capabilities.
Why This Case Study Still Matters
The most valuable part of the HASBEAN story is not that a coffee company used a particular piece of software.
It is the business problem behind the decision.
HASBEAN had built a successful business around specialist knowledge and strong customer relationships. But as the company grew, the old methods of managing those relationships became increasingly difficult to scale.
Capsule gave the team a way to centralize customer information, manage opportunities and improve sales visibility.
Today, HASBEAN has evolved into Ozone Coffee, but the underlying lesson remains highly relevant to specialist wholesalers and other growing businesses:
When your customer relationships become too important to manage from spreadsheets and memory, it may be time to give those relationships a proper home.
Capsule CRM is one option worth considering for businesses looking for a straightforward way to organize contacts, manage sales opportunities and keep their customer information accessible to the whole team.