1951 Coffee
With a café in the heart of Berkeley, just steps from UC Berkeley's campus, and a barista training program operated in Oakland, 1951 Coffee Company stands as more than just a coffee shop. It’s a mission-driven hub that provides job and networking opportunities, training, and a community for refugees starting new lives in the U.S. At the helm is Doug, CEO of 1951 Coffee, whose vision has transformed a modest café into a beacon of social enterprise.
Doug’s story is one of evolution—from a nonprofit that started by training baristas to a full-fledged microroastery with the help of Bellwether Coffee’s roasting technology. It’s a journey rooted in quality, community, and sustainability. Here’s how 1951 Coffee continues to innovate, one roast at a time.
“It’s Consistently Been Really, Really Good” - Freshness & Quality That Speak for Themselves
When 1951 Coffee first opened, they prioritized offering top-tier coffee from local roasters. But Doug had bigger dreams: "With my background as a roaster, it was always a goal to eventually roast our own coffee." In 2018, Doug discovered Bellwether’s electric, ventless roaster—an ideal fit for 1951’s space constraints and sustainability goals. They continue to deliver consistent high-quality coffee that customers love, but now have full control of their operations. “We do all of our sourcing through Bellwether. We’ve been very pleased with the quality of the coffee that’s available and the taste that we’re getting,” Doug shares. Using Bellwether’s pre-programmed flavor profiles has streamlined their operations while maintaining excellent results. “We get customer feedback that people are enjoying our drinks—whether it’s online sales or in the café, it’s consistently been really, really good,” he adds.
Roasting in-house has not only allowed them to control the quality of their coffee but also transformed their café into an interactive space. “It’s one of the first things you see when you walk in,” Doug explains. “The number of people who sit and watch the machine roast while waiting for their drinks has been quite surprising.” The roaster isn’t just a tool; it’s an experience that fosters conversations and curiosity. “The conversations that it started, the opportunities for our staff who are back there roasting to explain what's happening… It has become not just a tool in our cafe, but a conversation piece as well,” Doug notes.
By adopting Bellwether’s technology, 1951 Coffee has also maintained the high consistency their customers expect. “Coming to Bellwether we saw a continued consistency in what we wanted to offer our customers,” Doug notes, “This is a big deal for us going from traditional roasters, we were roasting on large natural gas machines and kind of tapping into a technology that's somewhat new.” He affirms that there is no need for hesitating, and that the quality has remained reliably excellent. “I think there are people that can be like, ‘oh, what are we gonna get here?’ And so for us, the consistency we've been able to get from our machines has been quite good. And again, our customers see it and they notice it,” Doug adds, emphasizing how much customers value a reliably excellent cup of coffee.
“We Can Push the Gas Pedal on Specific Revenue Streams” - Economic Empowerment for a Nonprofit
Transitioning from a wholesale account, to white label, to then finally roasting in-house was a financial game-changer for 1951 Coffee. Doug recalls the steep costs of buying wholesale coffee: “We were paying anywhere from $9 to $11 per pound for roasted coffee.” Today, by sourcing green coffee through Bellwether’s Marketplace, those costs have significantly dropped. “Now, we’re paying closer to $4 or $5 per pound,” he says. The savings have allowed 1951 Coffee to reinvest in their barista training program, support their wholesale accounts (often run by their program graduates), and expand their retail and online coffee sales.
This substantial cost reduction hasn’t just improved their bottom line; it’s created new opportunities. By roasting their own coffee on a Bellwether, 1951 Coffee retains a larger share of their profits—dollars that directly support their barista training program and community initiatives. “When we were white-labeling, we couldn’t even consider wholesale because our margins were too tight. That margin of sometimes two, three, four dollars per pound makes a huge difference in our overall business,” Doug explains. “Now, we have the margin to wholesale and scale other revenue streams like online retail.” This shift has given them the flexibility to grow sustainably and reinvest in their mission. “We can actually push the gas pedal on specific revenue streams,” Doug notes. “That means more money flowing into our café, our programs, and the different types of work we want to do to fulfill our mission.” In this way, roasting in-house doesn’t just save money—it powers growth, sustainability, and community impact.
Doug also highlights the affordability of Bellwether’s new Shop Roaster. “We’re looking at a price point now for a roasting machine, that can even be a countertop roasting machine, at the price point of an espresso machine,” he says. This shift has made roasting far more attainable for small cafes like his. Doug often shares this insight with entrepreneurs starting their own coffee businesses. “If you wanna have control and ultimately have a lower price point for your beans, this is actually attainable now,” he explains, encouraging them to consider roasting as a feasible next step in their growth journey.
“It Really Is That Simple to Use” - Accessibility and Technology Made Simple
Many of the individuals who join 1951’s program are not only new to the coffee industry but also navigating life in a new country. Training new staff on a commercial roaster might sound daunting, but with Bellwether’s intuitive technology, their staff can integrate roasting into their daily operations seamlessly. “We can teach someone in 20 minutes how to use the machine and how to roast. It really is that simple to use,” Doug says. Their lead barista, inspired by her Eritrean heritage where roasting coffee is central to ceremonies, quickly mastered the roaster’s automation. “She was super excited and has seamlessly woven it into her day-to-day work.” Doug shares. The automated features also freed up time for her to focus on other tasks—“She can be behind the bar making drinks and knows instantly when it’s time to put in another batch of beans just by the sounds of the machine,” he adds, enabling her to roast 120 to 230 pounds of coffee weekly while continuing to deliver exceptional customer service.
Bellwether’s accessibility also makes it a practical solution for small cafes with limited space. Doug recalls how they initially considered purchasing a gas roaster but quickly realized it wasn’t feasible. “The idea of being able to put a natural gas roaster in our café was probably next to impossible,” he explains. “We’re in a very tight space and it would have been completely infeasible to install a gas roaster.” Bellwether’s ventless, electric design removed those barriers, allowing 1951 Coffee to integrate a roaster into their café seamlessly. “It’s this kind of innovation that makes roasting attainable for smaller operations like ours,” Doug says, emphasizing how Bellwether opens doors for businesses that might otherwise be excluded from roasting on-site.
In-house roasting has also given Doug’s team greater control over their product and future growth. “Being able to build roasting into our plans from the very beginning means we have ownership over our core product, which is huge,” he says. This ownership, combined with the increased margins, makes expansion a tangible goal. “If we ever opened locations outside our current geographic reach, roasting on-site would be a natural part of our plans. It’s not just attainable—it’s a smart move now.”
“We Want to Make Sure the Producers are Benefiting From It” - Sustainability in Every Step
Sustainability is central to 1951 Coffee’s mission, and their partnership with Bellwether has amplified these efforts. “We want to make sure that the environmental impact we have is as minimal as possible,” Doug explains. “Having an electric, low-emission roaster, operating off of solar power…we're trying to do as much as we can to cut down waste,” he adds. 1951 Coffee has implemented additional waste-reduction measures, such as using reusable bins for internal coffee storage, eliminating the need for single-use bags.
Bellwether’s Green Coffee Marketplace also plays a critical role in helping 1951 Coffee source ethically and sustainably produced beans. “We want to make sure the coffee we sell is part of a supply chain that feeds back to producers, and that they are benefiting from it.” Doug says. The transparency provided by Bellwether’s platform enables 1951 Coffee to uphold its values without the resources to establish direct relationships with growers. “It was really important for us as we saw the transparency information that Bellwether provides for us to be able to know a little bit more about the story,” he explains. “As a small company, we don’t necessarily have the ability to travel to origin, but having someone who can do that for us is extremely helpful.”
From sourcing ethically produced beans through Bellwether’s Green Coffee Marketplace to reducing waste in packaging and electric roasting, 1951 Coffee leads by example in environmental stewardship.
A Future Built on Coffee and Community
As 1951 Coffee expands its wholesale business by building a network of cafes run by program graduates; grows its online presence through a newly rebuilt website and subscription coffee services; and explores new markets in major U.S. cities where there are strong refugee communities, the partnership with Bellwether remains a cornerstone of their strategy. The ability to roast their own coffee has empowered them to scale their impact, one cup at a time.
By connecting newcomers with opportunities in other regions, Doug hopes to replicate their success in Berkeley on a national scale, helping refugees find meaningful employment and community in the coffee industry. In every bag of coffee roasted and every barista trained, 1951 Coffee lives its mission: to build a world where everyone, regardless of background, has a place and a purpose. And with Bellwether by their side, they’re brewing that future—bold, sustainable, and inclusive.
