Brewing Community at Red Bay Coffee
It all started in a one-car garage in Oakland’s Fruitvale district back in 2013.
“I needed a place to study and develop my craft as a coffee roaster,” says Keba Konte, founder of Red Bay Coffee. “I set up a little room in our garage that we affectionately called the Coffee Dojo. It couldn’t be a better place to start a coffee company.”
With birds chirping outside and beans roasting inside, the former photojournalist who had documented such revolutionary figures as Nelson Mandela and Fidel Castro, got down to business — learning, perfecting and planning.
Thus was born Red Bay Coffee in 2014, a roastery with the goal to bring “beautiful coffee to the people.”
“Our mission is to introduce more diversity and inclusion into the coffee industry. From Black and Brown people, to people with disabilities, to the formerly incarcerated,” says Konte, noting “Coffee is Africa’s gift to the world.”
The roastery sources directly from countries with the unique combination of climate and elevation required for high-grade specialty coffees. In the process, it empowers and supports local growers entry into the business.
Having launched popular locations in Oakland and San Francisco, the Red Bay team is excited to head south. Though Konte was born and raised in San Francisco’s Haight Ashbury district, “I have uncles and aunts and cousins in LA. I’ve been coming back and forth here all my life.”
Red Bay Coffee will open it’s Hollywood Park doors soon, welcoming the community to come and hang out over great brews in a space showcasing art and wares from local creators and makers. It’s going to be hot.
Red Bay Coffee will open it’s Hollywood Park doors soon, welcoming the community to come and hang out over great brews in a space showcasing art and wares from local creators and makers. It’s going to be hot.
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