San Rafael-based Equator Coffees & Teas has been named California’s Small Business of the Year, the first LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) company to win the award from the U.S. Small Business Administration.
The 21-year-old artisan coffee roaster has not only built a wholesale business that includes nearly 30 accounts in Sonoma County, but is also increasing the number of its Bay Area retail outlets.
“The only way to continue to grow the brand is through retail,” said Helen Russell, who with Brooke McDonnell, co-founded Equator in a Marin County garage in 1995.
Exposing new consumers to Equator coffees at the retail shops helps to grow the wholesale business, which Russell said remains “the golden goose.”
The company employs 90 workers, sells to 350 wholesale customers and operates three retail shops, two in Mill Valley and one in San Francisco. By year’s end, Equator plans to open three more outlets, one each in Larkspur, San Francisco and Oakland.
