City Bean was founded in 1991 by Sol Salzer, who, after graduating from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, promoted vintage car races. Salzer then got some management and marketing experience before running away and joining the circus…for real. He promoted the largest traveling bigtop show for three seasons before falling in love with coffee and setting off to create something new for Southern California.
The first City Bean store opened in early 1992. From day one, we have focused on product quality. We source the finest single-origin estate coffees and roast them fresh on an antique German roaster. City Bean does not warehouse any coffee; everything is done by hand to order. Our efforts have been rewarded with three “Best of LA” awards in Los Angeles Magazine and three “Best Buy” awards in Zagat Southern California, in addition to numerous articles in a variety of publications.
City Bean has two licensed retail stores and supplies wholesale coffee to top-notch restaurants, hotels, coffee houses, specialty coffee stores, bakeries, and other quality-oriented retailers. We also ship coffee to customers all over the U.S., who choose to brew City Bean at home. Also in the mix is our sister company, Solana Tea Company, offering a full line of loose-leaf teas.
Most of all, we at City Bean maintain our devotion to sourcing, roasting, and enjoying the finest coffee. It is our love for coffee that makes it all worthwhile. Thank you for the opportunity to do what we love.
BUSINESS PHILOSOPHY
City Bean is a Southern California based micro-roastery specializing in servicing the local market. We are family-owned and operated. Respect towards product, suppliers, customers, environment, and staff is the driving force behind our decisions. We understand that our choices directly affect humans and the earth. City Bean is proud to have been chosen as only 100 companies worldwide to participate in the Specialty Coffee Association’s Sustainability Tracking Program (START).
START
The Sustainability Tracking and Reporting Tool (START) for the specialty coffee industry is the first industry-wide tool to track sustainability in any industry. Among the 100 companies participating in the program are coffee farmers, cooperatives, coffee processors, exporters, importers, roasters, and retailers. City Bean is one of only a handful of roasters to participate worldwide. START takes into consideration many criteria of sustainability including environmental, education, health, and equality. It is amazing to us how our business practices affect what one would think to be an unrelated criteria of sustainability. For example, one criteria of START, child health, does not seem tied to coffee purchasing. But if we look a little closer at the farm we are purchasing coffee from, we may discover that the farm has its own hospital. Supporting that farm can then have a direct effect on the health of the worker’s children.
We were ripping apart how we do business on many levels and START has helped us to further our, and others, transparency. City Bean is excited about all that is possible.
CERTIFICATIONS
ORGANIC – All City Bean organic coffees and Solana Tea Company organic teas are certified USDA Organic by CCOF.
KOSHER – All City Bean coffee and Solana Tea Company teas are Certified Kosher by KSA.
GOLDEN CUP CERTIFIED – City Bean has multiple staffers certified for Golden Cup brewing by the SCAA.
