Sonoita Coffee Roasters

I had a conversation with Ben de la Garza and Taylor Benjamin de la Garza (brothers) from Sonoita Coffee Roasters a few weeks ago and came away with these interesting tidbits.

• The company officially began in 2016, and was acquired by Ben and his wife Jessica in 2018
• The founder of the company began roasting as a hobby in 2010, and this is an excellent example of a coffee company sale

Ben added some details: “My wife and I purchased the business in 2018 and began roasting full time after working with the original owner to ensure consistency of quality and roasting philosophy. My wife runs the Facebook presence and can be found at each event that we are invited to. She and I roast together and manage operations.”

Most of their coffees are fair trade and organic

According to Ben, “the focus on organic grown only and fair trade produced coffee is very important to us. Being able to offer our locally roasted, small batch coffee is very important to us and for many of our clients.”

• They regularly sell at a farmers market in Patagonia, and at Sonoita Mercantile in Sonoita
• They have a swiss water process decaf blend
• While the company is a home-roasting company, they have a brand new fully dedicated roasting building set up for roasting on their property
• You can find their coffee at Corner Scoop, in Sonoita
• You can find them on Facebook and Instagram at @sonoitacoffeeroasters
• They have a Buckeye Roasters BC-2, 2 lb and a new Buckeye Roasters BC-15, 15 lb

Ben added that “Taylor, my brother, has been working with us since June. He is our marketing director and he does most of our outreach. He has been a huge help and we’re so happy he joined.”

A great example of a business acquisition / sale

We don’t often hear about coffee companies that were sold by their founders, however this is an excellent example. You can watch a video interview with the original founder here. 

I asked Ben, specifically, about the process of buying an existing company: “Besides [the previous owner’s] specific family history, everything that he describes throughout the video is really the same philosophy that we carry on running the business for ourselves. When we purchased the business, it was our goal to guarantee continuity of service and product so that his existing clients didn’t feel like their favorite product has forever changed, and for new clients to enjoy the same quality as well.”  

Try the coffee

I’m trying their Harvest Blend this week, and it is a robust coffee with warm spice notes. A little bit of citrus taste. Very easy coffee to drink. They describe it as sweet and spicy.   Be sure to check them out if you are in Sonoita, and visit their web site to learn more about their coffee, or order online.