Small Business Week Award Winner: Taylor Maid Farms
Rooted in a love for organic farming, Taylor Maid Farms began roasting organic coffee in an old barn in Occidental over 20 years ago. A pioneer in the fledgling organic coffee industry, Taylor Maid Farms partnered with several coffee farmers as they worked towards organic certification. The above fair wage prices paid for the farmers’ yields allow for both an increase in quality coffee and the workers’ standard of living. By cultivating a network of organic coffee farms, Taylor Maid’s initial product line of four coffees soon included several blends and seasonal single origin offerings.
Steps were made early on to reduce the company’s environmental footprint. A coffee can refill program was introduced in 2001 soon to be followed by printed recyclable steel can packaging, saving thousands of paper labels from the landfill. 2003 saw Taylor Maid Farms beta testing and then implementing the Santa Rosa produced Loring Smart Roast, a smokeless eco-friendly coffee roaster that reduces energy usage by up to 85%.
Enjoying steady growth through regional wholesale accounts for many years, Taylor Maid Farms entered the retail world with the opening of their Barlow coffee bar in Sebastopol in 2013. A second coffee bar was then opened inside Copperfield's Books in downtown San Rafael in 2014. Recycled timber, metal and pallet board from the Taylor Maid Farm property provide a reclaimed, rustic Sonoma County aesthetic where guests can enjoy delicious espresso drinks and hand-made specialty coffee.
Each year the company donates coffee, gift baskets and beverage service in the amount of 1% of its profits to community organizations, schools, non-profits and faith based organizations.
