Red Bay Coffee is one of the Bay Area’s most prominent coffee roasters. The business now runs five Bay Area coffee shops and holds just over $251,000 in assets, which includes about $27,000 in cash and about $224,000 in additional property.
The business, headquartered in Oakland’s Fruitvale neighborhood, operates cafes, including at the San Francisco Ferry Building and Oakland’s Grand Lake neighborhood. It recently opened locations in Berkeley and San Francisco’s Cow Hollow.
As per the San Francisco Chronicle, Red Bay runs other business channels like retail sales of canned coffee beverages and roasted beans, direct-to-consumer sales, and wholesale account sales, in addition to its coffee shops.
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Launched in 2014 by Keba Konte, the artist-turned-entrepreneur started the coffee shop as a way to offer greater representation in the local specialty coffee world. Prior to launching Red Bay Coffee, he operated a cafe and art gallery called Guerilla Coffee in Berkeley.
“Globally, Black and Brown people are the ones growing the coffee,” Konte told the Chronicle. “But when you engage with the specialty coffee scene in the U.S., historically, it has been a very white environment.”
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Today, the coffee roaster has filed for bankruptcy as it faces “spiraling costs” from multiple lawsuits, according to the Chronicle. It filed in late August for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which allows businesses to restructure their finances and continue operations.
Konte will continue to operate the business as a debtor in possession. The business has liabilities of over $3.3 million, Konte estimated in bankruptcy filings, adding that the company’s net losses from January to July of this year exceeded $850,500.
Konte said the pandemic and the high cost of two lawsuits against the roaster are major stressors on the business’ finances. One of the lawsuits is from a former accountant executive of the business, Ashley Stewart, who made claims of discrimination and sexual harassment at Red Bay.
The second lawsuit also relates to a breach of contract brought by a Los Angeles landlord that controls a building Red Bay no longer occupies.
