Little Waves Coffee Roasters
Coffee roastery · Durham ·
Latina-led micro roaster, 2022 Micro Roaster of the Year
Latina-led micro roaster, 2022 Micro Roaster of the Year
"I saw that the frozen Irish coffee at Queeny’s is made with Little Waves Coffee cold brew, highlighting a local coffee collaboration." - Jenn Rice
"A Durham-based micro roastery and subscription-driven coffee business that won Roast Magazine’s 2022 Micro Roaster of the Year for both product quality and a values-driven approach. Primarily Latina-owned and led by Areli Barrera Grodski, the operation emphasizes sustainability, equitable pay across the supply chain, and active community giving. Roasting out of a Lakewood neighborhood location, it produces roughly 60,000 pounds of coffee annually for the owner’s cafes, wholesale accounts, and a growing nationwide subscription base that expanded during the pandemic and helped the business avoid layoffs. Signature efforts include a 2020 dark roast called “Royal 7,” named for the seven locals who led the Royal Ice Cream Parlor sit-ins, with a portion of proceeds funding Feed Durham; leadership aims to scale past 100,000 pounds to enter the macro category and re-compete at a higher level." - Eric Ginsburg
"Little Waves Coffee Roasters has an “Invoke A Loved One” box set featuring a bag of their Love Frequency coffee blend, melting chocolate, and a spice of your choice so you can make spiced sipping chocolate—an alternative caffeine-forward Valentine’s gift." - Matt Lardie
"As the roaster whose bags Cocoa Cinnamon relies on, Little Waves Coffee Roasters represents the product Cocoa Cinnamon would need to move — 230 bags per day — to sustain payroll, and selling one bag to each of Cocoa Cinnamon's Instagram followers would fund that for 72 days." - Jenn Rice
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