Equator Coffees and Teas Revenue and Competitors

In 1995, when business partners Brooke McDonnell and Helen Russell began roasting coffee in a Marin County, Calif., garage, it marked the beginning of their journey to build a high-impact coffee company focused on quality, sustainability and social responsibility. At the beginning, Brooke and Helen were content to define Equator as a boutique “concierge” roaster, determined to wow wholesale customers with outstanding coffee and service. Over time they realized they were uniquely positioned at the center of four communities—the farmers cultivating the coffee, the wholesale customers buying the coffee, the employees helping to grow the business, and, more recently, the local communities supporting Equator cafés. Learning how to be a good partner to each community became, and continues to be, a motivating force for doing business.