In order to be more environmentally friendly and cut costs, a number of tech-forward cafes around Los Angeles are investing in new technologies. One such innovation being used now is the Bellwether Coffee roaster, from Berkeley-based Bellwether Coffee. Among the local companies to invest in the new technology are South LA Cafe in South Los Angeles and Sip & Scoop in Brentwood, which are already seeing some benefits of taking a more tech-savvy approach to roasting coffee.

According to a study by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the traditional gas-powered roasting stage of the coffee-making process account for approximately 15% of the coffee industry’s carbon emissions, and according to the company, the Bellwether roaster removes 87% of those emissions. That is the equivalent of keeping a car off the road for 2,231,531 miles or turning off the electricity in 175 homes for an entire year.

“It’s a roaster that is easily installable, it’s designed so you can roll it into places and plug it in,” said Ricardo Lopez, founder of Bellwether Coffee.
Celia Ward-Wallace, co-founder and chief executive of South LA Cafe, said that the store has a responsibility to invest in things that will not only help the environment but also positively impact the surrounding community.

“Our planet is in peril, and in particular, we’re in the middle of a lower-income community of color in south central Los Angeles … and especially (with) environmental issues such as climate change, our communities are impacted the most and face the most negative outcomes with pollution and air quality and heat and lack of places to be cool and having less trees,” Ward-Wallace said.

Besides being environmentally friendly, Lopez said the electronic roaster helps companies have full control over the quality of their product and positively impacts their finances. He said customers have been able to hit cash-flow positive returns within the first month of using the electric roaster.