Texas Coffee Traders

It all began with a bad cup of coffee.....In 1981, R.C. Beall was sitting in an all night diner near Glacier Park having a cup of the worst coffee and pondering how to make a living in this incredible part of the world. Could roasting and selling a great cup of coffee be the answer? And so, armed with a small home roaster, Montana Coffee Traders was born. By 1989, Montana Coffee Traders was an established roaster. The next process in R.C.'s coffee journey took him to Monteverde, Costa Rica. While there he connected with the growers and the local Coope Santa Elena and started one of the very first Fair Trade projects in the United States. The project, based on the European formula for Fair Trade, linked the growers directly with the end user in the U.S. As of 2012, this project has generated over $275,000. in "dollar back" donations to the community in addition to the Fair Trade price of coffee and total donations and support exceeding $800,000. 1992 - Moscow, Russia The cold war was over and free enterprise was allowed. R.C. was invited to Moscow to open a roaster in downtown Moscow at the Tagansky Market, a Robin Hood style market that dated back to the late 1800's. After meeting with some young, eager Russian's they set up the very first and only coffee roaster in Russia at the time and began roasting and delivering coffee to the Moscow market. Wild times! In 1994, R.C. started Texas Coffee Traders right here in Austin, Texas. It was a natural fit for another Coffee Traders to establish a base back in R.C.'s home state. Austin is eclectic, young, progressive and a cool, college town which loved great coffee!