In 1983, Bay Area native, Mike McLaughlin, was heading into his 20th year as a teacher in the Richmond Unified School District. Barbara, his wife, was a stay-at-home mom taking care of their two young sons, Mark and Shaun. They were trying to make a living on a teacher's salary. Family was very important to Mike and Barbara, and they had dreams of providing a better life for their kids.

Mike's brother and cousin, Pete and Bob, had been in the coffee importing business for five years, and they were growing Royal Coffee at a rapid pace. In June of 1983, Pete and Bob approached Mike to see if he would be interested in becoming a coffee roaster. Mike had absolutely no experience roasting coffee, but Pete and Bob already had a customer lined up who was ready to start ordering. Mike and Barbara had a quick and hard decision to make. Did they take a risk and leave the security of teaching to try roasting coffee for a living? After a long sleepless night of weighing pros and cons, they decided to take the risk.

In the early 80’s, the coffee industry was nothing like it is today. The high standards associated with specialty coffee were almost non-existent. Together, Mike, Pete, and Bob had a vision of what the coffee industry could become. Mike made a deal with a local business owner in Emeryville to use his small warehouse space during off-hours in exchange for Mike teaching him how to roast coffee. Mike learned to roast on a used peanut roaster, which had the capacity of roasting ten pounds per batch.

Little by little, he perfected his roasting techniques and slowly accumulated passionate and devoted customers. In the meantime, Barbara, learned all she could about business practices and eventually developed the internal business structure for the company. Something special was brewing in the coffee industry.

Mike, Pete, and Bob made the commitment that they would never compromise on the quality of the beans they would import and roast. To this day, the McLaughlin family has upheld that standard, which has allowed McLaughlin Coffee to become one of the highest-quality coffee roasteries in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Some of Shaun’s (who joined the business in 2003) fondest childhood memories are jumping around on the burlap coffee bags, helping scoop green beans into the small batch roaster and being a delivery driver during a high school summer break. His entire life has been surrounded by coffee.

Mark (who joined the business in 2008) never dreamed he would be in the coffee business. He wanted to make it on his own in Silicon Valley in the early 2000's. He loved engineering but didn't enjoy the stressful environment. His transition to the coffee business has been a joy for both him and the family.

42 years and a pandemic later, Shaun and Mark are running the business and Barbara is contributing to the operations a few days per week. Sadly, Mike passed away in 2024 after battling a long illness. Together, Shaun and Mark are both carrying on the legacy of integrity, relationships, and amazing coffee that Mike started in that little warehouse in Emeryville.