When two African American men were arrested at a Philadelphia Starbucks last month while they waited for a meeting, the incident sparked widespread outrage, an apology from the chain, calls for a boycott and a national conversation about racial bias.

Among the alternatives? A growing Oakland-based roastery and cafe, Red Bay Coffee, whose African American founder and CEO, Keba Konte, says he prioritizes diversity in hiring. The company got more exposure after the Starbucks incident when actor Wendell Pierce promoted Red Bay and praised its commitment to the community, prompting tweets from people across the country asking Red Bay to come to their cities.

Fortunately for them, Red Bay already had plans to expand beyond its Oakland home — a new roasting site will open in San Francisco this summer in partnership with Daily Driver Craft Bagel company, and Pierce is partnering with Red Bay to open a cafe in a former shipping container at the Richmond BART station. Konte also expects to open a cafe in Philadelphia by the end of the year.

Konte, a former photographer and longtime artist, got into the coffee business almost by accident, when he opened his first shop, Guerilla Cafe, in Berkeley in 2005 mostly as a way to showcase his art.

“I thought the cafe would be a great gallery,” he said. He started experimenting with roasting his own coffee, and when he got it right, he launched the Red Bay Coffee at his cafes in 2014. Red Bay now sells to dozens of cafes and grocery stores.

Konte sat down with this news organization to talk about Red Bay’s growth, its value-driven mission, Starbucks’ plan to close 8,000 stores later this month for anti-bias training, and what’s in store for the future. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Q. So you got into coffee as an artist. Is there an art to roasting coffee?

A. Yeah, there’s some art. Maybe more science. The biggest challenge is developing a palate to discern the subtle tastes of different coffees or the same coffee roasted at different levels. You can learn to run the machine in a day, but to learn what you’re looking to develop, that’s the skill. And it doesn’t develop overnight.

Q. Your company is very mission-driven. Tell us about that mission and the values you promote.

A. I grew up in San Francisco, which is a town that prides itself on being inclusive and open-minded. I was a student at San Francisco State University, which has a rich history of radical thought and political activism. This environment really shaped my thinking about how to be in the world. So, when I started purchasing for the business, I’ve been keenly aware of the political ramifications of how I spend my money. And we’ve tried to bring more diversity and inclusion into this industry. Especially downstream from the farms with export, import, roasting, retail, equipment, education, training. It’s a $50 billion per year industry, and people who are sort of descendants of those coffee origin countries unfortunately play a very small role in most of that economy. At Red Bay, we’re trying to make up for some of that.

Q. So people from places in South America or Africa, for instance, aren’t being represented.

A. Yes. So there is racial inclusivity. There is also gender equality — 60 percent of our leadership is women. We have people who have physical handicaps in leader positions, and we make opportunities available to people who were formerly incarcerated or who came out of foster care. We’re driven to examining the entire supply chain — or the value chain, really — to weed out the exploitation. And for me, that’s a lot of fun, it feels great, and the coffee tastes better with less slavery.

Q. You also do profit-sharing for your employees. Is that challenging, with the high cost of doing business in the Bay Area?

A. We are constantly trying to improve and create a more equitable company. We will be doing some stock options eventually, and a lot of these decisions are driven by conversations with employees. Creating a successful company is challenging. But being fair is not only not difficult, it’s for us a competitive advantage. We retain employees longer and have less turnover. It lifts up our brand, and taps into consumers who are looking for a values-driven company to do business with and buy products from.

Q. Do you think consumers have changed the way they buy? That perhaps they speak with their dollars on social issues and values?

A. Yes, that’s been proven out again and again. Now more than ever — especially with the millennial generation, which is the coveted demographic for specialty coffee — they will actively boycott brands who don’t feel like they’re doing the right thing. They will really seek out and support brands with which they feel value alignment.

Q. That brings up the recent issue with Starbucks and the allegations of racism against some of its employees on the East Coast. It says it will shut stores for an afternoon soon to do diversity training — will that work?

A. I think that’s a great start. It’s going to take more than a couple hours of training. It’s taken generations to build in these racial biases. It’s going to take a generation to work them out of their company and our society. At Red Bay, (the inclusiveness) is baked into our ethos and brand promise. We don’t need to give a percentage back to something — that’s what we do every day. I think it’s apparent to our consumers. It’s not just a superficial gesture. If you really want to know the value of any company, look at their executive team: the gender makeup, the racial makeup, the age, the ability set of their leadership. That tells the real story. That’s the real measure of a company’s sincerity.

Q. You also host a lot of community events?

A. It’s a way for us to tap into our community. There are a lot of lectures and conversations happening, and films around entrepreneurship. There is a huge appetite (in Oakland) for a platform for people to build and discuss and learn about economic development and empowerment.

Q. It seems like people want more experiences these days, when it comes retail. Are you seeing that?

A. Absolutely. It’s more than just a coffee shop here — people love to see the process. They like to see the coffee being roasted, see through to our lab. It’s very transparent gesture on our part to welcome in the public. They can see the coffee we buy, the machines we use. The value in our company is not just the bean we select and how we roast it but really with whom we are working with and the impact we are having. It’s our whole style.

Q. What do you want for the future — long- and short-term — of Red Bay?

A. The long-term vision is that we’re building a mission-driven global specialty coffee brand. We will have retail and partnerships in multiple countries. We’re already global in a sense because our supply chain is international, but we will invest in some of these communities outside the U.S. in building retail operations, as well. We’re expanding this year outside the Bay Area — our next stop is Philadelphia this year. To do that, we’re actively raising a Series A round of funding. We’ve got very established heavy hitter VCs at the table that we’re working with to make that happen. I can’t name drop them yet. If we get a deal I’ll tell you! But we’re trying to bring the Red Bay platform nationally.

Keba Konte

Position: Founder and CEO, Red Bay Coffee

Age: 51

Hometown: San Francisco

Residence: Oakland

Education: San Francisco State University

Five facts about Keba Konte