Faith, Hope &coffee
How a former inmate found purpose through creating a thriving roasting business
Having spent much of his early years in and out of prison, John Krause knows the big house is no place to get a good cup of joe. Now, a decade after being released from San Quentin State Prison, the 38-year-old former drug addict is serving up freshly roasted “coffee with a purpose,” his theme for his Big House Beans roastery in Antioch, his cafe in Brentwood and soon his coffee shop in Oakland.
Not only does the Richmond native seek out quality beans from places where the bean business is making a difference in the community, but he also hires, mentors and teaches skills to former inmates and others who face barriers to employment because of their background.
“I can relate to a lot of people. I’ve been through a lot of stuff, and I know if I can do it, anyone can do it,” Krause said. “We have some great success stories and some not so great stories, but it’s a chance I am willing to take.”
Q Tell me a little about your early life and how you became incarcerated.
A I had a difficult early life. My dad died when I was 4 in a motorcycle accident. My mom was a transient. I started drinking at 12, did heavier drugs at 13. … It was a revolving door thing that escalated. For 17 years I used drugs and 12 years I was incarcerated. Everything was tied to my drug addiction.
Q When did you get sober?
A I was 29. I got arrested on Dec. 21, 2009, on a parole violation — meth was the key player. That was the last time I used drugs.
Q How did you turn your life around?
A When I got out of San Quentin (in 2010) I was homeless, my grandmother had passed away, I had three kids — and all had different moms. I didn’t want them to grow up without a dad, so I knew I needed to get sober. … This is where the magic happens. I was introduced to the faith community. A group of successful Christian believers took an interest in me and were determined to help me — not just financially but to fill the gaps in my life. They taught me how to start a business.
Another magical turning point was I ran into someone at an AA meeting in Danville from prison. He was in a good spot and he wanted to help me get to a good spot mentally and emotionally and he would pick me up and take me to meetings and church. When those two worlds collided for me, that is when the magic happened . ... I invited him (Jerry Nagy) to be a partner with me in the environmental services business, recycling restaurant oil.
Q How did you make the switch to coffee roasting?
A I realized I could make more money if I just had my own business. I had been introduced to coffee roasting by the pastor of the Danville Community Presbyterian Church, who was my friend now and one of my mentors. I fell in love with coffee and I became obsessed with it and I started roasting coffee in my garage. I was so intrigued by it that I wanted to pursue it as a business. I drank a lot of coffee in prison but it was nothing like we do. It’s Folgers crystals on a good day.
The first time I had the true epiphany of “this (coffee) is incredible” was at my pastor friend’s house. We brewed up a cup of freshly roasted coffee, and in my palate, in my mouth, these flavors were just bursting, rolling and changing — it was true magic. That changed everything. When I transitioned to the coffee is when I moved to Bay Point after I got married to Leeann, my co-founder and managing partner.
Q Why did you name your business Big House Beans?
A I thought it was catchy in a way that would get people’s attention. When I got out nobody would hire me, it really rubbed me the wrong way and I understand that. But nobody was about to give me a second chance or even a first chance and I wanted to do something about that.
Q What is your company mission?
A Our mission as a company is to create jobs for people with barriers to employment and to give them the opportunity to learn about the coffee industry — it’s a beautiful industry.
Q How do you choose which beans to buy and roast?
A We have some amazing partnerships with importers or direct trade relationships. We start by evaluating the coffees. After we test and approve and find a spot for them in our coffee offerings, we then want to learn more about the story about where the coffee comes from and the social impact it’s making in that community. The first order is quality, second is social impact at origin and then price. Our beans come from Guatemala, Kenya, Colombia, Nicaragua, Honduras — there are quite a few places.
Q How many employees?
A Wehave15now.
Q Where are your cafes?
A We have a cafe in downtown Brentwood and the production warehouse in Antioch. We were opening three new cafes — it got kind of put on hold (with COVID-19) — but then I got the green light to finish construction for the 2,600-square-foot Oakland (cafe) and the Brentwood Library walk-up coffee window with outdoor seating. We were told we should be able to open before the library reopens.
Our downtown Brentwood cafe has acai bowl, waffles, avocado toast, coffee every way you can think of. Our Antioch roastery is strictly our production warehouse. We are opening our largest cafe in Oakland at 4700 Telegraph Ave. in two to three months. It’s just a great community. It’s the epicenter of specialty coffee in the Bay Area. It’s a market where we really wanted to be in. We are going to incorporate ice cream because it is one of my favorite things.
Q What are your most popular coffees?
A Our most popular are La Morena, an award-winning medium roast produced by all women in Guatemala, and our classic dark roast, which is a Colombian coffee.
Q How has COVID-19 and shelter-inplace orders hurt your business?
A A lot of our wholesale business is tied into these big corporate companies that are laying off thousands of people, so we’re not sure how that’s going to play into our production. Airbnb — their corporate office had been our customer for several years — it laid off 1,700 people; that’s a lot of people. All of the corporate tech offices that we had, they’re all just shut down right now.
Q Tell me about your community work and why it is important.
A We are giving donations all the time. … My ultimate goal is to be able to allocate money to open a transitional home for people that need housing. It’s a little bit of a bigger goal for us.
Q Do you still give inspirational talks to inmates?
A I was scheduled to go to San Quentin to speak to the re-entry class but it was put on hold because of COVID-19. I think it would be inspiring for me to share my story.
Q What are your hopes for the future?
A Three months ago my answer was different than now. I was gung-ho. I had a couple of other locations lined up that we had not signed on yet. But I think now we just need to reevaluate where we’re at and stabilize the business and just be a little bit more strategic on what our next move is, but we can continue to grow and continue to create new products and embrace the community where we are already open or are going to open in.