How was Cerberus founded?
We opened the café in 2019 with the desire to create opportunities to try new things, promote an inclusive and welcoming space in rural Southern Oregon, and grow genuine partnerships with people who share similar values. WE began roasting small batch coffee within the first year, seeing it as an opportunity to extend our values to the larger community.
We're a values driven company that focuses on inclusivity, passion and quality, and care.
Inclusivity: The practice of including people who might otherwise be excluded or marginalized.
Passion and Quality: Commitment to care and to measured excellence.
Care: To prioritize the well being of our staff and creating a supportive and worthwhile place to work.
At the end of the day we want to give everyone an opportunity to try new things. We do this for our customers by offering blends that taste familiar yet novel. We do this with our staff by providing ongoing coffee education and collaborating with them to support their other interests. For example: our bags were designed by a former Cerberus barista!
We are a queer and BIPOC owned company in rural Southern Oregon that creates an explicitly inclusive and safe environment to all that walk through our doors.
How does the community in Jacksonville, OR impact Cerberus?
In 2020 a fire swept through the town of Talent, Oregon, 60% of the town's businesses and 2,600 homes, most of which belonged to Latinx and low-income folks. Rather than succumbing to the devastation and allowing the town identity to be usurped by opportunistic developers, the people banded together in real ways to maintain their community identity and provide food, shelter, and monetary support.
Our roasting space is one of the first businesses to be built after the fire and we can't be more inspired by the communities resiliency and people-centeredness. Within months of opening the space we were able to work in collaboration with local artists and movement makers to host a Dia de Los Muertos event and partner with many of our neighbors for collective growth.
Tell us a fun fact (or two) about you!
We got our name because a friend said our 130-lb lab/mastiff, Bear, looks like the 3 headed dog from Greek mythology.
We also started the first co-roasting program in Southern Oregon - allowing others to rent space in their facility - to lower the barriers for others to learn to roast.
Wizard Cat Project
Although we didn't ask Cerberus about this, in honor of Pride Month, we'd like to shed a well-deserved spotlight on Cerberus' Wizard Cat initiative (and delicious coffee).
From the Cerberus website:
"Inspired by the life of dear friend Donnie Toumbs and believing profitability should not be the totality of a business, the Wizard Cat Project serves as the ethical compass of Cerberus.
As such, a portion of the proceeds from all Wizard Cat items will go to support LGBTQI+ and mental health resources.
Through this project and community partnerships we've been able to support:
You can get the Wizard Cat blend here at Trade now.