Bellatazza’s humble origins

Stewart and Kim owners of Bellatazza standing where they’ll build their new retail/roastery in Tumalo, OR. Upon first meeting Stewart your impression may be that aside from being fanatical about great coffee, he’s the kind of guy a young entrepreneur wants to be mentored by. Or at least that’s the way I felt after spending a week with him in our home in Guatemala and then a weekend in his home in Bend. Back in the day… Stewart parted from his band Nero’s Rome, started what must have been one of the first espresso carts in Portland, and married his wonderfull wife Kim and had three kids. When he visitited Guatemala I asked him what he likes to do for fun, or with his freetime back home….he said “I like to be with my wife and play with my kids.” They now have a roasting company, a retail location in Bend, OR and in SunRiver, OR. Stewart also does consulting in the retail industry and has currently volunteered his time to help me with a project working with growers in our area to survey and collect data, develope some standardized terms and market the coffees for what they are. A great model for furthering transparency and promoting what Stewart calls ECOSUSTAINABILITY. This term is a great match for farms like ours that are not certified organic that are organic, or that are using chemicals minimaly and responsibly. Although Stewart is a marketing genius commited to quality, I believe his success comes more from striving to improve the lives of those he comes across.

Stewart and his roasters Diedrich and Brendan