Rivalry Roasters is Rising Up

Editor's Note: We are deeply saddened to report that Sean Adler was among the 12 people killed at the Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks on Wednesday night, Nov. 7, 2018. 

Rivalry Roasters, a new coffee cafe and roaster in Simi Valley, is committed to doing “everything better.” Employees welcome customers with an enthusiastic “rise up and join the resistance” (their tagline). Many people ask Owner Sean Adler what resistance he’s referring to. “We want people to resist bad coffee,” he says.

Adler is committed to running a business with exceptional customer service, a strong product, tailored and artisanal practices and a benefit to communities, all while keeping the coffee industry’s impact on environmental concerns closely in mind, he says. Rivalry Roasters implements sustainable practices, radiating from inside the business to out in the community--as well as to the global communities where the roastery’s coffee beans are sourced .

The simple, streamlined cafe, open since August, produces around 150 pounds of coffee grounds each week. Rivalry donates these grounds to Monte Vista School and the Simi Valley Community Garden each week in 20-gallon containers. Hundreds of pounds of used coffee grounds that would normally pile up in landfills, instead, are helping local community gardens’ crops. (Coffee grounds contain nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus and other micronutrients for the soil.)

Rivalry also partners with farms in Brazil, Guatemala and Papua New Guinea to source coffee that is Certified Fair Trade, organic and sustainable. Rivalry also offers an array of teas from Two Leaves and A Bud, whose teas are organic, kosher and the bags can be composted. Adler chose the Colorado company because it aligns with Adler’s beliefs on environmental issues.

Adler has big plans for Rivalry Roasters: to create body scrubs from coffee-ground waste, develop a tea line, create an onsite roasting facility and continue its wholesale side of the business to reach other cafes and restaurants in Ventura and Los Angeles counties. 

Rivalry Roasters

2355 Tapo Street #12, Simi Valley

805-285-0884; RivalryRoasters.com