Brody O’Brien, a sophomore business major at Biola University, started Mitchell Canyon Coffee — a coffee roasting company — with a vision of sending financial help to East Africa and other regions of the world to fight poverty.

“Our mission is to take advantage of the fact that our generation places a high priority on specialty coffee, and to provide that to them while spreading the love of Christ, and experiencing the beauty of creation through something so simple as the coffee we drink,” said O’Brien.

Mitchell Canyon Coffee supports The Eden Projects, an organization that focuses on reforesting in Ethiopia, Haiti, Madagascar and Nepal. Mitchell Canyon Coffee donates 25 percent of its profits The Eden Projects to help aid in reforestation.

“My business is a ministry working to reforest territories throughout Ethiopia, providing jobs, training in sustainability, and shining as a light into a dark world,” said O’Brien.

Deforestation has been a problem in Ethiopia for several decades and is a major contributor to the nation’s prevalent issues like famine and drought. Around 97 percent of Ethiopia's forests are gone, which makes the exposed land impossible to farm and live on, according to The Eden Projects.

O’Brien has always been interested in financially supporting groups working in East Africa and he combined this interest with his passion for coffee. The more O’Brien pursued his passion for coffee, the more he knew it was what he wanted to do with his life.

“I chose coffee, because I knew that no matter how hard things got or how much of a burden a sole proprietorship can be, I knew that my passion would overcome the temptation to throw in the towel,” he said.

The name behind the business comes from a sentimental spot in Clayton, Calif. — Mitchell Canyon — where O’Brien’s father took him on his first hike. O’Brien would often go to the canyon when he needed to clear his head or pray.

“That’s where God revealed his plan for me to start the business and so the name of the business is rooted from where God spoke to me,” said O’Brien.

Since the company started in August 2014, they have been working with several church cafes and catered events. The primary demographic for Mitchell Canyon Coffee tends to be customers in the 20 to 35 age group. Their most popular roast is the single origin Ethiopia Yirgacheffe.

Currently the company is based  primarily online with a warehouse located in Antioch, Calif. Mitchell Canyon Coffee sources their beans from different importers and carefully selects which to buy from. O’Brien uses his default roast profile to make adjustments that he believes might enhance the origin of the bean.

“My goal is to taste the most rich and pure characteristics of the bean by roasting it perfectly after considering all the variables involved in the harvest of the bean,” said O’Brien. “It generally takes a couple weeks to create a roast profile fit perfectly for a bean.”

Mitchell Canyon Coffee recently had the opportunity to feature their Ethiopian coffee at Biola as part of a trial run for expanding coffee suppliers on campus. They are being considered to be one of the few suppliers to distribute coffee on campus.

“The opportunity to feature my coffee at Biola has actually been the most exciting opportunity yet for this business, and we're excited to see the results from our trial run and what that means for next year,” said O’Brien.

Written by Quinn Clark, media relations intern. For more information, contact Jenna Loumagne, media relations specialist, at 562.777.4061 or jenna.l.bartlo@biola.edu.