Adrian Herrera is warming up the community, one coffee at a time.

Name: Adrian Herrera

Location: Dallas, Texas

Business: Peaberry Coffee

How was Peaberry Coffee started?

Adrian: Peaberry started in 2019. The business owner, Elijah Salazar, had  the idea of opening a small coffee shop in the neighborhood and calling it Peaberry, which is the smallest coffee bean. He found a small hub, and a good refurbished espresso machine, and that was how Peaberry Coffee got started. 

What do you love the most about working at a small business? 

Adrian: What I love the most about working for a small business is having my voice heard. I like to provide input and be creative. It’s nice that everyone on the team contributes to the pot equally.

How did Peaberry Coffee pivot during the pandemic?

Adrian: We were able to cater to what was necessary during the pandemic. During 2020, we had to close the doors and make things to-go. It was a challenge to keep the numbers up in our store but that helped push along the brand we’re building with our Kiestwood Iced Coffee cans. It provided customers the convenience of being able to pick up the cans once a week and still enjoy our coffee, instead of coming to our store every day.

Tell us more about building Kiestwood Iced Coffee.

Adrian: Building out Kiestwood Iced Coffee has been really fun. We started by getting small craft canning equipment and experimented with pouring coffee straight into the cans. Now we have production lines and our production facility is growing. It's a fun process. We just got a wholesale license, so we're going to start distributing to different local businesses, and grocery stores across the DFW to serve our community.

What challenges did you run into as you expanded the business? 

Adrian: It's been a learning curve. Creating a better execution has been the challenge but we're learning so much. It's a growing process.

What tools have helped you run the business?

Adrian: Once things started ramping up, QuickBooks made it really easy to consolidate all of our transactions into one place, and categorize all of our business expenses. QuickBooks has helped us focus on what truly matters, which is serving the community, making coffee, and making those personal connections. QuickBooks gave us the freedom of not having to worry about the small details so much.

What is your favorite Hispanic-owned or Latino-owned business in Dallas?

Adrian: A Latino-owned business I’d recommend is CoCoAndré. They supply the chocolate that we use for our mocha. CoCoAndré’s chocolate is crafted here in Oak Cliff and it’s really great chocolate. Another small business we love is Flores Bakehaus. Flores Bakehouse is a new bakery and it’s one of our favorite popups to feature in our coffee shop. The owner, Ernie, is actually able to start her kitchen herself and she has different popups throughout Dallas.

What’s your team’s secret sauce?

Adrian: The team here loves what we do, and that translates to the coffee. Creating great flavors and serving it with a genuine smile goes a long way. Asking somebody as small as how their day is creates  intentional relationships and builds a community. This has helped us feel confident, get out of our comfort zone, and tackle challenges, which helped the business grow. 

What’s the strangest coffee you’ve ever made?

Adrian: As an April Fools’ joke, we wanted to see who would try a broccoli latte. We had several people come in to try it. That was pretty funny.