Fire Department Coffee expands into Canada, boosting global reach

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — A Rockford company that has only been in business since 2016 has already grown internationally.

Randy James is the Director of Brand Relations for Fire Department Coffee. He says the fire fighter-led coffee maker gas has grown exponentially over its almost decade run and continues to grow. The active-duty Rockford firefighter has been with the company for six years.

“It’s been a lot of fun to see this company grow right here in Rockford,” said James.

The magic began at the company’s 3,500-square-foot roastery on Harrison Avenue.

“This is where the green coffee comes in, gets roasted, and then packaged either in ground or whole bean,” he said.

They roast the coffee with special flavoring, then cool down the beans.

“In this facility, we’re roasting thousands of pounds of coffee a day,” he said. “The coffee goes in for a certain amount of time at a certain temperature, gets roasted depending on whatever flavor we’re roasting it on the day, and then it’ll dump onto this cooling tray and then it’ll stop that roasting process where we want to stop.”

Once cool, the beans are either packaged whole or grounded.

James then introduced us to Fire Department Coffee’s facility, six and a half miles north on West Riverside. There they have a storefront and much more.

“This is where a lot of our product gets stored, after it leaves the roastery it comes up here,” James said.

He said the company makes as many as 30 different types of coffee. He also said witnessing the company’s growth has been a joy.

“From humble roots really, from Luke starting his company in about a 900 square foot strip mall location, and then just selling locally at farmers markets and that type of growth, and then we moved into 3,500 square feet on Harrison Avenue, the entire operation in there, now we’re in 35,000 square feet here on Riverside,” he said. “It’s allowed us to grow with the demand to serve our retail partners all around the country. We’re excited this year we’ll be in about 10 thousand retail locations nationwide.”

James said the company is expanding its international reach this year.

“We’re going to also move into full-chain Walmart in Canada, so we’re excited about that,” he said.

He said he hopes the company’s growth makes its hometown proud.

“One of the things we’re really proud of here at Fire Department Coffee is that our roots are in Rockford, Illinois. Started by a Rockford firefighter, still a lot of Rockford firefighters on staff here. No matter where we go, no matter how big our reach gets this will always be home for us. The community has supported us, and we’re so appreciative,” he said.