New Harvest Coffee Roasters to Host Film Documentary Premiere

Courtesy of Ampersand Creative / New Harvest Coffee Roasters

We make coffee a part of our daily lives as we savor the aroma of a good cup of joe over a conversation with friends, family and coworkers. We have a latte in hand as we head to our morning destination. Coffee has become ingrained in our culture and community, and even has become an aesthetic on social media. Yet your favorite beverage has much more of an extensive story behind its beans than just the craft being witnessed in store. New Harvest Coffee Roasters wants to shed light on where coffee is sourced and why supporting local shops makes the experience worth the money. You can witness the premiere of their self-funded film, Los Portillos on Friday, November 15, at its Providence cafe and roastery from 6–9p.m. Further discover where coffee comes from and the process that delivers that fresh, rich and earthy flavor that you look forward to every day.  

Co-owner and co-founder of New Harvest Coffee Roasters, Rik Keinfeldt, tells us more about the inspiration behind the film.  

“We’ve been buying directly from small farms in Central and South America since 2008. Part of our program is that we travel to the farms at least every two years. We always try to communicate our experience there to our customers who are interested in coffee, but it’s really hard to hit home with how coffee is actually grown, harvested and processed,” says Keinfeldt.  

Courtesy of Ampersand Creative / New Harvest Coffee Roasters

Thus sparked the idea to create a documentary to be able to show coffee lovers exactly what goes into the process. This film focuses on the story of Honduran coffee farmer Adolfo Reyes and the evolution of his farm, Los Portillos, which was the first individual farm that began working with New Harvest.  

New Harvest Coffee Roasters was founded by Rik Keinfeldt and Paula Anderson in 2000 with the intention of making extraordinary coffee accessible to real people. Their dedication lies in honoring the labor of the many people who tend and process their beans. Their care and commitment ensures a consistently incredible coffee experience. 

“The specialty coffee that we deal with is grown on small farms, picked and processed by hand. It’s very expensive,” says Keinfeldt. “For us to be able to pay Adolfo what we need to pay him to do his work and grow his community, we have to show coffee drinkers on our end that it’s worth paying more. We are justifying what we do and what our partners do.”

The film was created in partnership with Rhode Island-based photography and videography studio Apparition to assist with visually telling the story.  

Courtesy of Ampersand Creative / New Harvest Coffee Roasters

“The opportunity to travel to Honduras with Rik and the New Harvest team was a dream realized,” says filmmaker Kate Foster. “To experience first-hand the authentic relationship between New Harvest and the farmers they partner with shaped our view of coffee culture and helped set the tone of the film.” 

The documentary will take you with them on a trip to this authentic coffee farm so viewers can see for themselves where their coffee comes from.  

Screenings on the 15th begin at 6 p.m. and will be held every half hour until the last showing at 8:30 p.m. A question-and-answer session will take place after the 7 p.m. viewing with Keinfeldt and New Harvest Coffee’s Director of Education & Outreach, Britta Gustafson, as well as filmmakers Kate Foster and John Hesselbarth of Apparition. The film’s running time is just under seven minutes and the screening is free for all. Hors d’ouevres and drinks will be served, including pour-overs and specialty cocktails made with coffee from Los Portillos. Experience this eye-opening documentary that will change your view of coffee as you will truly know the efforts behind that first sip of morning glory each day.  To learn more, visit newharvestcoffee.com.