Teen coffee roaster turns family loss into growing subscription business
Sixteen-year-old Harvey Uyeyama runs a handcrafted coffee subscription from Davis, California, after learning the trade from his late father.
In Davis, California, 16-year-old Harvey Uyeyama operates Harvey’s Coffee, a subscription service that delivers hand-roasted beans across the United States. He acquired the skill from his father, John, during a late-night roasting session in June 2024, and continued the practice after John died on Harvey's birthday. The funeral coffee order forced Harvey to finish a full roast solo, despite early mistakes, and convinced him that the business could honor his father's legacy.
Together with his 18-year-old girlfriend, Abby Merchant, a UC San Diego biology student, he handles branding, packaging, and customer experience, while Harvey builds a custom app to manage recurring sales. The antique roaster processes about four bags at a time, yielding roughly 12 bags per hour, and the company is approaching 100 monthly subscribers. Plans to graduate early give him nine months to expand before college, though he intends to retain the handcrafted approach.
Why it matters
The story shows how a teen can turn personal loss into entrepreneurship, highlighting youth innovation in small-scale food businesses.
In this story
