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LINCOLN – The U.S. whole bean coffee market is projected to rise from ~$8,187.86 million in 2025 to ~$13,885.3 million by 2033.
Responsibly-sourced coffee brand, San Francisco Bay Coffee–which is independently owned and run by the Rogers family–has partnered with creative and media agency of record, Cutwater, to launch an integrated, human-centric campaign.
The campaign expands upon the success of the “One Small Sip for a Better Tomorrow” brand platform and campaign efforts for the brand’s certified commercially-compostable OneCUP coffee pods, both of which were developed and rolled out by Cutwater.
This new endeavor highlights San Francisco Bay Coffee’s Whole Bean offering. The creative is driven by a colorful, vibrantly animated film that positions the brand as the alternative to “Big Coffee” giants. Unlike some big coffee companies, family-run San Francisco Bay Coffee buys directly from farmers they have known and worked with for generations, ensuring fair pay, sustainability, and the finest, most flavorful beans.
Production, animation, and design were spearheaded by Psyop and Wizz. The pieces were helmed by directing duo Remus & Kiki. Music and audio were executed by Storefront Music.
“Big Coffee does things their way, but San Francisco Bay Coffee is family-run and family-owned,” explains Cutwater Creative Director, Amy Su. “When we started to learn more about what this meant–that they have a great relationship with their farmers and how it naturally leads to higher quality beans–we knew there was a really meaningful story to tell. We used the same illustration style as last year’s campaign to create that distinction from Big Coffee in an engaging and purposeful way.”
San Francisco Bay Coffee Director of Marketing, Jennifer Greenberg, adds, “Our coffee drinkers care deeply about responsibly-sourced coffee and great taste. San Francisco Bay Coffee shares those values, and we’re proud to be a family-run business that has been putting farmers first since 1979. Every cup helps.”
The media strategy boasts a robust buy across linear TV, digital video, paid social media (Meta and Reddit), terrestrial radio, streaming audio, digital OOH, and paid search. The plan will target environmentally conscious coffee audiences throughout California, Oregon, and Washington.
According to Cutwater Head of Media and Communications, Lizzy Ryan, “We’re excited to build upon the momentum and learnings from our first-year campaign as well as further expand our platforms to attract new converts to San Francisco Bay Coffee. We’re testing new channels like Reddit–now the top-cited domain in AI searches–to engage coffee enthusiasts and spark natural, organic conversations about the brand.”
Credits:
Client: San Francisco Bay Coffee
Director of Marketing: Jennifer Greenberg
Brand Manager: Ingrid Barrientos
Associate Brand Manager: Molly Fitzgerald
Digital Marketing Manager: Sarah Cress
Digital Marketing Specialist: Katie Smoot
Agency: Cutwater
Founder and Chief Creative Officer: Chuck McBride
Principal and President: Christian Hughes
Creative Director: Amy Su
Creative Director: Teddy Miller
Senior Designer: Patrick Nelson
Senior Art Director: Lexi Lanzi
Copywriter: Mike Ennen
Head of Production and Executive Producer: Doug Stivers
Strategy Lead: Illana Bryant
Head of Media and Communications: Lizzy Ryan
Associate Director, Media Strategy: Caitlin Delaney
Head of Paid Social: Joseph Gudino
Group Account Director: Matt Allen
Account Director: Brett Harris
Animation and Design: Psyop & Studio Wizz
US Production Company: Psyop
Executive Producer: Andrew Linsk
Producer: Billy Mack
Production and Animation: Studio Wizz
Directors: Remus & Kiki
Executive Producer: Claire Madigan
Production Manager: Alice Sammut
Production Coordination: Garance Duchêne Ribas
Assistant Director: Anne Pulce
Storyboard/Animatic: Remus & Kiki
Characters Design: Remus & Kiki
Backgrounds: Turcin Soylu, Ines Fragueiro
Layout Posing: Pauline Joury
2D Animation Lead: Pierre Rütz
Animation: Roman Guillanton, Léo Schweitzer, Rénalya Mirande-Ney
Clean Up & Shadow Supervisor: Rénalya Mirande-Ney
Animation Clean Up: Pudoc
2D FX: Kerim Tumer
Compositing and Versioning: Emilie Chouabe, Benjamin Moreau, Guillaume Gabreau
Talent Manager: Julie Bellemare
Technical Director: Hadrien Farre
IT: Nicolas Biardeau & Emmanuel Zangzang
Music and Audio: Storefront Music
Managing Partners: John Sneider and Adam Elk
Managing Director: Matt Nelson
Senior Creative Producer: Katie Theobalds
Production Assistant: Liam Yorgensen
Composer: Joshua Loucka
Sound Design and Mix: Juan Aboites
About Cutwater:
Cutwater is an independent creative and media agency with offices in San Francisco and New York City. Headed by advertising thought leaders, Founder / CCO Chuck McBride and Principal / President Christian Hughes, the agency prides itself on building distinctive campaigns for challenger and legacy brands alike. These have included the likes of Hartz, MoneyGram, Russell Stover, Brawny, Ray-Ban, and more. https://www.cutwateragency.com/
About San Francisco Bay Coffee
Founded by Jon and Barbara Rogers in 1979, San Francisco Bay Coffee is one of the best coffee makers not only in California but the whole world. Roasting over 30 million pounds of coffee annually, San Francisco Bay Coffee believes that everyone who touches the coffee, from the plants to roasted beans to the steaming cup, should benefit from the process.
Socially and environmentally conscious, San Francisco Bay Coffee is committed to buying the majority of coffee directly from the 32,000 collaborating farmers to ensure fair pay. Moreover, San Francisco Bay Coffee has built 63 schools, 1,700 housing complexes, and dozens of medical and dental centers in partner communities. In 40 years of producing exceptional coffee, San Francisco Bay Coffee has donated more than 10 million coffee plants to coffee-providing farmers. To San Francisco Bay Coffee, everyone is family and should be treated as such.
