New Harvest Coffee Roasters

New Harvest Coffee Roasters was established in 2000 by founders Rik Kleinfeldt and Paula Anderson, marking the beginning of the specialty coffee movement in Rhode Island. In its early years, the company operated out of an industrial shed at the former Washburn Wire factory in Rumford, where Kleinfeldt initially managed roasting operations solo. The company later moved to Pawtucket’s Hope Artiste Village before relocating in 2021 to a 5,000-square-foot facility at the Farm Fresh Food Hub in Providence, a move designed to modernize production and increase capacity to meet growing demand.

The company’s sourcing philosophy is anchored by its 'Source Direct' program, which was launched in 2007. This initiative involves regular travel by roastery staff to coffee-producing regions in Central and South America to build and maintain direct relationships with family-owned farms. By bypassing traditional intermediaries, the company aims to foster greater transparency and ensure that the labor of farmers and processors is honored through consistent, long-term partnerships, such as their decade-plus relationship with Adolfo Reyes’ Finca Los Portillos in Honduras.

Operationally, New Harvest has evolved from small-batch production to a more automated, high-capacity model. The 2021 transition to the Farm Fresh Food Hub included the installation of a 70-kilo Loring Peregrine roaster, which replaced their previous fleet of Diedrich machines. This upgrade was part of a broader effort to improve efficiency and process management, supported by lean manufacturing instruction to help the company scale while maintaining the quality standards that established their reputation.

Beyond its production capabilities, New Harvest is credited with helping to define the coffee culture of Providence. Co-founder Rik Kleinfeldt played a significant role in the regional coffee community by organizing the grassroots MANE (Coffee) Conference, which helped elevate the city's profile as a destination for specialty coffee. This commitment to community-building extends to their retail presence, which includes an onsite café and a focus on providing coffee education to the public.

Today, the company serves a diverse range of customers, including wholesale partners and major retailers like Whole Foods Markets throughout New England. They are a significant supplier in the region, notably providing substantial volumes of coffee to institutions such as Brown University. Their business model balances this large-scale wholesale distribution with a continued emphasis on small-batch roasting techniques and regular cupping protocols to ensure consistency.

New Harvest’s story is one of longevity and adaptation within the specialty coffee industry. By successfully transitioning from a small, independent startup to a modernized, mid-sized roastery, they have maintained their relevance in a competitive market. Their focus remains on the intersection of technical precision in roasting and the maintenance of ethical, direct-trade relationships, serving as a case study for how regional roasters can scale operations without abandoning their foundational commitment to quality and origin transparency.