In the Bay Area, innovation is constant — sometimes to a fault — and it’s no different in the coffee scene. But at Mr. Espresso, a family-owned, Oakland-based coffee roasting company and wholesaler in its 43rd year, they’ve shown you can have success by continually improving on something while keeping tradition as a guiding force.

The company was founded in 1978 by Carlo Di Ruocco, an Italian who immigrated to the United States by way of France with his wife and kids, and who greatly missed the short, sweet, caffeinated beverage for which Italy is famous.