In 1909 Walter Law left Wall St and began roasting coffee in his father George’s barn at his house “ShadowBrook”, in Dunellen, New Jersey. He sold his coffee traveling house to house in his horse drawn carriage. Walter brought with him his favorite marketing tool, a pill crusher. He would use this to crush the beans and release the coffee aroma under the nose of his potential customers – truly freshly ground.
With his father’s help, the company branched into the wholesale business of selling coffee to markets and restaurants throughout New Jersey.
A FAMILY TRADITION
As Law Coffee persevered through The Great Depression, Walter’s sons, Robert, Warren and Stanley, came on board to help their father roast and pack the coffee, as well as tea. When the United States entered World War II, all three brothers patriotically chose to join the Navy and help defend their country. Warren, the sole brother to return from World War II, took on the responsibilities of running the family business and helped transition the company to Newark, NJ.
Warren expanded distribution throughout NY and NJ, establishing Law Coffee as one of New Jersey’s finest, independently owned and operated coffee companies. Warren’s son-in-law David M. Mendez bought the company in 1984 and along with Warren’s son, Robert, they expanded its area of distribution throughout the Mid-Atlantic & beyond!
David’s son, David W. Mendez, joined the business in 2004 and, in 2018 was promoted to President then acquiring the company in January 2020 thus continuing the family principles of quality and integrity into the company’s second century of existence.
