The San Franciscan Roaster Company, a long-running U.S. manufacturer of drum roasters for specialty coffee, has been sold to food manufacturing executive Dave Marson, who plans to stabilize operations while maintaining the brand’s emphasis on American-made craftsmanship, according to a June 29, 2026 company announcement reported by Daily Coffee News.
Marson, co-founder of snack brand Nature’s Bakery and owner of waffle producer Marson Foods, acquired all assets and the San Franciscan brand for undisclosed terms, with former operations and engineering lead Matthew Sewell named CEO, Daily Coffee News reported. The company, which Daily Coffee News has described as founded in 1992 and as founded in the Bay Area in 1990 before moving to Carson City, Nevada in 1993, currently employs eight people and sells roasters to specialty coffee companies in the United States and internationally.
In the official announcement cited by Daily Coffee News, Marson said, “There is real history here, real craftsmanship and real loyalty from customers who believed in this brand for decades. Our responsibility now is to stabilize the company, support customers, strengthen operations and manufacture the best possible products.” He added that the new ownership is “committed to honoring what made this company special while building the foundation necessary for its future.”
The acquisition comes after a period of transition for San Franciscan. According to a December 11, 2025 report from Daily Coffee News, previous owner, president and CEO Bill Kennedy—who bought Coffee PER Inc., the manufacturer of San Franciscan roasters, from founder Sherman Dodd in 2008—died unexpectedly in December 2025. In a company statement at the time, San Franciscan described Kennedy as “not only a leader in our industry, but a true legend,” whose “passion, craftsmanship and deep knowledge shaped countless roasters and coffee companies.”
Marson’s background underscores what Daily Coffee News and regional magazine edible Reno-Tahoe have identified as a growing movement of professional food-industry expertise into the specialty coffee hardware supply chain. Edible Reno-Tahoe reported that Marson and his wife Jan founded Nature’s Bakery, which was sold to KIND, part of Mars Inc., for US$400 million in 2020, before Marson expanded into other food manufacturing ventures.
Under Sewell and Marson, San Franciscan’s immediate focus includes “delivering on commitments” to existing customers and addressing “inherited operational and financial obligations,” according to the June 29 announcement reported by Daily Coffee News. Sewell, a former San Franciscan operations and engineering staffer and founder-operator of Magpie Coffee Roasters, stated in the same announcement, “We understand the responsibility that comes with carrying this name forward.”
The company’s product range includes the SF-1 sample roaster and commercial machines with batch capacities from 1 to 75 pounds, specifically 6‑lb, 10‑lb, 25‑lb and 75‑lb drum roasters, with updated “Super 6” (SF6) and SF10 models launched in 2018, according to Daily Coffee News coverage from 2023 and 2026. A 2023 article by Daily Coffee News noted that San Franciscan’s commercial roasters use U.S.-mined, refined and milled light-carbon steel.
San Franciscan has also positioned itself around product longevity and domestic manufacturing. In July 2025, the company introduced what it called an industry-first limited Lifetime Warranty on materials and fabrication for all commercial roasters, according to a press release on openPR. In that announcement, Kennedy said, “We’re putting our money where our mouth is. We challenge other manufacturers to do the same. If we want to bring manufacturing back to the U.S., we need to show people what American-made really means — and deliver products that last.”
Alongside returning employees such as certified Q grader and trainer Paris Kennedy, Alejandro Munoz and Brent Kennedy, San Franciscan’s current eight-person team also includes head of education and customer service success Mark Michaelson, who won the 2017 U.S. Roaster Championship, and head of client success Kelly Traw, who brings nearly three decades of specialty coffee experience from roles at Franke North America, Modbar, Daylight Mind Coffee Company and Slayer Espresso, according to a 2023 Daily Coffee News report. Daily Coffee News further reported that under Marson’s ownership, the company plans to maintain its existing product lines while investing in operations and exploring collaborations with local institutions such as the University of Nevada, Reno for future hiring and workforce development.
