Brewerytown businessman Pedro Rodriguez brewing up second act at Café Don Pedro

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Pedro Rodriguez may have retired three years ago, but he's sniffed out a new venture.

In January, he launched the coffee roasting company Café Don Pedro, where he's president and CEO.

"100% café bueno, good coffee," says Rodriguez.

His face is the business' brand.

"I do the buying of the coffee, and I also travel to the source of the coffee," he says.

Rodriguez says the coffee they're currently selling is from a women's co-op called Manos de Mujer or 'Women's Hands' in northwestern Guatemala.

"There is really a lack of Latinos, people who look like me in this industry, doing the work that produces it and adds value," he says.

Rodriguez says he wanted to cut out the middleman for Latino growers.

"So the farmers get more money and we get a better buy, a better price," he says.

Next up, the business will be hand-roasting Dominican coffee.

Customers can pick up bags of ground or whole bean coffee onsite at their store in Brewerytown or get it delivered.

Friend and colleague, Victor Tejada, helped Rodriguez grow the business through the Delivery Guys App he founded in 2022.

"It's an integration platform that allows independent restaurants to increase their online orders," says Rodriguez.

"We working with mainly small business in the area from Philadelphia up to New York," says Tejada. "In Philadelphia we have like 110, specifically."

Tejada also uses the app to distribute for Empanadas United, which shares brick-and-mortar space with Café Don Pedro.

"We tend to do empanadas from different cultures," says Tejada.

The company has flavors that include chicken and cheese, ham and cheese and guava and cheese, among others.

"We have the best cheesesteak empanada you ever try in your life," he says.

Rodriguez is the Senior Business Advisor for the Delivery Guys App.

"The platform is amazing because it solves your distribution problems and how you get your product before the consumer," he says. "We pushing that envelope to make sure that more opportunities open for people."

"And we're so proud about that," says Tejada.

For more information:

Cafe Don Pedro: CafeDonPedro.org
Delivery Guys App: DeliveryGuysApps.com
Empanadas United: EmpanadasUnited.com

Café Don Pedro
1521 N. 31st Street
Philadelphia, PA 19121