Community Coffee is a

coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulant, stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. S ...

roaster and distributor based in

Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of counties ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. As of 2005, it was the largest family-owned coffee brand in the United States, controlling 52% of the market in South Louisiana and 72% in Baton Rouge, and employing 850 people.USATODAY.com - Community Coffee perks up to challenge
/ref> The company has distribution throughout markets in the Southeastern United States. Community Coffee originated in 1919 when company founder Norman "Cap" Saurage began experimenting with coffee blends at his two grocery stores in downtown Baton Rouge. Demand for the coffee increased to the extent that by 1923 Saurage moved his coffee production to a converted barn, and in 1924 left his grocery business to focus on coffee. In the late 1950s and early 1960s,

Jim Henson James Maury Henson (September 24, 1936 – May 16, 1990) was an American puppeteer, animator, cartoonist, actor, inventor, and filmmaker who achieved worldwide notice as the creator of The Muppets and '' Fraggle Rock'' (1983–1987) and ...

made a series of commercials for Community starring early Muppets characters Wilkins and Wontkins. These were remakes of commercials originally produced for the Wilkins coffee company. The commercials became a meme with the advent of Youtube. The company now imports coffee beans from Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico through ports in New Orleans and Houston. Since 1988, it has run a program in which UPC labels from its products can be redeemed for donations to Louisiana schools. In 2002 Community entered into a deal with the ''Abahuzamugambi'' farming cooperative in

Rwanda Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...

, facilitated by the

PEARL A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle) of a living shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pearl is composed of calcium carb ...

agricultural program, to purchase Maraba coffee. This was the first direct contract between an African farming cooperative and American coffee roaster. In 1995, Community Coffee began opening a chain of retail coffeehouses throughout Louisiana. Community also launched stores in

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

and

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

, however, ventures in neighboring states failed due to the entrenchment of

Starbucks Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational chain of coffeehouses and roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It is the world's largest coffeehouse chain. As of November 2021, the company had 33,833 stores in 80 c ...

and local brands. In 2013, Community spun off its coffee house business into a separate company named CC's Coffee House in order to facilitate out-of-state expansion. CC's remains under the ownership of the Saurage family.Community spins off CC's to facilitate out-of-state expansion – On March 1, 2016 Southwest Airlines began serving community coffee to their customers on flights.

References

{{Reflist Companies based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana Coffee brands Food and drink companies based in Louisiana Coffee companies of the United States

See also

References