Caffe Vita Coffee Roasting Company, commonly known as Caffe Vita, is an American

coffee Coffee is a beverage brewed from roasted, ground coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content, but decaffeinated coffee is also commercially a ...

roasting company based in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

. Part of the

third wave of coffee Third-wave coffee is a term primarily in the United States coffee industry emphasizing higher quality, single-origin farms and light roast to bring out distinctive flavors. Though the term was coined in 1999, the approach originated in the 1970 ...

movement, it has been named one of 10 places offering "the best coffee in America." Caffe Vita was founded in Seattle's Queen Anne neighborhood in 1995 by Mike McConnell. McConnell was an early proponent of developing direct relationships with coffee farmers and bypassing the ''fair trade'' of coffee, thus pioneering the Farm Direct movement. On January 1, 2020, local restaurateur Deming Maclise took over ownership at Caffe Vita.

Locations

Caffe Vita's location at 1005 East Pike Street in Seattle houses their flagship café, roastery, and company offices. The company operates seven other cafés around the city; there is another roastery in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...

. In March 2012, Caffe Vita opened a café on the

Lower East Side The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Historically, it w ...

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

. The company expanded its New York presence in 2015 with the opening of a roastery and café in

Bushwick Bushwick is a neighborhood in the northern part of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is bounded by the neighborhood of Ridgewood, Queens, to the northeast; Williamsburg to the northwest; the cemeteries of Highland Park to the southe ...

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

. There are a total of 10 locations nationwide; Caffe Vita also supplies coffee to other cafés, restaurants, and hotels.

Community involvement

Training and opportunity programs

In 2009, Caffe Vita partnered with Portland's p:ear, a homeless youth mentoring program, to create the p:ear Barista School. Caffe Vita provides equipment, coffee beans, milk, and training that allow the school to take homeless youth through an 8-week program that give them the necessary skills and experience to get a job as a barista. Caffe Vita currently supports FareStart's youth barista training program, which trains homeless youth and provides barista jobs at their coffee stands in T-Mobile Field. They also sponsor FareStart's annual Guest Chef Night and Volunteer Server Night, which annually bring together Seattle chefs and winemakers to raise money for FareStart.

Fundraising and sponsorships

Caffe Vita sponsors several local events, including Timber Music Fest, by Artist Home, Thing Festival and

Capitol Hill Block Party The Capitol Hill Block Party is an annual three-day music festival and block party held each July in the Capitol Hill, Seattle, Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, United States. Performance genres include Pop music, pop, Rhythm and ...

. In 2009, Caffe Vita underwrote and organized "GIVE Seattle": a 36-track compilation record, featuring artists such as

Ben Gibbard Benjamin Gibbard (born August 11, 1976) is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is best known as the lead vocalist and guitarist of the indie rock band Death Cab for Cutie, with whom he has recorded ten studio albums, and as a membe ...

and

Fleet Foxes Fleet Foxes are an American indie folk band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 2006. The band currently consists of Robin Pecknold (vocals, guitar), Skyler Skjelset (guitar, mandolin, backing vocals), Casey Wescott (keyboards, mandolin, backin ...

to benefit four local food banks and arts organizations. Every year, Caffe Vita hosts a holiday fundraising drive for organizations lik
Community Passageways
and

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in all Caffe Vita cafes, with donations matched dollar for dollar. Under leadership of new owner Deming Maclise, Caffe Vita started a line of Coffees for a Cause, donating $2 from every bag sold to non-profits like Seattle Foundation, Lambert House, FareStart, and more.

Business Partnerships

Caffe Vita partners with Easy Street Records, after whom it named its Easy Street Indo 30 coffee blend. The store's founder, Matt Vaughan, was Caffe Vita's first wholesale customer in 1995. In 2017, all

Washington State Ferries Washington State Ferries (WSF) is a public ferry system in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. It is a division of the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) and operates 10 routes serving 20 terminals within Puget ...

began serving Caffe Vita coffee, and in 2019 the company began barrel-aging its coffee in partnership with Batch 206 Distillery. Three barrel-aged coffees have been released to date - with bourbon, rum, and gin.

Sustainability

Caffe Vita is a pioneer of the Farm Direct movement, meticulously sourcing coffee while developing long-term relationships with growers in more than 11 countries. The chain has served numerous

Organic Organic may refer to: * Organic, of or relating to an organism, a living entity * Organic, of or relating to an anatomical organ Chemistry * Organic matter, matter that has come from a once-living organism, is capable of decay or is the product ...

, Farm Direct, and Rainforest Alliance Certified coffees. In 2009, Caffe Vita began collaborating with

Woodland Park Zoo Woodland Park Zoo is a wildlife conservation organization and zoological garden located in the Phinney Ridge neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, United States. The zoo is the recipient of over 65 awards across multiple categories. The zoo has a ...

's Tree Kangaroo Project to develop the first-ever coffee from Papua New Guinea's Yopno Uruwa Som region made commercially available in the U.S., purchased directly from growers. The coffee was sold at all Seattle Caffe Vita locations and at Woodland Park Zoo ZooStores. A Zoo Special Reserve coffee was also offered, with a dollar from each purchased bag being donated to the Woodland Park Zoo.

Change in Ownership

Local restaurateur Deming Maclise — who had a minority stake in the company before — assumed control of the Caffe Vita company on January 1, 2020. Addressing a previous controversy over the McConnells' position on giving unsold food to the homeless, he emphasized that the company should "have a general welcoming policy to everyone." Maclise also indicated that the deal was unrelated to the controversy, having been in negotiation for about a year and a half. He suggested that the Caffe might change its food menus over time and seek more local businesses collaborations, both of which might involve his other restaurant properties.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Caffe Vita Coffee Roasting Company Coffee companies of the United States Food and drink companies based in Seattle Food and drink companies established in 1995 Coffee in Seattle 1995 establishments in Washington (state)