La Colombe Coffee Roasters facts for kids
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| Subsidiary | |
| Industry | Coffee |
| Founded | 1994 |
| Founder | JP Iberti Todd Carmichael |
| Headquarters | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States |
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Key people
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Hamdi Ulukaya |
| Products | Coffee |
| Parent | Chobani |
La Colombe Coffee Roasters is a popular American company that makes and sells coffee. Its main office is in Philadelphia. The company started in 1994 and now has coffee shops in many big cities like New York City, Chicago, and Boston. La Colombe is known for making really high-quality coffee. In 2023, another big company called Chobani bought La Colombe.
Contents
The Story of La Colombe
La Colombe was started by two friends, Todd Carmichael and JP Iberti. They opened their first coffee shop in 1994 in a neighborhood in Philadelphia called Rittenhouse Square.
New Ownership
In 2015, Hamdi Ulukaya, who started the yogurt company Chobani, bought a part of La Colombe. He helped the company get more money to open new stores. This was part of a trend where bigger companies invested in smaller, special coffee makers.
Big Changes for La Colombe
In 2023, some big changes happened for La Colombe.
New Investments
In July 2023, a company called Keurig Dr Pepper invested $300 million in La Colombe. This gave them about one-third of the company.
Chobani Takes Over
Later in December 2023, Chobani completely bought La Colombe for $900 million. This means La Colombe is now fully part of the Chobani family. As part of this deal, Keurig Dr Pepper's share in La Colombe changed into a smaller share in Chobani.
Where You Can Find La Colombe
La Colombe started with stores in Philadelphia, New York City, Chicago, and Washington, D.C.. They opened more stores in New York in 2007 and 2009. The first Chicago store opened in 2011.
Growing Around the World
In 2013, La Colombe even had three coffee shops in Seoul, South Korea!
The company's main office moved to a new building in Fishtown, Philadelphia in 2015.
Expanding Across the U.S.
In 2015, La Colombe announced plans to open many more stores. They started opening shops in Boston in 2015. In 2016, they expanded to Los Angeles and opened new spots in Washington, D.C., and Chicago. A new store opened in San Diego in 2017.
In 2021, La Colombe opened its first store in Austin, Texas, inside a Whole Foods Market.
As of 2023, La Colombe has 32 locations in the United States. You can find them in Philadelphia, New York City, Washington, D.C., Boston, Chicago, Austin, Los Angeles, and San Diego.
Cool Coffee Products
La Colombe makes more than just coffee in their shops.
Draft Latte Cans
In 2016, the company started selling a special canned drink called the Draft Latte. It's a cold coffee and milk drink that used to only be available on tap in their stores. These cans were designed to have a foamy texture, like a fresh latte, using a special gas called nitrous oxide.
Other Drinks and Products
They also make a coffee-flavored rum called Different Drum. You can buy their roasted coffee beans and ground coffee in stores or online. They also sell larger bottles of cold brew coffee.
In 2020, La Colombe even announced a can of instant coffee that can heat itself up!
Working with Others
La Colombe has worked with other groups and companies on interesting projects.
Helping Coffee Farmers in Haiti
In 2013, La Colombe teamed up with the Clinton Foundation to create the Haiti Coffee Academy. Their goal was to help coffee farmers in Haiti learn new skills and improve their farms. This helps the farmers earn more money and makes Haitian coffee better for everyone.
Coffee-Flavored Beers
In 2016, La Colombe worked with Yards Brewing Company (another Philadelphia company) to make a coffee-flavored beer. They even made another coffee beer with an Icelandic brewer called Einstök.
Stores in Whole Foods
In 2021, La Colombe worked with Whole Foods Market to open new coffee shops inside Whole Foods stores in New York City and Austin.
See also
- List of coffeehouse chains
- List of coffee companies
