The FairWave specialty coffee collective is expanding its domain again. The Kansas City, Missouri-based coffee conglomerate has expanded east this time with an acquisition Ceremonial coffee roasteries.
In the four years since KCMO Messenger Coffee and The Roasterie merged to form FairWave, the brand has seen explosive growth through acquisitions. After bringing together several coffee companies in Kansas and Missouri, FairWave announced that it has acquired coffee in Minneapolis in 2021 Spy coffee and two years later again with Anodyne Coffee in Milwaukee (and also KCMO’s Hugo Tea earlier this year).
Announced on Monday, October 28 via press releaseCeremony’s acquisition marks the umbrella company’s first foray outside the greater Midwest region. The 22-year-old specialty coffee roaster with six cafes throughout Maryland is the eleventh brand to join FairWave. As part of the acquisition, founder Vincent Latesta “will continue to lead the Ceremony team” and “at the same time, the leadership team will prepare for their novel responsibilities at Ceremony and FairWave.”
When it comes to customer experience, Latesta says not much will change. “The Essence of Ceremony will look and feel the same, the same balmy cafés, cordial baristas and exceptional coffee, now backed by an even stronger support system.” He further adds that most of the improvements will take place behind the scenes. “As part of the Collective, we will begin to see the benefits of our novel resources, systems and expertise translating into the quality of our work, space and culture.”
This is FairWave’s aggressive growth strategy and there is no indication that expansion into novel regions will stop in the near future. You can go to the FairWave website now and email them about purchasing your coffee brand; there is an entire page dedicated to this. This is certainly an attractive offer that seems to be accepted by older specialist companies. Only Ceremony, Spyhouse and Anodyne have over 70 years of industry experience.
It’s all part of the industry reaching maturity. Many of these companies were started by people in their 20s who are now in their 40s or 50s and are looking for more stability. This is not the romantic idea of a coffee shop as a passion project, but the reality of a coffee shop as a business. With a slew of private equity funds behind it, FairWave is making offers that few can refuse.
