La Colombe Coffee Roasters

Overview

La Colombe was founded in Philadelphia's Rittenhouse Square in 1994 by Todd Carmichael and JP Iberti, who met working at Starbucks' Seattle warehouse in the 1980s and spent eight years saving before moving east to open their own European-style roastery. The company became a foundational third-wave US brand and pioneered ready-to-drink coffee with the 2016 Draft Latte — a canned cold-espresso-and-steamed-milk product whose nitrous-injection base valve Carmichael designed in partnership with Crown Holdings. Chobani fully acquired La Colombe for $900 million in December 2023.

Known for

• Draft Latte ready-to-drink innovation (2016)
• Foundational third-wave US specialty brand
• Original Rittenhouse Square cafe (1994)
• Fishtown HQ with in-house Different Drum coffee-rum micro-distillery
• Haiti Coffee Academy with the Clinton Foundation (2013)

Why it matters

La Colombe is one of the small group of US roasters — alongside Stumptown, Intelligentsia, and Counter Culture — that defined what specialty coffee became in America. Its scale, retail innovation, and influence on the canned-coffee category make it a reference point regardless of how its sourcing has evolved post-acquisition.

Recognitions

• BevNet 'Rising Star' Award (2017)
• Acquired by Chobani for $900M (2023)

Sources

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Colombe_Coffee_Roasters
• https://www.npr.org/2020/07/17/892312195/la-colombe-coffee-roasters-todd-carmichael-and-j-p-iberti
• https://blog.lacolombe.com/2020/05/16/how-la-colombe-started-with-a-single-coffee/
• https://www.phillymag.com/news/todd-carmichael-loftiwater-la-colombe-rebel-beverage-labs/