Colectivo Coffee Roasters

Did You Know?

• The company was known as Alterra Coffee Roasters until July 28, 2013.
• The Alterra Coffee brand was sold to Mars Inc in April 2010, then to Lavazza as part of Mars's drinks business sale in 2018.

History

Colectivo Coffee Roasters got its start in 1993, founded by Lincoln Fowler, Ward Fowler, and Paul Miller. A companion business, Alterra Baking Company (later renamed Troubadour Bakery), launched in 1999. In 2007, both the bakery and the roastery relocated to a spot on Humboldt Boulevard in Milwaukee’s Riverwest neighborhood, where the roastery and headquarters still operate. A separate bakery was built in Milwaukee’s Bay View neighborhood in 2012.

In 2010, Mars Incorporated bought the rights to the Alterra Coffee Roasters name for use in Flavia office brewers, while the original Milwaukee company kept its local identity and used the deal to grow. Colectivo moved into Chicago in 2017 with locations in Lincoln Park and Logan Square, added an Evanston spot near Northwestern University in 2018, and opened a Wicker Park cafe in 2019. Workers unionized in 2021; the NLRB confirmed their election victory in May 2022, allowing contract talks to begin.

Name change

In 2013, the business rebranded as Colectivo Coffee Roasters, leaving the Alterra name behind. That name then belonged to Mars Drinks until Lavazza acquired it along with Mars's coffee operations. Colectivo draws its name from the colorful, artistic buses that serve as public transit across Latin America and are a familiar part of daily life. To honor that inspiration, the owners and some staff journeyed to Guatemala and purchased a restored 1958 colectivo bus, which was set to start appearing around Milwaukee in 2013.

Recognition

The company has been recognized by the United States Environmental Protection Agency for its extensive efforts in expanding green power awareness, listed as an EPA Green Power Partner for its 100% use of green energy from wind power, biomass decomposition, solar energy, and small hydroelectric plants. It won the Green Power Leadership Award in 2004. In 2008, the Humboldt Boulevard location won Best Environmentally Friendly Project from the Milwaukee Business Journal Real Estate Awards and the Heart of the Community Award from Wisconsin Commercial Real Estate Women, as well as the 2008 Building Blocks Award from State Farm Insurance MANDI Awards.

The Bay View cafe and bakery received the Real Estate Award from the Milwaukee Business Journal in 2013. Complex City Guide named Colectivo one of the best coffee roasters in the US in 2013. The company has sent baristas to the United States Barista Championship since 2007; Barista Trainer Scott Lucey placed 3rd in the 2008 championship and was the 2009 Great Lakes Regional Barista Champion.

Colectivo Union Dispute

In early 2021, over 300 Colectivo workers received ballots to decide on joining the IBEW union. The initial count in April was a 99–99 tie, with 16 ballots set aside after the company challenged them. Following a review by the National Labor Relations Board, seven of those ballots were counted, shifting the result to 106 in favor and 99 against. Colectivo then issued a statement, shared on its website and by email to customers, saying it was disappointed because a majority of coworkers had not voted for unionization and that the NLRB had counted ballots from people who had resigned before the election ended, though the company said it would bargain in good faith.

The union and its supporters criticized this statement as false. In the months that followed, Colectivo filed multiple appeals with the NLRB asking it not to certify the vote, which the union called stalling. The union also criticized the company for hiring an anti-union consultant who held mandatory meetings urging workers to vote no. Workers protested outside Colectivo locations in Milwaukee alongside the Milwaukee chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America and the Shorewood High School Young Democratic Socialists of America, handing out flyers with a QR code linking to a pre-written email to the company’s owners and local officials.

Some flyers posted in Shorewood were later taken down. In May 2022, the NLRB ruled that the workers had won the election.