On the Cafe Imports warehouse in Minneapolis. All photographs courtesy of Cafe Imports.
Minneapolis-based inexperienced espresso importer Cafe Imports has develop into 100% employee-owned by means of an Worker Inventory Possession Plan (ESOP), the corporate introduced right this moment.
The 33-year-old firm didn’t disclose a valuation or the monetary phrases of the transaction, which entails a belief held on behalf of taking part staff. Founder Andrew Miller stated the possession construction was chosen partly to protect Cafe Imports’ independence and long-term path.
“Worker possession permits us to protect that independence, help the long-term way forward for the corporate, and proceed investing within the individuals and relationships which have formed who we’re,” Miller stated.
An ESOP is a federally regulated retirement profit plan. Eligible staff accumulate firm inventory in retirement accounts, with shares allotted in line with the plan’s guidelines. Usually, staff obtain the vested worth after they retire or go away the corporate.
For Cafe Imports, the ESOP now owns 100% of the corporate, in line with a firm announcement revealed right this moment. The grocery chain Publix is probably essentially the most outstanding nationwide instance of an employee-owned firm by means of an ESOP.
Cafe Imports has 68 staff primarily based throughout 4 places of work and hailing from 17 totally different international locations or areas, in line with the corporate’s 2026 Progress Report. Cafe Imports didn’t disclose eligibility, vesting, share-allocation or financing particulars related to the plan.
Miller, who based Cafe Imports in 1993 after importing a container of espresso from a Brazilian pal’s household farm to Minneapolis, described worker possession as a strategy to keep the corporate’s present trajectory relatively than put together it for outdoor acquisition.
The Cafe Imports cupping lab.
“My predominant precedence throughout this course of was to maintain the integrity of what I spent the vast majority of my life constructing and hold the corporate on the identical path we’ve got been on,” Miller stated in a press launch right this moment.
The possession construction change extends Cafe Imports’ progressive path over the previous three many years. The corporate was an influential power in espresso’s “Third Wave” motion, selling high-quality traceable plenty of coffees in addition to long-term relationship-building with producers and transparency.
The corporate, which turned an authorized B Corp in 2023, has additionally maintained a dedication to roaster and client training, together with with the 2023 launch of its ed+u espresso training platform.
The possession transition comes amid a tough stretch for unbiased and midsize espresso merchants, as traditionally excessive inexperienced espresso costs, market volatility and rising financing necessities have strained working capital. Mercon Espresso Group filed for Chapter 11 chapter in late 2023, whereas Brazilian merchants Atlantica and Cafebras sought chapter safety in early 2025 with roughly $367 million in debt. Germany-based Benecke Espresso, mother or father of specialty importer Rehm & Co., later entered insolvency proceedings earlier than Rehm joined the Sucafina Group.
Andrew Miller.
Cafe Imports itself famous final 12 months that elevated espresso costs have been creating new money necessities and monetary pressure for importers and different companies throughout the provision stream.
“For years we continued the main target of discovering coffees that excited us and discovering roasters that noticed the worth we did in these distinctive coffees,” Miller stated. “Fortunately, success adopted, however the path definitely wasn’t linear.”
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Nick Brown
Nick Brown is the editor of Each day Espresso Information by Roast Journal.
