FairWave Specialty Espresso Collective brand.
FairWave Specialty Espresso Collective has appointed longtime hospitality govt Justin Seamonds as CEO, because the Kansas Metropolis-based specialty espresso “collective” continues its acquisition-driven enlargement throughout a number of U.S. markets.
Seamonds, who can be described as the corporate’s “Prime Minister of Enjoyable,” beforehand served as CEO of Chicago-based quick meals chain Roti from 2020 to 2025, in keeping with his LinkedIn profile. He additionally held quite a few govt roles at gourmand meals model and grocery/cafe chain Dean & DeLuca from 2008 to 2016.
FairWave, primarily based in Kansas Metropolis and backed by Nice Vary Capital, has not publicly named a CEO for the reason that departure of founding CEO Dan Trott in 2023. Throughout that interval, the corporate has expanded its retail and roasting footprints by acquisitions of quite a few specialty espresso corporations.
Acquisitions have included Minneapolis-area manufacturers equivalent to Spyhouse Espresso Roasters and Up Espresso Roasters, Milwaukee’s Anodyne Espresso Roasters and Fiddleheads Espresso, Maryland’s Ceremony Espresso Roasters and North Carolina’s Black & White Espresso Roasters, together with the Feb. 2026 deal for North Carolina roaster-retailer Joe Van Gogh Espresso.
FairWave was based in 2020 with the merger of Kansas Metropolis-based specialty espresso roaster-retailers Messenger Espresso and The Roasterie. The group now spans 14 completely different espresso and bakery manufacturers, six manufacturing roasteries and roughly 45 cafes.
By means of every of the acquisitions, the group has saved the person manufacturers intact. In response to an announcement from FairWave right now, Seamonds will probably be touring to every market to study every of the FairWave manufacturers’ “successes and the distinctive communities they serve.”
“Every model on this collective has constructed one thing extraordinary,” Seamonds mentioned within the announcement. “My job is to guard every model’s distinctive id whereas strengthening our work collectively as a collective.”
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Nick Brown
Nick Brown is the editor of Day by day Espresso Information by Roast Journal.
