FairWave Coffee Collective: a new economy of scale for specialty independents

Sharing the resources of 28 cafés, five roasteries, a bakery, ready-to-drink (RTD) coffee brand and cold brew facility, Kansas City-based FairWave Coffee Collective is enabling specialty independents to achieve economies of scale typically the preserve of larger chains. By Tobias Pearce

From Starbucks to Costa Coffee, Dunkin’ and Tim Hortons, many of the world’s largest and most recognisable coffee chains started out as single-site independents before achieving incredible scale. More recently, brands such as Blank Street Coffee and Bluestone Lane have blazed trails across the US after courting millions of dollars in venture capital.