Copper Rock Coffee Co.

What Copper Rock Coffee Co. does

Copper Rock Coffee Co. is a privately held, family-run specialty coffee shop and roastery headquartered in Appleton, Wisconsin. Founded in 2002 by Wisconsin natives, the company operates two café locations — the original Downtown Appleton café (210 W. College Avenue, since 2002) and a North Appleton café (1835 E. Edgewood Drive, since 2008) — serving espresso, drip coffee, pour overs, smoothies, frappes, loose leaf tea, chai, bakery items, sandwiches, paninis, salads, soups, and house-made gelato prepared at the Downtown kitchen. The Downtown location also houses the company's in-house roasting operation, established in 2009, which sources fresh-crop beans from multiple countries and roasts daily.

The business is built around an integrated in-house roastery that supplies both company-owned cafés and a small wholesale channel selling roasted beans to churches and businesses, with inquiries handled directly by the chief roaster. Beyond retail cafés, the company generates revenue from catering services (formalized via the 2022 Copper Cock Catering Menu), meeting and event space rentals at the Downtown "Gallery" and board room, and gift card sales through both in-store and Square-powered e-gift cards. A "Buy 15 Get $5" loyalty program supports the North Appleton drive-thru, and an online ordering and curbside pickup storefront extends the cafés into a digital channel.

Copper Rock's go-to-market is overwhelmingly local and direct-to-consumer, anchored on a Wisconsin-native, family-owned brand identity and a "Fresh Roasted Daily" promise. There is no external funding, no parent company, and no public listing; the operating model is intentionally small-scale, with growth signals limited to an announced Green Bay roasting expansion and incremental product/channel additions such as catering and curbside pickup.

Name

Copper Rock Coffee Co.

Legal name

Copper Rock Coffee Co.

Website

https://copperrockcoffee.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2002

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Copper Rock Coffee Co. is a family-run specialty coffee shop and roastery operating two Appleton, Wisconsin cafés (Downtown since 2002 and North Appleton since 2008), offering in-house roasted coffee, gelato, food, catering, and wholesale beans to local consumers and businesses.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Specialty Coffee Shop

NAICS

Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars (722515), Coffee and Tea Manufacturing (311920), Caterers (722320)

SIC

Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810), Beverages (2080)

akta.pro primary industry

Coffee Roasters with Cafe (Roastery Cafes) (THAFADAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Specialty Coffee & Tea Retail (Beans, Leaves, Accessories) (CRAHAGAI), Drive-Thru Coffee Stands & Coffee Kiosks (THAFADAK), Beverage Service (Coffee/Tea/Juice) & Refreshment Stations (HSACAGAJ)

Keywords

• Specialty coffee roastery
• Coffee shop retail
• Café food service
• Wholesale coffee beans
• Event catering service

Headquarters

HQ city

Appleton

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. In-café beverage and food sales: Walk-in transactions at the Downtown Appleton and North Appleton cafés covering espresso, drip, pour overs, smoothies, frappes, tea, chai, bakery items, sandwiches, paninis, salads, soups and gelato. Transaction-based, point-of-sale driven revenue.
2. Catering services: Off-premise catering menu (Copper Cock Catering) for events and meetings, generating professional-services revenue from food and beverage packages.
3. Wholesale roasted coffee: Wholesale roasted-bean sales to churches, businesses and other accounts, managed by the chief roaster via direct inquiry — recurring B2B supply revenue.
4. Drive-thru sales and loyalty: Drive-thru beverage and food sales at North Appleton with a "Buy 15 Get $5" punch-card style promotion, driving repeat visit frequency.
5. Gift card sales: Physical gift cards sold in store and e-gift cards sold via a Square gift card storefront (squareup.com/gift/HQDWV0JSK48G0/order), generating upfront cash with redemption at a later date.
6. Meeting and event space rental: Rental of the large Gallery room and a smaller board room at the Downtown Appleton location for meetings and small events, managed by an events manager.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion5 records

Core offering

Copper Rock Coffee Co. is a family-run specialty coffee shop and roastery that operates two Appleton, Wisconsin cafés (Downtown Appleton since 2002 and North Appleton since 2008), serving espresso, drip and pour-over coffee, smoothies, frappes, loose-leaf tea, chai, plus a bakery, sandwich, panini, salad, and soup food menu, and house-made gelato produced in its Downtown kitchen. The cafés are supplied by an in-house roastery (operating since 2009) that also sells wholesale roasted beans to churches and local businesses, and the company offers catering, curbside pickup, in-store and Square-powered e-gift gift cards, and rental of on-site meeting and event space.

Product overview

Copper Rock Coffee Co. operates as a single integrated specialty coffee retail brand built around an in-house roasting operation rather than a modular software platform. The product portfolio centers on the Copper Rock Roastery (fresh-roasted, globally sourced coffee beans roasted daily since 2009), which feeds the beverage programs of two Appleton-area cafés — the original Downtown Appleton café (Est. 2002, co-located with the roastery and gelato kitchen) and the North Appleton café (Est. 2008, with drive-thru and free Wi-Fi). Beverage and food menus (Coffee & Espresso Bar Menu, Food Menu, House-Made Gelato) are supported by Catering, Online Order & Curbside Pickup, Gift Cards (in-store and Square-powered e-gift), Wholesale Coffee Beans, and Meeting & Event Space Rental services, all unified under the locally owned Wisconsin-native family brand.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Copper Rock Roastery (wholesale roasted coffee beans) In-house coffee roasting operation established in 2009 that produces fresh-roasted, daily coffee from globally sourced fresh-crop beans and supplies Copper Rock's cafés; also offered as a wholesale roasted-bean product line to churches and local businesses via direct inquiry to the chief roaster.
• Catering (Copper Cock Catering) Off-premise catering service for events and meetings, offering curated food and beverage packages from Copper Rock's bakery, kitchen, and roastery, as documented in the Copper Cock Catering Menu 2022.
• Online Order & Curbside Pickup Remote ordering and curbside pickup service available from both Appleton café locations via a dedicated online storefront at copperrockcoffeecurbsidepickup.com.
• Gift Cards Gift cards available in-store at both Appleton locations, with e-gift cards purchasable online through a Square-powered storefront (squareup.com/gift/HQDWV0JSK48G0/order). Includes a North Appleton drive-thru "Buy 15 Get $5" loyalty-style punch-card promotion.
• Wholesale Coffee Beans Wholesale roasted-coffee-bean supply program for churches and businesses, fulfilled by the chief roaster via direct email inquiry ([email protected]) and sourced from Copper Rock's in-house roastery.
• Meeting & Event Space Rental Rental of the large Gallery room and a smaller board room inside the Downtown Appleton location for meetings and small events; inquiries are handled by an events manager via [email protected].
• House-Made Gelato Homemade gelato produced in the Downtown Appleton gelato kitchen and served at both Appleton cafés as a sweet-treat offering distinct from the standard coffee and food menu.

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Feature3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Ruby Coffee Roasters: Madison, Wisconsin-based specialty roaster operating a roastery-cafe and wholesale program. Comparable as a Wisconsin-rooted third-wave roaster with cafe and B2B bean channels.
• Kickapoo Coffee: Viroqua, Wisconsin-based specialty roaster with cafe presence and a wholesale program. Comparable as a Wisconsin specialty roaster with cafe and B2B distribution.
• Colectivo Coffee: Milwaukee-based specialty coffee roaster with a regional cafe footprint in Wisconsin and Chicago. Comparable as a Midwest specialty roaster-cafe brand with in-house roasting feeding multiple retail locations.
• Anodyne Coffee Roasting Co. Milwaukee-based specialty roaster with multiple cafe locations and a wholesale program. Comparable in vertical integration (roastery + cafes + wholesale) and Wisconsin market presence.
• Valentine Coffee Company: Madison, Wisconsin-based specialty roaster-cafe with a focus on third-wave coffee. Comparable in size, geography, and roastery-cafe model.
• Stone Creek Coffee: Milwaukee-based specialty coffee roaster and cafe chain operating company-owned roastery plus multiple cafe locations across Wisconsin. Closest comparable to Copper Rock: Wisconsin-rooted, roastery-cafe model, similar specialty positioning and third-wave cues.

Emerging players

• Sey Coffee: Specialty third-wave roaster-cafe focused on high-end single-origin coffee with both retail cafes and wholesale. Comparable as a small roastery-cafe with strong third-wave positioning and direct B2B bean distribution.

Broad incumbents

• Starbucks: Global coffee chain with extensive Wisconsin cafe presence. Comparable as a competing cafe operator in the same Appleton market, but operates at vastly larger scale and broader category scope.
• Dunkin': National coffee and breakfast chain with broad U.S. footprint including Wisconsin. Comparable as a competing drive-thru and grab-and-go coffee operator, but positioned at a mass-market value tier.

Regional players

• Caribou Coffee: Minnesota-based coffee chain with significant Midwest cafe presence including Wisconsin. Comparable as a multi-unit coffee retailer operating in Copper Rock's broader trade area, though larger and chain-positioned.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/copperrckcoffee
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/Wix
• Facebookfacebook.com/copperrockcoffeenorth
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/copper-rock-coffee-company
• Instagraminstagram.com/copperrockcoffee
• TikToktiktok.com/@wix

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Copper Rock Coffee Co.