Alta Organic Coffee Warehouse & Roasting Co.

What Alta Organic Coffee Warehouse & Roasting Co. does

Alta Organic Coffee Warehouse & Roasting Co. is a privately held, founder-owned specialty coffee roaster founded in 1984 by Patti Spooner and Tony Wilson. The company roasts certified organic, fair-trade Arabica beans in small batches using a Sivetz Fluid-Bed Air Roaster — a system that suspends beans on a column of hot air rather than tumbling them against hot surfaces, producing a cleaner, less bitter cup. Operations are headquartered in a single retail and roasting location at 2712 Mission Street (ext.) in Santa Cruz, California, and the company employs approximately five people.

The product line spans single-origin coffees from Latin America, Africa, and Indonesia, signature blends (Espresso, Davenport, Get Up & Garden, Wild Women, Save Our Shores, SLOWCOAST, Holiday, Café Noir, Costanoa, Frog Hollow, Mountain, North Coast, Monterey Bay Sanctuary), decaf options processed via natural water method, organic green beans for home roasters, organic loose-leaf teas (distributed via a Sungarden Organic Teas partnership), and a small branded merchandise line (organic cotton apparel, caps, jute coffee bags). Coffees are priced uniformly at $22/lb retail, decaf at $23/lb, green beans at $10/lb, and teas from $5.50–$10.75 per 4oz.

Revenue is generated through three motions: direct-to-consumer e-commerce from the company website and physical retail at the Santa Cruz headquarters; wholesale distribution to regional natural-food retailers (notably New Leaf across seven California locations, plus Staff of Life, Aptos Foods, Food Bin, Shopper's Corner, and OB People's) and restaurant/cafe accounts (Café del Sol, Oswald, Foray, Copal, Bantam) in the Monterey Bay area; and cause-marketing partnerships that direct a percentage of specific blend sales to the Save Our Shores Foundation and the Homeless Garden Project. The customer base consists of health-conscious individual consumers and regional B2B accounts seeking organic, sustainably sourced coffee with traceable origin.

Name

Alta Organic Coffee Warehouse & Roasting Co.

Legal name

Alta Organic Coffee Warehouse & Roasting Company

Website

https://altaorganiccoffee.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1984

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Alta Organic Coffee Warehouse & Roasting Co. is a privately held, founder-owned specialty coffee roaster founded in 1984 in Santa Cruz, California. It air-roasts certified organic, fair-trade Arabica beans in small batches using Sivetz Fluid-Bed technology and sells to consumers via e-commerce, its Santa Cruz storefront, and regional wholesale accounts.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Specialty Coffee Roasting

NAICS

Coffee and Tea Manufacturing (311920), Coffee and Tea Manufacturing (31192), Other Specialty Food Retailers (44529)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYAFAFADAB

Coffee Roasting & Grinding

Agriculture & Food Production/Beverage Production/Coffee & Tea Processing (Roasting, Blending, RTD)

SECONDARYAFAFADAJ

Specialty Coffee & Tea (Single-Origin, Micro-lot, Premium) Processing

Agriculture & Food Production/Beverage Production/Coffee & Tea Processing (Roasting, Blending, RTD)

SECONDARYCRADAHAG

Coffee (Roasted, Ground, Whole Bean)

Consumer Products & Retail/Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) Manufacturing & Brands/Non-Alcoholic Beverages (Coffee, Tea, Soft Drinks, Water)

SECONDARYAFAIAGAD

Coffee, Tea & Cocoa Beverage Wholesale

Agriculture & Food Production/Food Distribution & Wholesale/Beverage Wholesale (Alcoholic & Non-Alcoholic)

Keywords

• Specialty coffee roasting
• Organic coffee retail
• Wholesale coffee distribution
• Small batch roasting
• Loose leaf tea

Headquarters

HQ city

Santa Cruz

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Roasted Coffee Sales: Sale of roasted whole bean coffee to consumers and wholesale accounts. Products include single origin coffees, signature blends, and espresso blends in various roast levels.
2. Tea Sales: Sale of loose leaf organic teas including black teas, green teas, and herbal teas through e-commerce and wholesale.
3. Merchandise: Sale of branded merchandise including organic cotton apparel (hoodies, t-shirts), caps, and jute coffee bags.
4. Wholesale Bean Distribution: Wholesale distribution of coffee beans to retailers and restaurants. Collaboration with accounts to develop unique custom blends.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Alta Organic Coffee Warehouse & Roasting Co. is a small-batch specialty coffee roaster that roasts and sells organic, fair-trade coffee beans using Sivetz Fluid-Bed Air Roasting technology. The company offers single origin coffees, signature blends, decaf options, green (unroasted) beans, organic loose-leaf teas, and branded merchandise to consumers through its own e-commerce site and physical retail store in Santa Cruz, as well as to wholesale accounts including restaurants, cafes, and natural food retailers.

Product overview

Alta Organic Coffee Warehouse & Roasting Company is a small-batch specialty air roaster offering organic, fair-trade coffee and tea products. The company operates as a unified portfolio combining: (1) Single Origin Coffees from Central/South America, Africa, and Indonesia including Colombia, Ethiopia (washed and natural), Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru, Brazil, Sumatra, New Guinea, and Bali; (2) Signature Blends including Espresso Blend, Davenport Blend, Costanoa Blend, Wild Women Blend, SLOWCOAST Blend, Holiday Blend, Café Noir, Mountain Blend, North Coast Blend, Monterey Bay Sanctuary Blend, and seasonal offerings; (3) Decaf Options including Decaf Espresso and Decaf Mexican; (4) Green Beans for home roasters; (5) Organic Loose Leaf Teas including English Breakfast, Earl Grey, Mango Ceylon, Chamomile, Peppermint, Rooibos, Dragon Well Green, Moroccan Mint, and Jasmine Green; and (6) Merchandise including organic cotton apparel and accessories. The company also operates a wholesale program for restaurants and cafes. Alta Organic distributes Sungarden Organic Teas and uses Sivetz air-roasting technology.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Sungarden Organic Teas: Alta Organic is a distributor for Sungarden Organic Teas.

Products and services

• Single Origin Coffees Organic, fair-trade single origin coffees from Colombia, Ethiopia (washed and natural), Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru, Brazil, Sumatra, New Guinea, and Bali, sold by the pound at $22/lb for individual consumers and retail/wholesale accounts.
• Signature Coffee Blends House-blended organic coffees including Espresso Blend, Davenport Blend, Get Up & Garden Blend, Wild Women Blend, Save Our Shores Blend, SLOWCOAST Blend, Holiday Blend, Café Noir Blend, Costanoa Blend, Frog Hollow Blend, Mountain Blend, and North Coast Blend, sold at $22/lb.
• Decaf Coffees Decaf Espresso Blend and Decaf Mexican roasted coffees, processed using the natural water process, sold at $23/lb for consumers seeking caffeine-free options.
• Organic Green (Unroasted) Coffee Beans Certified organic unroasted green coffee beans available by the pound in various origins (Brazil, Colombia, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru, Sumatra, Uganda) at $10/lb, intended for home roasters.
• Organic Loose Leaf Teas Organic loose-leaf teas (black, green, and herbal) including English Breakfast, Earl Grey, Mango Ceylon, Chamomile, Peppermint, Rooibos, Dragon Well Green, Moroccan Mint, and Jasmine Green, sold by the 4oz portion at $5.50–$10.75. Distributed via Sungarden Organic Teas partnership.
• Branded Merchandise and Accessories Branded merchandise including organic cotton apparel (hoodie $40, long sleeve $30, short sleeve $25), Alta caps ($25), and 3-pack jute varietal coffee bags ($4).
• Wholesale Coffee Program Wholesale distribution of organic coffee beans to restaurants, cafes, and natural food retailers, with custom blend development offered to wholesale accounts.

Quantifiable outcome

• 70% of Sumatra coffee producers are women supporting families through coffee income
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• New Leaf Community MarketscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorMultiple New Leaf locations (Aptos, Capitola, Westside Santa Cruz, Half Moon Bay, San Jose) carry Alta Organic Coffee beans for retail sale to consumers.
• Staff of Life Natural FoodscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSanta Cruz natural food store carries Alta coffee and hosts Café del Sol restaurant serving Alta coffee.
• Sungarden Organic TeasminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorAlta Organic is a distributor for Sungarden Organic Teas, expanding their product offering beyond coffee.
• Monterey Bay Area Green Business ProgramminorOthersAlta is proud to be a member of the Monterey Bay Area Green Business Program, a voluntary certification program for businesses that operate sustainably.
• CCOF (California Certified Organic Farmers)minorOthersOrganic certification body that verifies Alta's organic coffee meets certification standards. CCOF logo displayed on website.
• Save Our Shores FoundationminorGTM or Marketing PartnerA percentage of all sales of the Save Our Shores blend is donated to the Save Our Shores foundation, helping preserve the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.
• Homeless Garden ProjectminorGTM or Marketing PartnerA percentage of Get Up & Garden Blend sales supports the Homeless Garden Project, a non-profit committed to helping people through job training and meaningful work in organic farming.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Blue Bottle Coffee: Specialty coffee leader (Nestlé-owned) operating DTC, wholesale, and nationwide cafe retail; competes for premium single-origin and conscious-consumer share that Alta targets.
• Peet's Coffee: Long-established California specialty coffee brand and incumbent owner of Stumptown, with broad grocery and foodservice distribution; competes at the same shelf in natural food retailers and restaurants where Alta is sold.
• Stumptown Coffee Roasters: Iconic specialty roaster, now owned by Peet's, with direct-trade sourcing and a national footprint across DTC, wholesale, and cafe channels; competes for the same specialty consumer but at significantly larger scale.
• Counter Culture Coffee: Larger specialty roaster with sustainability, transparency, and direct-trade positioning broadly overlapping Alta's value proposition; serves a national DTC and foodservice customer base from a more established platform.

Direct peers

• Equator Coffees: Marin County, California-based specialty roaster focused on sustainable sourcing, women-owned leadership, and direct-trade relationships; competes for many of the same wholesale accounts and DTC consumers on the West Coast.
• Cafe Altura: One of the original U.S. organic coffee pioneers (founded 1980), selling organic, shade-grown, fair-trade coffee through similar DTC and natural-foods wholesale channels — effectively Alta's closest category analogue by mission and vintage.
• Verve Coffee Roasters: California-based specialty coffee roaster with strong West Coast wholesale and DTC presence, founded in 2007 with a similar coffee-quality and sustainability-driven brand narrative. Most directly comparable peer given shared geography, size, and specialty positioning.

Emerging players

• Dean's Beans Coffee Company: Small-batch organic, fair-trade coffee roaster in Massachusetts with a similar direct-trade model and mission-led brand. Comparable in size and operating model, but geographically concentrated in the Northeast.

Regional players

• Roast Carolina: Small-batch specialty roaster based in North Carolina focused on single-origin and sustainability; analogous in size and craft-roaster positioning but serving the Southeast U.S. region rather than California.

Others

• Sungarden Organic Teas: Organic tea distributor that Alta carries and sells alongside its coffee catalog; not a competitor but a partner brand that broadens Alta's assortment and shared-channel customer profile.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses6 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/alta-organic-coffee-warehouse-roasting-co

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 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 Alta Organic Coffee Warehouse & Roasting Co.