Peet's Coffee & Tea announced Tuesday that it is buying Stumptown Coffee Roasters, sending ripples through America's coffee-loving ranks.
Headquartered in Berkeley, Calif., Peet's has been spreading out across the nation, with dozens of shops located in California, Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Oregon, Virginia, Washington and Washington D.C., according to Eater.
Exhibiting smaller beginnings, Stumptown first opened in Portland, Ore., in 1999, and soon expanded to include locations in Seattle, New York and Los Angeles. The brand recently grew in popularity after it partnered with CBS to develop a special-edition cold brew promoting Stephen Colbert's late night talk show, according to CNN.
It isn't clear what the nature of the acquisition will be since both companies noted that Stumptown coffee wouldn't be sold in Peet's cafes or vice versa, and that customers would likely see very little sign of the alliance.
"We both fit well under a family of coffee brands run independently and treated as separate businesses but with similar values," said Stumptown president Joth Ricci, according to the New York Times.
This acquisition comes a year after Peet's purchased Mighty Leaf Tea, another California-based company which produces artisan tea products.
Both Peet's and Stumptown believe the acquisition will be mutually beneficial. Dave Burwick, chief executive of Peet's, notes that Peet's would benefit from the cold brew innovations that Stumptown offered, while Ricci believes Stumptown would benefit from logistics and other capabilities that Peet's offers.
