FairWave Coffee Acquires Spyhouse Coffee Roasters

Fairwave coffeehouse team (in the style of the FairWave brand) acquired an influential roasting and retail company based in Minneapolis, Spyhouse Coffee Roasters.

Founded by Christian Johnson in 2020, Spyhouse currently operates five sister cafes, as well as a manufacturing facility and cafe in northeast Minneapolis, will continue to be led by President Kevin Wensel.

Fairwave Holdings CEO Dan Trott declined to provide details on the terms of the deal, although he told DCN via email that Spyhouse will maintain its operations and brand and will now connect to Fairwave’s existing network for best practices and business growth.

Fairwave coffeehouse team debuted last year through the merger of two specialty coffee businesses in Kansas City, The Roasterie and Messenger Coffee, and a small family of Messenger specialty brands. Fairwave Coffee Collective is primarily owned by a Kansas City-based private equity firm.

Fairwave’s Trott told DCN that the team spoke with Spyhouse founder Johnson ahead of a series of unionizing events last summer and fall.

In September 2020, a number of Spyhouse workers go on strike demanding union recognition and claiming unsafe working conditions amid the COVID-19 pandemic. On October 2, the owner of Spyhouse issued a statement to multiple media outlets. offer to negotiate a sale Spyhouse locations to Spyhouse employees. In November 2020, the majority (14 out of 25) of Spyhouse employees officially voted against unification.

“We spoke with Christian prior to the big events in Minneapolis last summer,” Trott told DCN by email. “I know Christian is very proud of Spyhouse, as it should be – one of the best brands and quality coffee in the Midwest. Christian decided to sell the business and felt FairWave did everything he was looking for in terms of the next generation of growth for the brand, Spyhouse team members and Spyhouse regulars in sister cities. ”

Trott said he hopes Spyhouse will become “one of the many brands” that will eventually join the Fairwave group. He also suggested there might be some expansion of Spyhouse’s core coffee operations.

“We have plans to increase the number of cafes and the general availability of excellent Spyhouse coffee,” Trott said. “Home brewing has become more important and we want to meet specialty coffee lovers wherever they go. We will expand the range of coffee and increase the amount that Spyhouse offers to its customers.”

For more information about Fairwave Coffee, please visit their website.