Milwaukee-based coffee retailer Alterra Coffee Roasters Inc. announced that it is changing its name to Colectivo Coffee.
The name change to Colectivo (co-lec-TEE-vo) completes the company’s three-year relationship with Mars Drinks, a subsidiary of Mars Inc., which purchased the Alterra Coffee Roasters brand name – but not the company – in 2010.
Alterra’s three founders and owners – Lincoln Fowler, Ward Fowler and Paul Miller – maintain full control of the new Colectivo business going forward.
“The Alterra brand is going global thanks to Mars Drinks, while we chose to stay local,” said Lincoln Fowler. “Maintaining full control of our company and employees’ future was a priority in our deal with Mars. At the start of our relationship with Mars Drinks, we decided to change our name in exchange for the long-term investment opportunity this transaction provided. Mars now solely controls the Alterra Coffee Roasters brand name while we strike a new independent path as Colectivo.”
The name change will affect all aspects of the business, including cafes, wholesale roasting, and retail presence. All of these will operate as usual without interruption over the transition period, which will be completed by mid-September. Mars Drinks will continue to expand their Alterra Coffee Roasters brand name globally.
The founders announced the name change to their 350 employees at a staff meeting at The Pabst Theater on Sunday night.
OnMilwaukee.com, a media partner of BizTimes, broke the story online last night, and has extensive coverage of the name change. The initial story, including a photo gallery of the announcement at the Pabst, can be found here. An interview with the company’s founders on the name change and future plans for the company can be found here.
A video explaining the inspiration for the name change, posted on the new colectivocoffee.com, is embedded below.
¡Viva Colectivo! short story from Colectivo Coffee on Vimeo.
