FairWave Specialty Espresso Collective has made their largest acquisition but. The Kansas Metropolis, Missouri-based conglomerate’s portfolio already boasts well-known espresso manufacturers like Messenger Espresso, Spyhouse, Anodyne, and Ceremony. And now, their east coast growth continues with the acquisition of Raleigh, North Carolina’s Black & White Espresso Roasters.

Introduced on Wednesday, April 2nd—which is shut sufficient to a sure overplayed joke day that I needed to double- and triple-check that this was an actual story—Black & White and its three places have change into the twelfth model beneath the FairWave umbrella. This lower than a month after internet hosting the 2025 US Barista Championship.

“This partnership represents an thrilling new chapter for Black & White,” states co-founder Kyle Ramage. “It’s a pure development that can permit us to construct upon our current basis and attain new heights.”

 

The second main revelation within the press launch asserting the acquisition is departure of co-founder and 2016 US Barista Champion Lem Butler. Together with Ramage, his successor on the USBC, Butler began Black & White in 2017, and it has since grown right into a family identify within the specialty espresso world. Per the press launch, whereas Butler will not be a par to the roaster and FairWave, he’ll “stay dedicated to fostering significant and moral contributions to the specialty espresso business.”

“I’m extremely happy with the neighborhood we’ve constructed at Black & White,” Butler states. “We’ve created a singular and accessible elite espresso expertise, and I’m assured that this partnership will guarantee our crew’s continued success.”

Following the operational hierarchy of different FairWave acquisitions, Ramage will keep on to supervise operations in addition to the model’s growth.

It’s maybe one of the vital surprising acquisitions within the specialty espresso world, up there with the likes of Go Get Em Tiger nee G&B Espresso having neither Glanville nor Babinski as a part of the operation. In contrast to different FairWave acquisition of main espresso manufacturers, Black & White is comparatively younger; Spyhouse, Anodyne, and Ceremony had all been round for over 20 years earlier than the buy-out. Such is the trajectory of specialty espresso proper now, and it speaks to a stage of uncertainty when one of the vital recognizable manufacturers in American specialty espresso is ceding possession to an fairness capital entity.

For extra data, go to FairWave Specialty Espresso Collective’s official web site.

Zac Cadwalader is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Community and a employees author primarily based in Dallas. Learn extra Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.