Caffè Vita Coffee Roasting Company, commonly known as Caffè Vita, is an American coffee roasting company based in Seattle, Washington. Part of the third wave of coffee movement, it has been named one of 10 places offering "the best coffee in America." Caffè Vita was founded in Seattle's Queen Anne neighborhood in 1995 by Mike McConnell. McConnell was an early proponent of developing direct relationships with coffee farmers and bypassing the fair trade of coffee, thus pioneering the Farm Direct movement. On January 1, 2020, local restaurateur Deming Maclise took over ownership at Caffe Vita. Locations Caffè Vita's location at 1005 East Pike Street in Seattle houses their flagship cafe, roastery, and company offices. The company operates eight other cafes around the city; there is another roastery in Portland, Oregon. In March 2012 Caffè Vita opened a cafe in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, and in spring 2013 they opened a location on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles. The company expanded its New York presence in 2015 with the opening of a roastery and cafe in Bushwick, Brooklyn. There are a total of 13 locations nationwide; Caffè Vita also supplies coffee to other cafes, restaurants, and hotels. Community involvement Training and opportunity programs In 2009, Caffè Vita partnered with Portland's p:ear, a homeless youth mentoring program, to create the p:ear Barista School. Caffè Vita provides equipment, coffee beans, milk, and training that allow the school to take homeless youth through an 8-week program that give them the necessary skills and experience to get a job as a barista. Caffè Vita currently supports FareStart's youth barista training program, which trains homeless youth and provides barista jobs at their coffee stands in T-Mobile Field. They also sponsor FareStart's annual Guest Chef Night and Volunteer Server Night, which annually bring together Seattle chefs and winemakers to raise money for FareStart. Fundraising and sponsorships Caffe Vita sponsors several local events, including Timber Music Fest, Timbrrr! by Artist Home, Doe Bay Fest on Orcas Island, CHOMP! and Capitol Hill Block Party. In 2009, Caffè Vita underwrote and organized "GIVE Seattle": a 36-track compilation record, featuring artists such as Ben Gibbard and Fleet Foxes to benefit four local food banks and arts organizations. Every year, Caffè Vita hosts a holiday fundraising drive for Jubilee Women's Center in all Caffe Vita cafes, with donations matched dollar for dollar. Under leadership of new owner Deming Maclise, Caffe