La Colombe originally operated strictly as a wholesale supplier for restaurant kitchens
J.P. Iberti · La Colombe Coffee Roasters: Todd Carmichael and J.P. Iberti. A Brotherhood Built on Coffee (2020) · Jan 12, 2026 · at 28:19
J.P. Iberti, co-founder of La Colombe Coffee Roasters, explains why empty Philadelphia streetscapes did not deter them from launching there in the early 1990s.
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“Our idea was to be purveyors and to serve the kitchen, so it didn't really matter.”
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“A lot of people go into a kitchen and then move away to San Francisco, LA, Denver, Miami, and we had such roots in the kitchen with supply that people ended up taking us with them when they moved. So we did move from kitchen to kitchen, you know, and it went, …”