Compass Coffee is an American

coffee roaster Roasting coffee transforms the chemical and physical properties of green coffee beans into roasted coffee products. The roasting process produces the characteristic flavor of coffee by causing the green coffee beans to change in taste. Unroaste ...

based in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 2014 and operates in Washington, D.C., and Virginia. , the company has 18 stores.

History

The company was founded by Michael Haft in 2014. Following the Shaw neighborhood store, a second store was opened in the same neighborhood in September 2015. Over the next few years, other stores were opened in Washington, D.C., and

Arlington, Virginia Arlington County, or simply Arlington, is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Virginia. The county is located in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from Washington, D.C., the nati ...

. The first

drive-through A drive-through or drive-thru (a sensational spelling of the word through), is a type of take-out service provided by a business that allows customers to purchase products (or use the service provided by the business) without leaving their c ...

store was opened in October 2022. On October 20, 2017, Compass Coffee founder Michael Haft received the District of Columbia Chamber of Commerce's Community Impact Award at the 2017 Chamber's Choice Gala. On March 31, 2017, Compass Coffee was featured in DC Mayor

Muriel Bowser Muriel Elizabeth Bowser (born August 2, 1972) is an American politician who has served as the current mayor of the District of Columbia since 2015. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, she previously represented th ...

's State of the District Address for jump-starting the Made in DC movement and creating jobs in DC.

Partnerships

Compass Coffee has partnered with Dog Tag Bakery, which offers a vocational program teaching disabled military veterans and their caregivers entrepreneurship skills to launch businesses. Compass supplies the bakery with coffee, and Michael Haft serves as a guest speaker with each cohort. Compass has also formed a partnership with The Corp at

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

, which is a student-run organization that teaches students management and leadership skills through operating businesses on campus. Compass has been supplying The Corp since 2015. ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' and Compass Coffee collaborated on "The Post Roast", a coffee blend celebrating ''The 7'', the Post's newsletter and podcast, reaching over a million subscribers and being recognized as

Apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...

's top series of 2022.

Impact of COVID-19

In March 2020, due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, Compass laid off 150 of its 189 employees. The remaining 39 staff members had their pay cut to $15 per hour, and 20 of them were tasked with working on the construction of a new roasting facility. The company also eliminated the option for customers to tip when paying by credit card, which decreased worker wages. Compass received over $9.9 million in government assistance during this time.

Controversies

In May 2024, workers at seven Compass locations announced their intent to unionize with

Workers United Workers United is an American and Canadian labor union which represents about 86,000 workers in the apparel, textile, commercial laundry, distribution, food service, hospitality, fitness and non-profit industries.Greenhouse, Steve"Union Rejoinin ...

. In June 2024, Compass Coffee United accused the company of hiring 124 additional people, including Liz Brown, a lobbyist for

Uber Uber Technologies, Inc. is an American multinational transportation company that provides Ridesharing company, ride-hailing services, courier services, food delivery, and freight transport. It is headquartered in San Francisco, California, a ...

, and Cullen Gilchrist, the CEO and co-founder of

Union Kitchen Union Kitchen is an American business incubator based in Washington, D.C. Union Kitchen merges the concepts of a shared kitchen and a business incubator, catering primarily to small food businesses. History Union Kitchen was founded as Black Stra ...

, and of manipulating schedules retroactively to make it appear as though the newly hired employees were eligible to vote in the union election. In response, US Senator

Bernie Sanders Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician and activist who is the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from the state of Vermont. He is the longest-serving independ ...

publicly criticized the company on

X (formerly Twitter) Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, imag ...

, labeling the company's actions "totally absurd & disgusting" and calling on the company to "end its union busting."

References

External links

{{Official website, https://www.compasscoffee.com/ Coffee companies of the United States