Urth Caffe

RestaurantsUnited States201-500 Employees

Our Story

Urth Caffe was founded in 1989 by Jilla and Shallom Berkman as a small mail order company selling non-toxic and natural products for the home. In 1989, they met an organic coffee farmer named Jorge, who represented a farm in Peru producing organic, heirloom coffee which was very special – coffee, in general is the heaviest chemically treated food commodity in the world.  Heirloom coffee trees are very rare and have never been genetically modified. They discovered there were many destructive practices in the coffee industry and decided to become pioneers in health conscious coffee. After spending several years learning how to roast and brew great coffee – they launched the nation’s first exclusively organic, heirloom coffee company. The name chosen was “Urth Caffe”, “Urth” is an old Welsh root spelling of Earth and “Caffe” is Italian for coffee. To us, “Urth Caffe” means ancient, earthly, natural coffee beans, or organic, heirloom coffee. In 1991, the first Urth Caffe was opened in Manhattan Beach, then in 1994 another was opened in West Hollywood, on Melrose Ave., and in 1997 an Executive Chef was hired to add healthy light meals and desserts to the menu. In 2002, a café was opened in Beverly Hills, followed by Santa Monica in 2004. In 2008, Urth opened its’ Downtown LA cafe and headquarters – the home of our coffee roasting, tea blending, baking, cooking, and offices.  Finally, in 2012 the latest and most beautiful branch opened in Pasadena. We are set to open another café in early 2015 in Laguna Beach at a historic property with ocean views. We currently employ more than 400 team members with a main kitchen, corporate offices, and 5 cafes.

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