A Pasadena-based coffee company has expanded its presence in San Diego County with new locations.
Copa Vida, a community café that prides itself in offering customers a unique experience, now has three locations in the region: East Village, Carlsbad and Sorrento Valley.
The company, which has been around for just four years, now has a total of five locations and a coffee roasting center. The company also has more than 20 wholesale accounts that also offer Copa Vida’s coffee beans.
Owner and founder Steve Chang said the rapid growth of the company is due to its culture. Copa Vida prides itself in offering customers an environment that can be described as “Go, Enjoy and Experience,” Chang said. The company offers quick drinks and eats for customers on the go, a community space for customers to enjoy their purchases, and an experience that includes coffee education, music and art.
Described as high-tech cafe, Copa Vida is also equipped with products that ensure each cup of coffee or tea is served the exact same way.
“We want the coffee in the morning to taste like the coffee in the afternoon regardless of who is behind the bar,” said Chang, whose family previously owned a food manufacturing company for 30 years before it entered the coffee industry.
But, Chang said, the most important part is the experience.
“Our approach is service first and coffee second,” Chang said. “If you ask me where the the best cup of coffee I had was, I’d say Costa Rica. I had a cup of coffee in the same spot where they were picking the berries. The coffee was horrible but because I was in that context, it was great. We want to take customers to a place where they end up loving coffee as much as we do. Our customers are the most important part of the exchange.”
Despite the company’s rapid growth, Copa Vida isn’t slowing down.
Chang said he hopes to open more locations in Southern California where customers can have a taste of the Copa Vida experience.
