our story
Uinta coffee was started in 1994 as a mobile pushcart at Sundance Film Festival. Our Coffee became a novelty that only came out of hibernation for the festival for the first four years of service. We prided ourselves in providing coffee to fill the hot creative desires of the film industry culture as it descended upon our little mountain town.
In Fall of 1998 Uinta Coffee took on the form of a brick and mortar location in the small rural Utah town of Kamas, “Gateway to the Uintas”. The business’s namesake and reportedly, only mountain range in North America to run East-West (which is a little different), reminded us of ourselves. A business that is “just a little different”. We had to close our brick and mortar in 2001 due to the town being a little too sleepy.
Our appearance at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival changed...just a little! The local Fire Marshal was stepping up capacity enforcement, too many people in too small a venue, the ever growing popularity of the event was creating problems at the old Carl Winters School (PC Library) on Park Ave. For the previous 5 festivals Uinta Coffee had shared space with the Park City Film Series organization in a vending space across the hallway from the auditorium. Now with no more festival goers allowed to wait in the hallways and stairways inside the building something had to change. The Film Series was going to take up space in an external tent alongside the waitlist line, Uinta Coffee needed a way to operate in the cold of winter, and the push cart was not the tool. The Uinta Coffee mobil trailer was born. Taking up residence in the front row of the parking lot for 10 days every January.
Our mobile enclosed trailer continued to vend all around the Western US in such venues as Laguna Secca Raceway in Monterey, The Presidio, in San Francisco, and Napa Valley, to name a few. And of course, always made it home in time to return to our roots, planted on the backside of the Wasatch Mountains in Park City for Sundance Film Festival.
During this time of mobil exploration Uinta Coffee had begun vending at the Major Farmers Market in the Salt Lake area, Pioneer Park. The market was still somewhat in it's infancy stages at this time (1999), and for a few years the trailer did just fine splitting its time. Typically 3 weekends a month in SLC, and one out on the West Coast. But times, and our face was about to change, again.
In Spring of 2002 we realized that to keep up with increased demand at the market, our mobil unit needed to grow. Our little trailer was getting tired of the commute to California as well. We made the decision to try a Food Truck rather than a larger trailer. The first Coffee Truck, Espresso Truck, Coffee Wagon...call it what you will, in the greater SLC area! In Utah? Maybe!
This new, larger uniut allowed us to better serve our growing client base at local SLC venues as well as plant our beloved original trailer out on the West Coast, Monterey to be specific, to fullfill our contractual commitments at events at the Laguna Seca Raceway without having to miss out on ANY weekends of local vending at the Pioneer Park market. Now in our 22nd season...and counting!
In the winter of 2014 Uinta Coffee had the opportunity to become a partner in Finca Catalina in the country of Nicaragua, Central America. A ‘Beyond Fair Trade’ coffee plantation where we grow Arabica bean and provide year round employment to 8 employees and upwards of 30 locals during the 4 month harvest season. Nicaraguan coffee has been gaining global recognition the last few years for its small shade grown farms and organic farming practices. We then roast and bag locally!
Find our beans at Copper Moose Farm Stand in Park City, Utah and a few other local locations. This summer look for our truck at a market near you! To stay up to date follow us on Facebook and Instagram and flag us down to join us for a cup sometime soon.