The Valerio family's coffee experience dates back to 1958 when Joe Sr. would source some of the best Central and South American coffee to brew. He would fill the urn on his steel cart and sell coffee in factories and businesses in Bridgeport and Norristown in Pennsylvania. From this basic concept of coffee service, Joe and his son Anthony expanded into providing specialized brewers to businesses and delivering fresh-brewed coffee.

Having inherited his father's progressive genes, Anthony continues to be an innovator in the business. The Valerios were the first coffee service provider in the Delaware Valley to brew coffee with thermal servers to keep the coffee fresh for up to six hours after brewing. In 1992 Anthony opened the family's first retail coffee house and called it Café Excellence. The store was located in Glenside, Pennsylvania, next to the Keswick Theater. Roasting specialty coffees, blending different origins and developing specialty drinks quickly became Anthony's passion. The family vision was ahead of the new consumer trend to buy coffee beans and grind them at home.

Being one of the pioneers in the coffee house business helped Anthony see that tastes were changing – recipes consisting of Colombian and Brazilian standard grade coffees were going to quickly become dinosaurs. It became clear that specialty coffee was the product of the near future and consumers would soon recognize that coffee could be enjoyed like wine. To create Café Excellence's unique flavors, Anthony studied coffee from seed to cup and now sources coffee from more than 25 countries and operates coffee-roasting facilities throughout the world. His roasting techniques are unique because he combines old-style European roasting with new technology and science.

Anthony served on the Boards of the National Coffee Service Association and the Keystone Coffee Association, networking and sharing ideas with coffee experts from around the country.

Today, Café Excellence gourmet coffees and fine estate teas are consumed in offices and restaurants nationwide, sold though a network of regional distributors. Even more blends and flavors are offered directly to consumers through our online store and, coming soon, through our factory store. We will be celebrating a brand new roasting facility that will be completed in April 2008. The new facility will use state-of-the-art roasting technology along with all-new coffee grinding and packaging equipment.

The Valerios' ambition is to provide the highest quality coffee that gets noticed, one cup at a time.