Coffee roaster and retailer La Colombe is expanding its partnership with Whole Foods Market this fall, which will include the opening of two La Colombe-owned and operated “Friends of Whole Foods Market” flagship locations in Texas and New York City.

The Philadelphia-based coffee company and the Amazon.com-owned natural retailer have worked together for over two decades, with Whole Foods being an early adopter of La Colombe’s ready-to-drink Draft Latte line and, more recently, taking on distribution of its roasted coffee in all store locations nationwide.

In an email to BevNET, Chuck Chupein, president of La Colombe, said that Whole Foods invited La Colombe to be a part of its “Friends of Whole Foods” program, which partners with independent chefs and lifestyle brands to create innovative in-store experiences for shoppers. Unlike previous in-store cafe concepts at Whole Foods, under the Allegro Coffee brand, these locations will be entirely owned, operated and designed by La Colombe, and serve as “extensions of our existing cafes,” according to Chupein.

The first locations will put La Colombe in two of Whole Foods biggest markets: its home base of Austin, Texas and in New York City (The Bowery in Manhattan), marking its ninth cafe and first roasting facility in the Big Apple.

“[Whole Foods] also gave us the freedom and autonomy to build out our own space and experience, offering the community a true taste of the La Colombe brand,” Chupein said. “This is not a plug-and-play opportunity, but a real friendship between the two friends.”

“We are thrilled to continue growing our relationship with La Colombe and proud to offer this high-quality coffee to our customers,” said Jeff Turnas, Senior Vice President of Global Culinary Procurement and Operations at Whole Foods Market, in a press release. “From an assortment of ready-to-drink coffees to the service of Friends of Whole Foods Market cafés, to collaborating on a roast offering together, we feel confident that our customers will find their favorite La Colombe offering at our stores.”

Outside of store locations, Whole Foods and La Colombe have found other ways to collaborate. Just this year, the pair opened five new hospitality accounts — three cafes in the Rocky Mountain Region and two in Boston — that are owned and operated by Whole Foods but fully serviced by La Colombe, which provides training plus technical and account support.

This month, La Colombe will also begin the national rollout of five roasted products and two seasonal roasts, including Corsica, Nizza, Monaco, Afrique and Lyon, at Whole Foods.

In RTD products, the brand recently debuted a new addition to its Draft Latte line — Pumpkin Spice Oatmilk Draft Latte — while also announcing the end of its signature “sip-thru” lids on Draft Latte cans, having been made redundant via a new method of injecting nitrous oxide into the package. La Colombe also announced its first ever single-origin nitro-infused RTD coffee, Extra Bold Nitro Cold Brew, in August.