Cafe Del Mundo was the first to introduce coffee roasting to Alaska back in 1975. The coffee industry has changed so much since then and we have aged too, but not our coffee. The fundamentals are still the same; providing fresh roasted coffee of the highest quality to our customers.

What makes Cafe Del Mundo different from other coffee roasters? For starters, our 27 years of coffee roasting experience. We start with the highest quality green coffee and roast them fresh to perfection at our warehouse here in Anchorage. In that time we have learned so much about coffee, the art of roasting and how it interacts with the brewing and espresso equipment. We have also gotten to know many of the coffee growers, exporters and importers on a first name basis, they are not just business associates they are our friends.

Our first roasting plant in Spenard, AK, circa 1975

La Medalla al Merito

Today, Cafe Del Mundo sells fresh roasted coffee and commercial espresso equipment in Alaska and via mail order throughout the United States. Cafe Del Mundo has two retail locations in Anchorage. Our flagship store at 341 East Benson Boulevard celebrated its 20th anniversary (!!) in April 2002. Cafe Del Mundo opened our newest store in the Fred Meyer store on Abbott Road, where in addition to the full espresso bar we make genuine Italian-style "gelato". When you are in the neighborhood, or even if you're not, make a reason to drop by and have a gelato and/or a cappuccino. Cafe del Mundo has received international recognition with the "Medalla al Merito Cafetero de Manual Mejia" in 2001 by the Colombian Coffee Federation. The Alaska Journal of Commerce listed Perry among the "Alaska Men in Business" in April 2002.

When Cafe del Mundo is not buying, roasting, grinding and/or brewing coffee we are very active with non-profit organizations and the community in general. We donate "out-dated" coffee to various shelters and groups and volunteer time and services for those in need. Cafe Del Mundo has been acknowledged for our goodwill, in 1998 we were awarded the "North Star Award" by the American Cancer Society. In 1999 we received an award for "Outstanding Small Business in Philanthropy." Perry has served on several non-profit boards and is still very active with Anchorage's public radio and television stations and the Anchorage unit of the American Cancer Society.

Perry with Juan Valdez

Perry and Senor Francisco Arriola

Cafe Del Mundo is the result of a 3-month road trip that founder Perry Merkel took in his 1955 Chevy-camper in the spring of 1973 through Mexico, Guatemala and El Salvador. While in Antigua, Guatemala he purchased some 15 pounds of green (raw) coffee. When he returned back to his hometown of Berkeley, California, he tried, unsuccessfully to have the coffee roasted. After being turned down at numerous roasters in the San Francisco Bay Area, he bought a small stovetop coffee roaster and started doing it himself. The following year, in 1974 Perry went to Alaska to seek his fortune, at the height of the Trans-Alaska pipeline construction. Realizing that it was extremely difficult to find any coffee beans, let alone fresh roasted coffee, Perry started to roast his own coffee. Within a year he would be roasting coffee under the name Cafe Del Mundo.