In the earliest days of the 20th century, while prairie towns still surrounded Manhattan Island, Leo Richter worked diligently at his coffee roaster. Following the principals of selecting only the best coffees and then roasting in small batches to achieve his signature rich taste, Leo personally delivered his distinct coffees to loyal customers throughout New York City and the surrounding towns. He called his company Empire Coffee Roasters, and grew the business over time. Unfortunately, life can take drastic turns and Leo was unable to keep the business going.

Decades passed and in 1984, Robert Richter the great grandson of Leo, and Steve Dunefsky (retired) re-established Empire Coffee Roasters. They used the roasting and blending techniques that had been passed down throughout the generations.

In 1994, as the business steadily grew, Empire moved to its current Port Chester, New York location—a 60,000 square-foot facility dedicated to roasting, grinding and packaging coffee for clients of all sizes.

The Empire of today is one of the most prominent New York roasters. Empire provides private brand coffee to office coffee service companies (OCS), food service distributors, and large retailers across the country. Empire is certified organic, kosher, fair trade and SQF.

Now, in 2018 Empire has partnered with Path Coffee Roasters to offer a full line of small batch roasted specialty coffees from Central and South America to Africa. As Empire expands it offerings and services it continues to be more committed than ever to providing the highest-quality coffees with superior service at competitive prices.