Cattle Dog Coffee was established in the summer of 2022. Founder Mat Cohen was inspired through travels to create a unique way to serve coffee, which led to the idea to start a coffee truck. After finding the 1974 AM General in Wisconsin, Mat and his team spent time remodeling the interior of the ice cream mobile, freshening up the paint job and slapping the logo on the doors to create a state-of-the-art cafe on wheels. A cafe with the capabilities of serving specialty coffee at high volumes, just like your favorite local shop. The vision and name came from his dog, Zoe, and the active, tough, passionate and loyal lifestyle cattle dogs live.

After two years of the mobile coffee business, Mat sold the truck and decided to create Coffee Connections after realizing different opportunities in the specialty coffee space. First, the specialty coffee workforce should be more equitable and accessible. Second, working in elevated cafes helps to build life skills, confidence and momentum, which can tremendously help young adults on their life’s journey. Lastly, cafes in Chicago turn over their staff on average three times a year, and training new staff is timely and costly. This will ultimately help not only people trying to secure employment, but will also help cafes with hiring and will promote Chicago’s diverse communities.

We are providing a jumpstart in hopes to create a relationship beneficial for everyone.