Blue Bottle Coffee Explained

Blue Bottle Coffee, Inc.
Type:	Private
Industry:	Coffee industry
Founder:	W. James Freeman
Hq Location City:	Oakland, California
Hq Location Country:	U.S.
Area Served:	United States
Key People:	W. James Freeman, Founder Karl Strovink, CEO
Owner:	Nestlé (68%)

Blue Bottle Coffee, Inc., is a coffee roaster and retailer once headquartered in Oakland, California, United States. In 2017, a majority stake in the company was acquired by Nestlé (68%). It is a major player in third wave coffee.^[1] The company focuses on single-origin beans.^[2]

Locations

Once based in Oakland, California, the company soon expanded to other areas around the country. Blue Bottle first expanded to several cafés in locations around San Francisco, including the Ferry Building and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art's rooftop garden.^[3] The company operates 99 stores as of June 2021, with locations in California, New York, Washington, D.C., Boston, Chicago, Seoul, Jeju City,^[4] Kyoto, Kobe, Tokyo, Osaka, Yokohama, Hong Kong and Shanghai.^[5]

History

W. James Freeman founded Blue Bottle Coffee in the early 2000s in Oakland's Temescal District.^[6] Freeman borrowed the name from one of Europe's first cafés, The Blue Bottle Coffee House. Initially, he intended to roast coffee in small batches (6 lbs. per roast) to sell within 24 hours of roasting, as a home-delivery service. Blue Bottle soon ceased deliveries and opened as a traditional café.^[7]

Blue Bottle opened additional locations in San Francisco and elsewhere in the San Francisco Bay Area and opened its first New York location in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, in 2010.^[8] The company-owned stores carry off-menu items such as the "Gibraltar", a form of cortado.

• In 2012, Blue Bottle received $20 million in venture capital investment.^[9]
• In January 2014, Blue Bottle raised $25.75 million in a new round of funding.^[10]
• In 2015, Blue Bottle completed a venture capital round in which it raised $70 million from investors led by Fidelity.^[11]

• Since its inception, the company has raised $120 million from investors as of 2017.^[12]
• In February 2015, Blue Bottle Coffee opened its first location in Tokyo, Japan, in the Kiyosumi neighborhood.^[13]
• In September 2017, Nestle S.A., the world's largest food and drinks company, acquired a majority stake of Blue Bottle.^[14] While the deal's financial details were not disclosed, the Financial Times reported "Nestle is understood to be paying up to $500m for the 68 per cent stake in Blue Bottle".^[15] Blue Bottle expected to increase sales by 70% in 2017.^[16]
• In May 2019, Blue Bottle Coffee opened its first location in Seoul, South Korea.^[17]
• In December 2019, Blue Bottle Coffee announced they would test eliminating disposable cups at some of their shops to increase sustainability efforts, with the goal being zero waste within one year.^[18] Nothing has been reported to date about this test and whether it was successful.
• In April 2020, Blue Bottle Coffee opened its first location in Central, Hong Kong. Amid COVID-19, the café opened daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. for takeaway only.^[19]
• In February 2022, Blue Bottle Coffee opened its first location in mainland China, Yutong Cafe. Yutong Cafe is located at a historic building by Suzhou Creek in downtown Shanghai.^[20]

See also

• Counter Culture Coffee
• Intelligentsia Coffee & Tea
• La Colombe Coffee Roasters
• Revelator Coffee
• Stumptown Coffee Roasters
• List of coffeehouse chains
• List of coffee companies

Notes and References

1. News: Peet's rides coffee's 'third wave' with stake in Intelligentsia . Baertlein . Lisa . October 30, 2015 . Reuters . September 15, 2017 . November 19, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20151119081737/http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/30/us-intelligentsiacoffee-m-a-peets-idUSKCN0SO24220151030 . live .
2. News: Roush . Wade . Coffee Goes from Folger's, to Starbucks, to Tech-Driven 'Third Wave' . June 7, 2013 . Xconomy.
3. News: Blue Bottle: The best coffee you may ever drink . Copeland . Michael V. . CNN Money . September 23, 2011 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20121214055213/http://features.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2011/09/23/blue-bottle-coffee-james-freeman/ . December 14, 2012.
4. News: Yim . Hyun-su . Blue Bottle Coffee arrives in Jeju . 2021-07-30 . 2024-05-17.
5. Web site: Blue Bottle List of Cafes. Blue Bottle. June 7, 2021.
6. Web site: Huddleston. Tom Jr.. 2019-07-12. Blue Bottle Coffee: How a struggling clarinet player used $15,000 in credit card debt to launch a $700 million brand. 2021-08-09. CNBC. en.
7. Web site: Blue Bottle Coffee - Who We Are . October 6, 2016.
8. News: SF's Blue Bottle Coffee Co. Hits The 'Burg This Week . Morabito . Greg . Eater NY . February 23, 2010 . August 26, 2010.
9. Web site: Blue Bottle Cashes in on Coffee Authenticity . Tate . Ryan . . October 16, 2012.
10. News: Blue Bottle Raises $25.75 Million, Including From High-Powered Friends . de la Merced . Michael J. . DealBook. November 13, 2017 . en.
11. Web site: Bradshaw . Tim . Blue Bottle Coffee turns from start-up to upstart with $70m deal . ft.com . Financial Times . June 4, 2015.
12. News: Atkins . Ralph . Bradshaw . Tim . Nestlé breaks into US hipster coffee market with Blue Bottle deal . Financial Times . September 14, 2017 . September 14, 2017.
13. Web site: Blue Bottle Coffee offers a fresher brew. February 3, 2015. Japantimes. Feb 3, 2015.
14. Web site: Gretler . Corinne . Giammona . Craig . Zaleski . Olivia . Nestle Buys Majority Stake in U.S. Coffee Roaster Blue Bottle . bloomberg.com . Bloomberg News . September 14, 2017 . May 24, 2020.
15. News: Atkins . Ralph . Nestlé breaks into US hipster coffee market with Blue Bottle deal . Financial Times . September 14, 2017 . September 14, 2017.
16. News: de la Merced . Michael . Nestlé Targets High-End Coffee by Taking Majority Stake in Blue Bottle . September 15, 2017 . New York Times . September 14, 2017.
17. News: Blue Bottle Coffee opens in Korea . April 30, 2019 . Global Coffee Report . May 3, 2019 . May 3, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190503024623/http://gcrmag.com/news/article/blue-bottle-coffee-opens-to-korea . dead .
18. Web site: Ivanova . Irina . Blue Bottle Coffee to test eliminating disposable cups and packaging . CBS News . December 13, 2019 . May 24, 2020.
19. Web site: Blue Bottle Coffee Company . timeout.com . Time Out . April 28, 2020 . September 28, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210928144107/https://www.timeout.com/hong-kong/restaurants/blue-bottle-coffee-company . dead .
20. Web site: 中国内地首家蓝瓶咖啡开业！但它并不想做个"顶流网红". Blue Bottle Coffee opens first cafe in Mainland China! . zh. 2022-02-25. 2022-02-25. Riri. FoodTalks.