Peet's Coffee & Tea has acquired the high-end specialty coffee company Stumptown Coffee Roasters. The purchase was announced on Tuesday but under a discreet deal. The acquisition came as the coffee business, particularly at the expensive end, continues to grow at a pace not often seen in the food and beverage business.
Peet's Coffee & Tea is majority owned by JAB Holdings Company. According to The New York Times, it is a family-owned investment group based in Luxembourg. JAB also holds majority stakes in Caribou Coffee Company and Jacobs Douwe Egberts, a large European coffee business, as well as consumer fashion brands like Jimmy Choo and Belstaff.
"We both fit well under a family of coffee brands run independently and treated as separate businesses but with similar values," Stumptown President Joth Ricci said.
Stumptown's founder Duane Sorenson, who was called "the Che Guevara of the rock-star barista movement," once worked behind the bar at a Peet's in Portland, Oregon. While he was there, he got to know Peet's roast master, Doug Welsh.
Peet's Coffee & Tea latest acquisition, Stumptown Coffee Roasters was founded in Portland some 33 years after Peet's. In addition to its Los Angeles café and roastery in the Arts District, Stumptown operates just nine other locations in Portland, Seattle and New York. Stumptown also has a strong lineup of ready-to-drink cold-brewed coffees, which are available at the local Whole Foods.
Based on the press release, Peet's will acquire ownership of Stumptown from its existing shareholders. However, no further details of the deal were disclosed, Los Angeles Times noted. The statement also noted that Stumptown will "continue to operate independently while having full access to Peet's resources and scale," which means there won't be any immediate changes to Stumptown's L.A. operations.
"As our growth has continued, we've also continued to have challenges as far as our capacity," Stumptown Vice President Matt Lounsbury said. "Peet's will give us more ability to resolve those issues."
Stumptown Coffee Roasters founder Duane Sorenson has also expressed his excitement over the deal.
"Stumptown's journey has been about creating a coffee experience that surpasses all expectations," Sorenson said, as per CBS Los Angeles. "I'm excited and confident that Peet's will continue to support our journey in a way that uniquely reflects who we are."
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