Blue Bottle Coffee
Coffee roaster and retailer
- 1001+ employees
- B2B
- Food
- Data Analysis
- Consumer Goods
- Community
- Old Oakland, Oakland, CA
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Company mission
To provide great coffee for everyone.
7% employee growth in 12 months
Our take
Founded in 2002, Blue Bottle Coffee is a coffee roaster and retailers that became a major player in the third wave coffee movement, helped in part by the investment and expansion opportunities created through Nestlé's majority acquisition in 2017. Blue Bottle now operates more than 100 stores across the US and Asia, and continues to expand product collaborations, read-to-drink beverages, and merchandizing.
Blue Bottle Coffee's subscription business grew significantly following shifts in customer behavior toward premium at-home coffee experiences and recurring subscription services. Showing the company's ability to build a loyal customer base and capitalize on growing demand for higher-quality coffee products outside of traditional cafés.
The company also benefits from the pandemic period, where its scale and backing from Nestlé helped it remain resilient while smaller independent cafés struggled or closed completely.
However, Blue Bottle has now entered a new chapter following Nestlé's decision to sell the company as part of a wider strategy to streamline its portfolio and focus on core brands. The move reflects changing priorities withing Nestlé rather than weakness in Blue Bottle itself, with the brand remaining a recognized name in premium coffee and well positioned to continue growing.
Freddie
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Funding (last 2 of 4 rounds)
Jun 2015
$70m
SERIES C
Jan 2014
$25.7m
SERIES B
Total funding: $135.7m
This company has top investors
Leadership
James Freeman
(Founder)Former Music Analyst at Mongo music and freelance musician.
Karl Strovink
(CEO)Karl initially joined the Blue Bottle team as the President and COO in 2019, becoming CEo in 2020. Prior to this, they spent over 10 years at Converse, holding various VP/GM roles.