Today, Nestlé announced that it hasboughta 68 percent stake in third-wave café and roasterBlue Bottle. The purchase, reported by theFinancial Timesto be $500 million, values the company in excess of $700 million. Blue Bottle has followed fellow gourmet-coffee makersStumptown and Intelligentsia, which are owned by JAB Holding Company, and La Colombe, in whichChobani’s founder is a major investor, respectively.
It’s a surprising development for the independent company. Founder James Freeman hasstressed slow growth, and cares so much about quality that hestoppedselling Blue Bottle coffee beans wholesale to other businesses. Nestlé, on the other hand, is an international food conglomerate and this country’s top seller of instant coffee.
Blue Bottle will operate independently within Nestlé, and CEO Bryan Meehan, who will remain with the company along with Freeman, tells theFinancial Times“the control is very much with Blue Bottle.” But Nestlécanbuy the remaining shares if Blue Bottle meets certain performance criteria.
