The government would like a word with Dunkin’ and Starbucks. Plus, Luckin’s backer closes in on Blue Bottle acquisition, and from Milwaukee to Santa Cruz, it was a big week in coffee unionizing.
‘Luckin Coffee Backer Centurium Is Said to Be in Advanced Talks for Blue Bottle’ – via Bloomberg
Nearly three months after news broke that Nestlé was considering selling Blue Bottle Coffee, the company may have found a buyer: Centurium Capital, the private equity firm and major shareholder of Luckin Coffee.
The Chinese investment firm is “putting the final touches on a deal,” Dong Cao reports for Bloomberg. Centurium had previously explored other coffee chains to acquire, including Costa Coffee and the company that operates % Arabica in China.
In 2017, Nestlé paid around $425 million to acquire a controlling stake in Blue Bottle. Following the purchase, the Bay Area-based specialty chain expanded significantly, growing from 40 stores to more than 100 worldwide, particularly in Asia.
The Chinese news site 36Kr reported that Centurium’s potential purchase will be “for less than $400 million,” citing information from an anonymous source. As part of the deal, the 36Kr report said, Nestlé will retain Blue Bottle’s consumer goods business, such as its instant coffee and ready-to-drink beverages.
None of the companies involved has commented on the possible deal. Luckin is one of the world’s largest coffee chains: it has more than 30,000 stores, mostly in China but also a handful in Malaysia and Singapore. It is also in the early stages of its U.S. expansion, opening 10 locations in New York City in a matter of months. “As one of the world’s largest and most mature coffee markets, the U.S. represents one of our important long-term opportunities,” Luckin CEO Jinyi Guo said during a recent earnings call.
The Blue Bottle acquisition may be part of Luckin’s move away from strictly small-footprint, low-cost stores. In February, Luckin opened its first premium flagship store in Shenzhen—an expansive, multi-floor cafe that news reports compared to Starbucks’ Reserve concept.
Read more on the latest Blue Bottle sale news here or via Yahoo! Finance here.
‘RFK Jr. Wants Dunkin’ To Prove Drinking Its Iced Coffee Is Safe’ – via the Boston Globe
Extravagant, customizable, syrup-heavy beverages that bear a closer resemblance to milkshakes than to coffee are all the rage. Starbucks, Dunkin’, and other chains are constantly releasing new menu items with names like the Banana Puddin’ Cloud Latte or the Iced Ube Coconut Macchiato. Heck, Dutch Bros has built an entire business model on selling colorful concoctions that come loaded with sugar: Its Poppin’ Boba Fire Lizard Rebel drink has 102g of sugar, while the Picture Perfect Freeze contains 142g.
These drinks have now caught the attention of the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
In a speech at something called the Eat Real Food Rally in Texas last week, Kennedy spoke about the prevalence of sugary drinks at coffee shops, singling out Starbucks and Dunkin’: “We’re going to ask Dunkin’ Donuts and Starbucks, ‘Show us the safety data that show that it’s OK for a teenage girl to drink an iced coffee with 115 grams of sugar in it. I don’t think they’re gonna be able to do it.”
Kennedy’s comments stem from his Make America Healthy Again agenda. The Health Secretary claims to want to encourage Americans to eat healthier and has discussed loopholes, such as GRAS (“generally recognized as safe”), which allow companies to determine if additives are safe without formal FDA approval. However, Kennedy, who is not a physician, has also used the MAHA movement to promote anti-vaccine views and spread misinformation about childhood diseases.
The administration declined to say whether Kennedy’s remarks could lead to restrictions on sugary beverages, Tal Kopan reports for the Boston Globe.
But it’s fair to say his criticism of Dunkin’ has not gone down well in the brand’s New England home. Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey posted a “come and take it” meme in response to Kennedy’s remarks. Responding to the Boston Globe’s reporting that Kennedy may try to ban ingredients that cannot be proven safe, including those from Dunkin’, Massachusetts Rep. Richard E. Neal tweeted that this was a “wicked bad idea.”
Other social media users referenced the Boston Tea Party, implying they would stand up for Dunkin’ with protest actions similar to those taken by colonists against the British when it taxed tea, a pivotal moment in the lead-up to the American Revolution. “The Boston Tea Party walked so the Boston Iced Coffee Party could run,” one user tweeted.
Read more on the sugary squabble here.
More News
‘Wenbo Yang Is The 2026 US Roasters Champion’ – via Sprudge
‘Royal Cup Moves to Acquire Farmer Brothers in All-Cash Deal’ – via Daily Coffee News
‘Philippines’ Jollibee Food’s Highlands Coffee Evaluates Vietnam IPO’ – via Reuters
‘Starbucks Invites Customers To Stay Longer With Upgraded Chairs and Mugs’ – via Nation’s Restaurant News
The Week in Coffee Unionizing
Last week was a busy one in coffee unionizing. Workers at Discourse Coffee in Milwaukee and at Cat & Cloud in Santa Cruz both announced their intent to unionize, and both companies voluntarily recognized the unions.
At Discourse, 23 workers unionized with Milwaukee Area Service and Hospitality Workers Organization, or MASH, which also helped Anodyne Coffee workers unionize last year. Anodyne, which was acquired by Fairwave Holdings in 2023, challenged the union vote. Discourse chose a different approach: “There’s no point in building a company if it doesn’t serve people who work in it every day,” founder and CEO Ryan Castelaz told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Over 70% of workers signed union authorization cards. Voluntary recognition means the two parties can now move forward to contract negotiations without the need for a vote. “Workers formed a union here at Discourse Coffee to have a voice and a seat at the table to protect what they love about their work and this company,” Peter Rickman, president of MASH, told WUWM.
In California, workers at Cat & Cloud sent a letter to the company’s owners last week informing them of their intent to unionize. Two days later, they received word that the company would voluntarily recognize the union.
Nakoa Shoemaker, a barista and organizer, told Lookout Santa Cruz that the union would cover 70 workers at Cat & Cloud’s four locations. In a statement on Instagram, the union said that workers have raised concerns with management about issues such as low pay—in a county with some of the highest living costs in the country—poor scheduling practices, and a lack of communication from leaders. “We want to make space to openly talk about these issues, and have Cat & Cloud meet us with transparency and respect,” the union wrote.
“I foresee this being an amazing opportunity to continue to do things that we’ve already and always attempted to do, which is to create the best working experience ever,” Cat & Cloud co-founder and CEO Jared Truby told Lookout Santa Cruz. “It’s not a me-versus-you or an us-versus-them thing. That’s the worst thing that could be possible for our culture.”
Meanwhile, organizers at Kaldi’s Coffee announced a boycott of the specialty chain’s newest location on the campus of Washington University in Missouri in a bid to pressure the company to recognize their union. In November, workers at eight Kaldi’s cafes in St. Louis announced their intent to unionize. One location held its election in January, but the National Labor Relations Board has yet to certify the results after several ballots were challenged.
Organizers said the boycott would continue until Kaldi’s voluntarily recognized the union. “We’re asking you as our community to leverage every ounce of power that you’ve got to make sure when [Kaldi’s] can’t give us consistent hours and fair pay, that they don’t invest the money in opening a whole new store; make it make sense,” barista Aliyah Wilcox said at a town hall event on Washington University’s campus.
Kaldi’s declined St. Louis Business Journal’s request for comment, but said in a statement: “Kaldi’s respects our team members’ rights under federal law to discuss working conditions and make their own choices about union representation. Any decision on unionization is theirs to make. Any claim of a final result is premature, as the NLRB has not yet certified the results of January’s election.”
Beyond the Headlines
‘When Peet’s and Starbucks Closed, the Castro Lost More Than Coffee’ by Paolo Bicchieri
‘Click, Brew, Repeat: Inside The Analog World Of Mechanical Keyboard Cafes’ by Jenn Chen
