Blue Bottle Coffee
Blue Bottle Coffee started in Oakland, California. In 2012 founder James Freeman said the company kept its roasteries close to its cafes so customers could get beans within 48 hours of roasting.
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Freeman built Blue Bottle's early menu around pour-over coffee, brewed one cup at a time from beans he chose. Over the years the company bought Handsome Coffee Roasters and the subscription service Tonx, among other companies. It raised $120 million from investors including True Ventures, Morgan Stanley and Index Ventures, and a merger with Tartine Bakery announced in 2015 fell through.
When Nestle bought its majority stake in 2017, Blue Bottle ran 35 cafes in the Bay Area, New York, Los Angeles and Tokyo, and it planned to open 25 more that year, including its first cafes in Miami, Boston and Washington.
Freeman said in 2012 that the Oakland and Brooklyn roasteries were certified organic, and that Blue Bottle also bought coffees traded directly with farmers too small to afford certification.
- Based in
- West Sacramento, CA
- Founded
- 2002
- Coffees here
- 5
- Website
- bluebottlecoffee.com
Roasting and sourcing1
- Began in Oakland, California, when founder James Freeman sold roasted coffee beans from a single cart at the Old Oakland Farmers Market.Source: bluebottlecoffee.com
Certifications and sustainability4
- Its sustainability timeline dates the founding to 2002 and lists 4 roasteries as of 2019: West Sacramento, Brooklyn, Tokyo and Seoul. That year all 4 switched to Loring roasters that the company says burn 80 percent less gas than its earlier Probat machines.Source: blog.bluebottlecoffee.com
- In 2010 its Webster Street roastery in Oakland earned CCOF organic certification, which let its bags carry the USDA organic seal.Source: blog.bluebottlecoffee.com
- Says the majority of its coffee is certified organic and names Bella Donovan, Three Africas, Giant Steps, 17ft Ceiling Espresso and Hayes Valley Espresso as certified organic blends.Source: bluebottlecoffee.com
- Says it reached carbon neutrality for 2024.Source: bluebottlecoffee.com
Company and ownership2
- Its privacy policy gives the company mailing address as 2261 Market Street, Ste 22513, San Francisco, CA 94114. The site states no headquarters city.Source: bluebottlecoffee.com
- Its careers page names Karl Strovink as CEO. The official site makes no statement about who owns the company.Source: bluebottlecoffee.com
Questions about Blue Bottle Coffee
Who owns Blue Bottle Coffee?
Blue Bottle went under Nestle ownership in 2017. In April 2026 FoodNavigator reported that China-based Centurium Capital had been confirmed as the new owner of Blue Bottle's cafes and packaged coffee business, with the deal expected to close in the first half of 2026. Nestle keeps the rights to Blue Bottle's single-serve Nespresso pods.
Source: foodnavigator.comWhere is Blue Bottle coffee roasted?
In 2019 Blue Bottle moved its Oakland and Los Angeles roasting to a 39,000-square-foot facility in West Sacramento, California. That facility roasts beans for all of Blue Bottle's California cafes and grocery stores and bakes the cafes' pastries. The company kept its corporate headquarters in Oakland.
Source: preview-prod.w.sfchronicle.comWhere did Blue Bottle Coffee start?
Blue Bottle traces its roots to a coffee stand that founder James Freeman ran at an Oakland farmers' market in 2002. The stand led to a San Francisco outpost in a garage off an alley in Hayes Valley, and the company kept its headquarters in Oakland as it grew.
Source: preview-prod.w.sfchronicle.comWhere was Blue Bottle's first cafe outside the US?
Blue Bottle's first location outside the United States opened in February 2015 in Kiyosumi, an older neighborhood of Tokyo. The shop has its own roaster. Founder James Freeman chose Kiyosumi because it reminded him of Oakland, where the company started, and a second Tokyo shop followed in March.
Source: ktvu.com