Alfred Peet facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Alfred Peet
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Peet in the late 1960s at the original Peet's location
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| Born | March 10, 1920 Alkmaar, The Netherlands
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| Died | August 29, 2007 (aged 87) |
| Occupation | Founder of Peet's Coffee & Tea |
Alfred H. Peet (born March 10, 1920 – died August 29, 2007) was a businessman from the Netherlands who became famous in the United States. He started a coffee company called Peet's Coffee & Tea in Berkeley, California, in 1966. Many people say Alfred Peet began the "specialty coffee" trend in America.
Coffee experts often call him "the Dutchman who taught America how to drink coffee." Peet shared his special way of roasting coffee beans with three friends: Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl, and Gordon Bowker. With his permission, they used his methods to start Starbucks in Seattle in 1971. However, Peet later disagreed with the Starbucks founders when they started making very dark roasts. He was once quoted saying, "Baldwin never learned anything from me."
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Alfred Peet's Early Life and Career
Alfred Peet was born in Alkmaar, a city in the Netherlands. Before World War II, his father ran a small business that roasted coffee. After the war, Peet worked in London, learning about coffee and tea with a company called Twinings.
He then worked as a tea taster in the Dutch East Indies and New Zealand. In 1955, he moved to San Francisco, California, where he worked in the coffee importing business.
Opening His First Coffee Shop
Peet was not happy with the low quality of coffee in the United States. He thought it was as bad as the "rationed" coffee people drank during World War II. So, on April 1, 1966, he opened his own coffee store in Berkeley, California.
Peet always wanted to keep his coffee quality high. He often refused to expand his business too quickly. He wanted to make sure the coffee with his name on it was always the best. For several years, he roasted beans right in the back of his first store.
In the early 1970s, he bought a larger building in Emeryville, a nearby town. There, he installed bigger coffee roasters. By that time, Peet had two more stores in Oakland and Palo Alto. He also sold large bags of freshly roasted beans to restaurants around the San Francisco Bay Area.
Alfred Peet's Retirement
In 1979, Alfred Peet sold his business to Sal Bonavita. Peet continued to guide Bonavita for the next five years. Bonavita soon opened new Peet's stores in Oakland, Mill Valley, and Menlo Park.
After leaving the coffee business, Peet moved to Ashland, Oregon, in 2001. He passed away there on August 29, 2007, at 87 years old. In 1984, Jerry Baldwin, one of the Starbucks founders, bought the four Peet's locations from Sal Bonavita.
Peet's Impact on the Coffee World
Alfred Peet was the first to bring custom coffee roasting of high-quality beans to the United States. Before him, most Americans drank coffee made from instant, freeze-dried beans from a can.
His first Peet's Coffee store in Berkeley helped create the famous "Gourmet Ghetto" area. This neighborhood grew around Peet's and other new, special food stores and restaurants, like Chez Panisse.
Mentoring Other Coffee Lovers
Even though Peet was known for being serious, he was also very willing to teach others. He loved to share his knowledge about roasting coffee beans. Jerry Baldwin, a co-founder of Starbucks, remembered Peet as a "very generous" teacher.
Peet mentored many people who wanted to start their own coffee businesses. Some of them include:
- Jamie Anderson (Anderson's Coffee, Austin, Texas)
- David Dessinger (Pegasus Coffee, Bainbridge Island, Washington)
- Arnold Spinelli (Spinelli Coffee Company, San Francisco, California)
- Susan O'Hori (O'Hori's Coffee Roasters, Santa Fe, New Mexico)
- Leigh McDonald (founder of Coffee Connection in Amsterdam)
Other coffee business owners were simply inspired by Alfred Peet. They loved the coffee they tasted at his first Berkeley store. George Howell is a great example. He started The Coffee Connection in the Boston area. Howell is also known for inventing the Frappuccino. Starbucks later bought his business.
Media About Alfred Peet
Alfred Peet was interviewed for a documentary called Coffee Culture USA. This film was released in 2008.
In 2018, a book titled The Coffee Visionary: The Life & Legacy of Alfred Peet was published. For this book, the author Jasper Houtman interviewed Peet's sister, who was 100 years old at the time.
