Chock full o'Nuts facts for kids
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| Type | Coffee |
|---|---|
| Owner | Massimo Zanetti Beverage Group |
| Country | United States |
| Introduced | 1932 |
| Markets | North America |
| Previous owners | Chock Full o'Nuts Sara Lee Corporation |
| Tagline | "The Heavenly Coffee" |
Chock full o'Nuts is a well-known American coffee brand. It started as a chain of New York City coffee shops.
The company's unique name comes from the 18 nut shops its founder, William Black, opened in the city starting in 1926. When the Great Depression happened, people had less money. So, Black changed his nut shops into lunch counters. Here, you could get a cup of coffee and a sandwich for just 5 cents!
Over time, the brand became very popular. In 1953, Chock full o'Nuts coffee began to be sold in grocery stores. Today, the brand is owned by the Massimo Zanetti Beverage Group, a large coffee company.
Contents
How Chock full o'Nuts Started
William Black started the company by selling nuts in Times Square to people going to the theater. In 1926, he opened his first store. He soon had 17 more shops.
During the Great Depression, many people lost their jobs and money. They could not afford fancy shelled nuts anymore. So, William Black changed his nut shops. They became lunch counters that sold coffee and sandwiches.
Their special "nutted cheese" sandwich was very famous. It was made with cream cheese and chopped nuts on dark raisin bread. This sandwich and a cup of coffee cost only a nickel when the company began.
In the 1950s, coffee prices went up. William Black did not want to lower the quality of his coffee. So, he decided to raise his prices instead. He believed in serving good quality coffee.
Growing the Coffee Brand
In 1953, Chock full o'Nuts coffee started being sold in supermarkets. This made it easy for many more people to buy.
A few years later, the famous baseball star Jackie Robinson joined the company. After he stopped playing baseball, he became a vice president and helped with hiring.
In 1961, Chock full o'Nuts also started selling instant coffee. This was a new way for people to enjoy their coffee quickly.
By the 1960s, the company had about 80 restaurants in the New York City area. They were known for being very clean. Their sandwiches were even advertised as "untouched by human hands." Cooks used tongs to make sure everything was hygienic.
Changes Over the Years
In the 1970s, the lunch counters slowly began to close. After William Black passed away, the company sold its remaining 17 restaurants.
Later, in 1999, the Sara Lee Corporation bought Chock full o'Nuts. Then, in 2006, the Massimo Zanetti Beverage USA company bought it from Sara Lee. They also bought other coffee brands like MJB and Hills Bros..
In 2010, Chock full o'Nuts announced they were bringing back their lunch counters! They opened a new store in Manhattan. The company planned to open more stores and kiosks. They wanted to serve their famous "nutted cheese" sandwich and other classic menu items.
A young man named Corey Torjesen became the youngest franchise owner. He opened a Chock full o'Nuts store at age 19. He used money he saved from a newspaper route.
By 2019, there were six Chock full o'Nuts Cafés open. These included locations in Brooklyn, Elizabeth, Fort Lee, Middletown, and Miami.
To help people with nut allergies, the company added a special message to its packaging in the 2000s. It said, "NO NUTS! 100% Coffee." This was to let people know that the coffee itself had never contained nuts.
The company also sells coffee for single-serve machines, called "A Better Cup by Design."
Catchy Marketing Jingle
Chock full o'Nuts had a very famous advertising song, or jingle. It was based on a song called "That Heavenly Feeling." William Black's wife, a singer named Page Morton Black, sang it. You could hear it a lot on the radio and TV in the 1950s and 1960s.
The original words of the jingle were:
Chock full o'Nuts is that heavenly coffee,
Heavenly coffee, heavenly coffee.
Chock full o'Nuts is that heavenly coffee,
Better coffee Rockefeller's money can't buy.
Later, the company had to change the words. This was because New York governor Nelson Rockefeller owned coffee businesses and sued them. So, they changed "Rockefeller's money" to "a millionaire's money." In the 2000s, they updated it again to "billionaire."
In the Movies
Chock full o'Nuts coffee cans were part of the story in the 2007 movie The Bucket List. The film starred famous actors like Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman.
Images for kids
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The Chock full o'Nuts advertising jingle on a building in New York City. Notice the changed words.
