Hills Bros. Coffee facts for kids
WWII-era jar of Hills Bros. coffee with the original "taster" logo
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| Owner | Massimo Zanetti Beverage USA |
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| Country | United States |
| Markets | Worldwide |
| Previous owners | Nestlé Sara Lee |
| Website | http://www.hillsbros.com |
Hills Bros. Coffee is a company that makes packaged coffee. It was started in San Francisco, United States.
Contents
The Beginning of Hills Bros. Coffee
Hills Bros. Coffee was founded by two brothers, Austin Herbert Hills and Reuben Wilmarth Hills. Their father, Austin Hills, was a shipbuilder in California. The brothers came to San Francisco in 1873 from Rockland, Maine.
In 1878, Austin and Reuben started a small business. They sold dairy products at the Bay City Market. They called their new company Hills Bros.
Their business grew quickly. In less than four years, they bought a coffee store. It was called Arabian Coffee & Spice Mills. By 1884, they moved to an even bigger location.
Coffee Innovations and Growth
In 1900, Hills Bros. made history. They were the first company to pack roasted coffee in special vacuum-sealed cans. This helped keep the coffee fresh for much longer.
The company officially became "Hills Bros." in 1906. In 1926, they moved their main operations. Their new home was a large building at 2 Harrison Street in San Francisco. This building is now a city landmark. People used to say the area smelled like fresh coffee because of the roasting operations.
Today, this historic building is home to Wharton | San Francisco. This is a branch campus of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Other companies like Google LLC and the Mozilla Corporation also have offices there.
The Hills Bros. Logo
The company introduced a special symbol in 1898. It showed an Arab person drinking coffee, and was called "the taster." An artist named Briggs designed it in 1906.
In 1990, this logo was changed. A new "taster" symbol was created. It was designed to represent the original founders of the company.
In the 1970s and early 1980s, a famous actor named John Zaremba appeared in Hills Bros. commercials. He played a fictional coffee bean buyer.
Expansion and New Owners
Hills Bros. expanded its business in 1930. They opened operations in Chicago. During World War II, the company had to change its packaging. Metal cans were replaced with glass jars because metal was needed for the war effort.
In 1984, Hills Bros. bought another coffee company. They purchased the name and factories of the Chase & Sanborn Coffee Company.
In 1985, a large company called Nestlé bought Hills Bros. and another coffee brand called MJB. Hills Bros. opened a new coffee roasting plant in Suffolk, Virginia, in 1988.
The original San Francisco headquarters closed in 1997. Operations moved to Nestlé's main office in Glendale, California. In 1999, Nestlé sold Hills Bros. to Sara Lee.
Finally, in 2006, Massimo Zanetti Beverage USA bought the brand. Massimo Zanetti Beverage USA is now based at the Suffolk plant.
See also
- Grgich Hills Estate, a winery co-founded by Austin Hills
- MJB (coffee), another coffee brand started in San Francisco
- Folgers, a well-known coffee brand also founded in San Francisco
Images for kids
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The Hills Bros. Coffee building at 2 Harrison Street in San Francisco.
