MJB (coffee) facts for kids
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| Private | |
| Industry | Beverage |
| Founded | 1899 in San Francisco, California |
| Founder | Max Joseph Brandenstein |
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Area served
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United States |
| Parent | Massimo Zanetti Beverage USA (2005–present) Sara Lee (1999-2005) Nestlé (1985-1999) |
MJB Coffee is a well-known American coffee brand. It is currently owned by a company called Massimo Zanetti Beverage USA. MJB Coffee has a long history, starting in the late 1800s in San Francisco, California.
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The Story of MJB Coffee
After the California Gold Rush, the city of San Francisco became a very important place for coffee. Many companies started bringing in coffee beans from other countries and roasting them there. Roasting means heating the beans to make them ready for brewing. This is how big coffee companies like Folgers Coffee and Hills Brothers Coffee also began.
How It All Started
In 1881, a man named Max J. Brandenstein started roasting coffee in the San Francisco Bay Area. He was the son of a tobacco seller. In 1899, he officially opened his own business. It was for importing and selling tea, spices, and coffee. His brothers, Mannie, Charlie, and Eddie, helped him.
The company was first named after Max J. Brandenstein. But later, they changed the name to MJB Co. This helped avoid arguments between the brothers. It also helped hide their German-Jewish background during a time when some people had strong feelings against Germans.
A New Name for the Family
In 1978, Ruth Bransten McDougall wrote a book about her family and the coffee business. She was the granddaughter of the founder. She explained that her father, Mannie Brandenstein, changed his last name to Bransten. This happened during World War I. He wanted to protect the business from anti-German feelings. He also wanted to make his wife happy, as her family was from France.
Famous Advertising Campaigns
In 1910, Mannie Brandenstein started a very famous advertising campaign. It used the slogan "MJB Coffee Why?". It began by giving away special fans at a boxing match in Reno, Nevada. Soon, signs with this slogan were seen all over San Francisco.
In 1914, MJB Coffee also started packing coffee in special "vacuum cans." This was a new way to keep coffee fresh for a long time. Another company, Hills Brothers, was the first to do this in 1900.
For a big event called the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in 1915, MJB built a special coffee house. It looked very modern. It even had a giant cup and saucer on the roof with the word "WHY" lit up.
In the 1940s, famous movie stars helped promote MJB Coffee. Later, in the 1970s, actress Teri Garr was in TV commercials for MJB. The slogan was "tastes good when it should." Her success in these ads helped her get noticed by director Steven Spielberg. He then cast her in his movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
Changes in Ownership
Over the years, MJB Coffee has been owned by different companies:
- In 1985, Nestle bought MJB.
- In 1997, the main office in San Francisco closed.
- In 1999, Sara Lee Corp. bought MJB, along with Hills Brothers and Chase & Sanborn, from Nestle.
- In 2005, Massimo Zanetti Beverage Group bought MJB, Hills Brothers, Chase & Sanborn, and Chock full o'Nuts from Sara Lee. They paid $82.5 million for these brands.
