Peaberry Coffee facts for kids

Peaberry Coffee was a chain of coffee shops that began in Denver, Colorado in 1990. It was started by a person named Bill Tointon. The idea behind the shops was to offer many different types of coffee from all over the world. They even roasted the coffee right there in Denver.

The company had a special menu system called the "Peaberry Profile System". This system helped customers choose their coffee. It offered four main types of coffee roasting styles: Light & Mild, Rich & Creamy, Extravagant & Exotic, and Dark & Intense.

What is a Peaberry?

The coffee shop was named after a special type of coffee bean called a peaberry. A "peaberry" is a small, round coffee bean. Most coffee beans grow as two halves inside a coffee cherry. But a peaberry is a single, round bean.

These unique beans have a special taste. They are also quite rare. Only about 2% to 4% of coffee beans harvested are peaberries. The exact amount depends on the specific coffee crop.

Challenges and Closure

In 2006, Peaberry Coffee faced some legal problems. A group of people who owned Peaberry Coffee shops (called franchisees) filed a lawsuit. They said they had lost a lot of money. They claimed the company had not made a profit since 1998. They also said that most of the company's own stores were not making enough money to cover their costs.

The franchisees stopped paying their regular fees to Peaberry in 2008. A judge in Denver first decided against the franchisees. The judge said they still owed the unpaid fees to Peaberry. The franchisees decided to appeal this decision.

In September 2009, Peaberry Coffee, Inc. closed all of the stores it owned directly. This happened because the stores were not doing well financially. The overall economy was also struggling. The cost of the lawsuit with the franchisees also played a part.

Some stores that used to be Peaberry franchises are now run independently. These include locations in the Denver Tech Center, Park Meadows, Arapahoe, and Boulder.

Legal Decisions

The legal case continued for several years. In February 2010, the Colorado Court of Appeals changed the earlier decision. They said the franchisees might not have to pay the unpaid fees and legal costs. They also allowed the franchisees to continue their claim that Peaberry had hidden important information from them.

The case went back to the trial court in 2011. The trial court again decided in favor of Peaberry. The court cleared up the issues the appeals court had mentioned. The franchisees appealed the decision one more time.

Finally, on July 26, 2012, the Colorado Court of Appeals confirmed the trial court's decision. They ruled that the franchisees could not prove that Peaberry had misled them.