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The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf facts for kids
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The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf in Saitama Prefecture, Japan
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Trade name
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The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf |
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| Private | |
| Industry | Restaurants Retail coffee and tea Franchising |
| Founded | Los Angeles (1963) |
| Founder | Herbert B. Hyman Mona Hyman |
| Headquarters |
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United States
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Number of locations
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1,164 (as of 2023) |
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Area served
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24 countries (as of 2023) |
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Key people
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John In de Braekt (CEO) |
| Products | Coffee, tea, food |
| Revenue |  $500 million+ USD(January 2013) |
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Number of employees
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12,000 (May 2013) |
| Parent | Jollibee Group |
The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, often called just "Coffee Bean," is an American coffee shop chain that started in 1963. It's famous for its coffee, tea, and especially its Ice Blended drinks.
The company was originally based in Los Angeles, California. In 2019, it was bought for $350 million by the Jollibee Group, a large food company from the Philippines. As of 2023, Coffee Bean has 1,164 stores in 24 different countries around the world.
Contents
The Story of Coffee Bean
How It All Began
The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf was started by Herbert Hyman in September 1963. At first, he just supplied coffee to offices. After he and his wife, Mona, visited Sweden, they were inspired by the high-quality coffee they drank there.
This trip gave them a new idea. They decided to import, roast, and sell gourmet coffee in Los Angeles. In 1968, they opened their first store in the Brentwood neighborhood. They did new things, like selling whole coffee beans and letting customers watch the beans being roasted. Customers could even try samples before buying.
By the 1970s, the company had grown to 10 stores in Southern California and started selling exotic teas.
The Famous Ice Blended Drink
A big moment for the company came in the summer of 1987. An employee at a store in Westwood, Los Angeles, used a blender to mix ice, coffee extract, and chocolate powder. This created the company's signature Ice Blended drink.
The Ice Blended became incredibly popular and helped the chain grow. This drink was created even before the famous Frappuccino from Starbucks. In 1991, Starbucks actually tried to buy The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, but Herbert Hyman said no.
Growing Around the World
In 1996, the Hymans sold the rights to open stores in Asia to two brothers from Singapore, Victor and Sunny Sassoon. The Sassoon brothers quickly opened new stores. The first one outside the U.S. opened in Singapore in 1996, and another opened in Malaysia the next year.
In just two years, they opened 29 stores in Singapore and Malaysia. In 1998, the Sassoon brothers bought the entire company from the Hymans and began opening stores all over the world.
A New Owner
In 2019, The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf was bought by Jollibee Group, a food company from the Philippines. Jollibee paid $350 million, which was its biggest purchase at the time. After the purchase, the number of stores went down for a short time, but by 2023, it had grown back to 1,164 stores.
What They Sell
The company is best known for its Original Ice Blended drinks, which come in coffee and tea flavors. They also sell many types of hot coffee, and hot and iced tea. You can also buy whole coffee beans, loose-leaf teas, and tasty baked goods.
Coffee
The company roasts about seven million pounds of coffee every year. The beans are hand-roasted in Camarillo, California. They come from farms in countries like Costa Rica, Colombia, Kenya, and Indonesia.
Coffee Bean also offers special holiday drinks with flavors like peppermint, gingerbread, and red velvet cake. For its 50th anniversary in 2013, it even made a Birthday Cake Ice Blended drink.
Tea
The company sells many kinds of tea, including green, black, and oolong teas. All the teas are blended by hand. One of the most popular tea drinks is the Chai Tea Latte, which was first served in 1998.
CBTL Home Machines
In 2010, the company launched the CBTL, a machine that lets you make single servings of their drinks at home. It uses small capsules to make espresso, coffee, tea, or hot chocolate.
Special Food Rules
Kosher and Halal
For a long time, many Coffee Bean stores in Southern California were certified kosher. This means all their products followed Jewish dietary laws. However, in 2020, the company stopped this so they could offer a wider variety of food.
In countries like Singapore and Malaysia, all Coffee Bean locations are halal. This means their food is prepared according to Islamic dietary laws.
Where to Find Coffee Bean
As of 2023, The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf has 1,164 stores in 24 countries. You can find their coffee shops in the United States, South Korea, the Philippines, Malaysia, Israel, India, and many other places.
Partnerships
The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf has worked with several other big companies.
- In 2012, it partnered with Nokia to put wireless phone charging stations in its cafes.
- In 2013, it made a deal with Hilton Worldwide to be the only coffee and tea served in Hilton hotel rooms in North, Central, and South America.
- In 2013, it also partnered with Green Mountain Coffee Roasters to make K-Cup pods for Keurig coffee machines.
- In 2020, it began selling its products at Smashburger restaurants.
See also
In Spanish: The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf para niños
- List of coffeehouse chains