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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 |
| 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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1,000+ |
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Area served
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Key people
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| 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 | International Coffee and Tea LLC |
The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf is an American coffee shop chain. It was started in 1963. People sometimes call it "Coffee Bean" for short. The company is owned by International Coffee & Tea, LLC. Its main office is in Los Angeles, California.
As of 2017, there were over 1,000 stores. These stores were both owned by the company and run by other people (franchised). They are located in the United States and 31 other countries.
Contents
The Story of Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf
The company was started by Herbert Hyman in September 1963. It began as a coffee service for offices. Herbert and his wife, Mona, found great coffee on their honeymoon in Sweden. This gave them the idea to bring high-quality coffee to Los Angeles.
They opened the first Coffee Bean store in 1968. It was in the Brentwood area of Los Angeles. They were new in selling whole coffee beans. They also showed where the beans came from. Customers could watch beans being roasted. They could even try different types before buying.
By the 1970s, the company had 10 stores. They were all in Southern California. They also started selling many kinds of exotic teas.
In 1987, an employee made a new drink. He mixed ice, coffee, and chocolate powder. This led to the company's famous Ice Blended drinks. These drinks became very popular. They were made before the Starbucks Frappuccino. In 1991, Starbucks wanted to buy Coffee Bean. But Mr. Hyman said no. When Starbucks opened stores nearby, it actually helped Coffee Bean. More people came to the area, and some tried Coffee Bean.
In 1996, the Hymans sold the rights to open stores in Asia. They sold them to brothers Victor and Sunny Sassoon from Singapore. The Sassoons quickly opened many stores. They opened their first store in Singapore in 1996. The next year, they opened stores in Malaysia. In just two years, they had 29 stores in these countries. This was almost as many as the Hymans had opened in 35 years.
In 1998, the Sassoons bought the main company from the Hymans. This company is called International Coffee & Tea LLC. They made it a global company. Sunny Sassoon was the president and CEO from 1998 to 2009. The Sassoon family is still a big owner of the company.
What Coffee Bean Sells
The company is famous for its Original Ice Blended drinks. They also sell hot coffee and tea. You can find hot and iced tea drinks too. They offer whole coffee beans and whole leaf teas. They also sell flavored powders and baked goods.
Coffee Choices
The company's coffees come in different types. These include Light & Subtle, Medium & Smooth, and Dark & Distinctive. They also have Decaffeinated and Flavored coffees. About seven million pounds of coffee are roasted each year. All beans are roasted by hand. This happens at their roasting place in Camarillo, California.
The beans come from farms in many countries. These include Costa Rica, Colombia, and Kenya. They also get beans from Indonesia, Jamaica, Thailand, and Sri Lanka. For holidays, they offer special drinks. Flavors include candy cane and gingerbread. In 2013, for their 50th birthday, they made a Birthday Cake Ice Blended.
Tea Choices
The company's teas are also grouped into types. These include Green, Black, Oolong, and Herbal Infusion. They also have Decaffeinated and Flavored teas. All teas are mixed by hand in Camarillo, California. The Chai Tea Latte is very popular. It was first served in 1998. In 2014, they added Tea Granita drinks. These came in Pear Berry and Passion Fruit flavors.
CBTL Home System
The CBTL system is for making single-serve drinks at home. It was launched in 2010. You can buy special capsules for these machines. These capsules make espresso, coffee, tea, and hot chocolate.
Special Food Certifications
All Coffee Bean coffees, teas, and drink powders are certified kosher. This means they follow special food preparation rules. In June 2020, Coffee Bean changed its kosher certification for some stores. This change mostly affected stores in Southern California and Las Vegas. Before this, most company-owned stores in these areas were fully kosher. Now, some stores might offer more items that are not fully kosher certified.
All Coffee Bean stores in Singapore and Malaysia are certified halal. This means they follow different special food preparation rules.
Where to Find Coffee Bean Stores
As of 2017, the chain has stores in 32 countries. New stores opened in Japan in May 2015. They also opened in Panama in June 2015.
Working with Other Companies
On September 5, 2012, Nokia announced a deal. Coffee Bean cafés would offer wireless charging for phones. On May 28, 2013, Hilton Worldwide made a deal with Coffee Bean. Coffee Bean would provide coffee and tea for all Hilton hotel rooms. This was for hotels in North, South, and Central America.
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters also partnered with Coffee Bean. They created a K-Cup for Keurig coffee makers. These were available in the US starting in 2014.
In August 2015, Coffee Bean partnered with E-LAND. This was to open stores in China. In July 2020, Coffee Bean teamed up with Smashburger. Smashburger is a fast casual restaurant chain. They started adding Coffee Bean products to their menu.
See also
- List of coffeehouse chains