Nestlé enters the high-end coffee shop segment

Nestlé is continuing its rapid pace of acquisitions, this time in the coffee shop segment. The group has acquired a majority stake in Blue Bottle Coffee, a coffee shop chain based in Oakland, California with stores located across major US cities and in Japan. Blue Bottle Coffee will continue to operate independently with the full support of Nestlé, which with its Nescafé and Nespresso brands is the world’s largest coffee producer.  Nescafé is available in more than 180 countries worldwide with almost 5,500 cups consumed every second, while Nespresso has more than 600 boutiques stores and receives around 465,000 daily visits to its e-commerce platforms.

The latest acquisition will enable the Swiss multinational to strengthen its position both in the US coffee market (the largest in the world) and at an international level, and to achieve further growth in the segment of roasted and ground ready-to-drink coffee, largely sold online. Over the last 15 years Blue Bottle Coffee has established a privileged position amongst high-quality coffee lovers and plans to increase its number of coffee shops to 55 by the end of the year (compared to 29 in 2016).