W. James Freeman founded Blue Bottle Coffee in the early 2000s in
Oakland's Temescal District.[5] Freeman borrowed the name from one of Europe's first cafés,
The Blue Bottle Coffee House. Initially, he intended to roast coffee in small batches (6 lbs. per roast) to sell within 24 hours of roasting, as a home-delivery service. Blue Bottle soon ceased deliveries and opened as a traditional café.[6]
Blue Bottle opened additional locations in San Francisco and elsewhere in the
San Francisco Bay Area and opened its first New York location in
Williamsburg, Brooklyn, in 2010.[7] The company-owned stores carry off-menu items such as the "Gibraltar", a form of
cortado.[3]
In 2012, Blue Bottle received $20 million in
venture capital investment.[8]
In January 2014, Blue Bottle raised $25.75 million in a new round of funding.[9]
In 2015, Blue Bottle completed a venture capital round in which it raised $70 million from investors led by
Fidelity.[10]
Since its inception, the company has raised $120 million from investors as of 2017.[11]
In February 2015, Blue Bottle Coffee opened its first location in Tokyo, Japan, in the Kiyosumi neighborhood.[12]
In September 2017,
Nestle S.A., the world's largest food and drinks company, acquired a majority stake of Blue Bottle.[13] While the deal's financial details were not disclosed, the Financial Times reported "Nestle is understood to be paying up to $500m for the 68 per cent stake in Blue Bottle".[14] Blue Bottle expected to increase sales by 70% in 2017.[15]
In May 2019, Blue Bottle Coffee opened its first location in
Seoul, South Korea.[16]
In December 2019, Blue Bottle Coffee announced they would test eliminating
disposable cups at some of their shops to increase sustainability efforts, with the goal being zero waste within one year.[17] Nothing has been reported to date about this test and whether it was successful.
In April 2020, Blue Bottle Coffee opened its first location in
Central, Hong Kong. Amid COVID-19, the café opened daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. for takeaway only.[18]
In February 2022, Blue Bottle Coffee opened its first location in mainland China, Yutong Cafe. Yutong Cafe is located at a historic building by
Suzhou Creek in downtown
Shanghai.[19]
1 Currently manufactured by
General Mills in the U.S. and Canada. Produced by
Cereal Partners under the Nestlé brand elsewhere. 2 Brand owned by
General Mills; U.S. and Canadian production rights controlled by Nestlé under license. 3 U.S. production rights owned by
The Hershey Company. 4 U.S. rights and production owned by the
Smarties Candy Company with a different product. 5 U.S. rights and specific trade dress owned by Nestlé; rights elsewhere owned by
Associated British Foods. 6 Produced by Cereal Partners, branded as Nestlé. 7 Produced by Cereal Partners and branded as Nestlé in the U.K. and Ireland. Produced by
Post Foods elsewhere. 8 Philippine production rights owned by
Alaska Milk Corporation. 9 Singaporean, Malaysian and Thai production rights owned by
Fraser and Neave. 10 Used only in Indonesia, Thailand, and Cambodia. 11 Used only in the Philippines. 12 U.S. production rights owned by the
Ferrara Candy Company. 13NA rights and specific trade dress to all packaged coffee and other products under the Starbucks brand owned by Nestlé since 2019. 14 Brand owned by
Mars, sold by Nestlé in Canada. 15 Produced by
Froneri in the U.S. since 2020.