After deal, coffee aficionados lament small business loss
So the Bay Area’s homegrown Blue Bottle Coffee would sell a majority share to Nestlé, the Swiss food conglomerate. How would this news rub off on its customers and on San Franciscans, to whom eating local and supporting small businesses are sacrosanct imperatives?
The morning the news broke, I moseyed over to Blue Bottle’s Mint Plaza location in SoMa, where customers had plenty to say about the deal.
“I don’t like the fact that a corporate chain has bought a local business that’s supposed to be a community space,” said San Francisco resident Amy Whelan, who was waiting in line to order. Like every customer I interviewed, Whelan had not yet heard about the acquisition. Whelan said she finds hypocrisy in businesses that market themselves as local, and attract ethically minded customers as an alternative to the bigger companies, only to then sell out.
“It’s a real shame,” concurred Sam Walker, a visitor from London who was enjoying a cold brew and a breakfast sandwich at one of the cafe’s outdoor tables. He said he always seeks out Blue Bottle when visiting San Francisco. “Part of what makes it special is its independence.” Still, he said he’s likely to return, “if the coffee doesn’t change and if the service doesn’t change.”
“Another small business gobbled up” was Los Altos resident Brian Mellea’s reaction. He shook his head. In terms of consumer loyalty, he said, “Nestlé doesn’t have a good track record.”
“Well,” he added, sounding not a little bit jaded, “congrats to the Blue Bottle founders.”
At the next table over from Mellea, two men sat opposite each other, consumed by their laptop screens. Squat silver cans of organic cold brew rested by their keyboards.
When I broke the news to them, the two men exchanged glances, then shrugged.
“They’re a pretty big company already, and they’re moving into consumer products,” reasoned Ryan Lee, visiting from Chicago. “There’s been a lot of consolidation lately.”
In other words, it makes sense, though questions remain. Can a company of Nestlé’s scale continue to support the quality for which Blue Bottle is known? This, after all, is a coffee shop that can charge $20 for a latte, and people will actually buy it. Will Blue Bottle go the way of Berkeley’s Scharffen Berger, whose formerly sterling reputation has suffered since Hershey bought the company in 2005?
As I spoke with Blue Bottle customers Thursday morning, I noticed a man lurking by the cafe’s outdoor tables, watching me. He approached Amy Whelan while she and I were talking. He said he’d been listening to our conversation, and offered to buy her and her companion a coffee.
I asked if he’d like to comment for my story. He declined, but offered to put me in touch with someone else, who turned out to be a generic email address for a public relations agency.
To his offer of complimentary coffee, Whelan declined. He pressed: “Are you sure? What do you like to drink?” She and her friend turned and walked away.