Blue Bottle Worth $700 Million?

[@MovieRantMatt]

Great synopsis of the thought process behind the acquisition of the majority of shares. I am a bartender, and a barista at Blue Bottle coffee and have currently been with the company for about 2 years. I have had my own struggles comprehending business choices, and the methods they have been implementing, but I have stayed with them because of their ability to hire amazing people. Then the Covid-19 issue hit, and all the cafe's have closed... and we ARE STILL BEING PAID. As long as we continue our education through supplied curriculum, and do our weekly call with our manager, we are being covered, and THAT is rare and amazing. It shows a lot about the character of the company, and I am honestly very grateful. Lol, never thought I would miss those lines to the door...

[@Trotterstradinglimited]

Please share your contact with me please. I’m in Kenya and I have very good quality coffee that I can send a sample please. My email is [e-mail]

[@syhusada1130]

How is the situation now?

[@manalicream]

Good video. Hair looking particularly excellent in this one.

[@wonyoungkoh309]

Couldn't agree more

[@KostasSiderisBarista]

Blue Bottle is the Apple of coffee. Not the best coffee (as Apple doesn't sell the best tech), but same marketing strategy. Their marketing strategy doesn't focus on the product specs. They focus on passion, ethics, culture, morals. They find things to connect people and attach themselves to the brand. These brands are the future of marketing. Beyond the product...

[@Lameen71]

That’s what branding is about

[@ApplepieFTW]

KostasSiderisBarista apple doesn't focus on ethics or morals, like at all

[@Pentross]

ApplepieFTW that’s a bit of a stretch - they focus a great deal on looking like they have them, and if no other option is available, acting like they have them. For example not having advertisers that they sell their users to, when most of their competitors do

[@ApplepieFTW]

Pentross from that perspective, you have a solid argument, I would agree!

[@dominicbeltz9057]

You can say apple doesn’t sell the best tech but they are incredibly integrated and have the best SOCs (system on a chip) in the business while giving the best life for updates than any other phone company

[@marshallfuss4522]

Brilliant analysis, James. They are also fanatic about keeping their online customers happy and accommodating their requests.

[@lciamp9]

Everything you are saying is true. But honestly, I love Blue Bottle because they teamed up with Humphry Slocombe to make the best coffee ice cream ever.

[@lorenmark]

I absolutely dig you, James. This is a well thought out video, although branding alone is insufficient to keep consumer loyalty in knock-off brand product creep. There must be something inherent in the product that is very difficult to replicate. It’s do-able, but extremely difficult.

[@GrimJackien]

Thanks. I think it is a great summarisation of Blue Bottle. My introduction to blue bottle was when I lived in the states and was a tonx customer. Honestly, I loved my Tonx subscription, and while I am a very happy customer of hasbeen for longer here in Europe, I feel some of the best regular high standard coffee I have tasted has been from Tonx (I have had better coffee made for me, but a regular high quality to show up on my doorstep, I found Tonx to be the best). After Blue bottle purchased Tonx, there was a notable drop in quality (not to bad or even average, but no longer a sizeable gap to everybody else). While I did enjoy the blue bottle book, I did find some of the methods a bit focused on trying to promote their method rather than truly informed (on a side-note, I did find the first edition of your book one of my favourite coffee books. I did not know you were the author when I found your channel, but your passion and knowledge shines through in both platforms, and your choice of packaging / binding for the book an absolute ingenious choice). I think you are absolutely correct that for people who are not passionate about coffee, but want a better cup of coffee than the regular chain coffee-shop, blue bottle has become the choice for them. The only similar comparison I can make is with how Rolex is viewed by people who are not passionate about watches. Rolex is viewed as the one of the best, if not the best watch manufacturer, by the general public, but to the people who are truly passionate about watches, they could a lot of better watchmakers and just view Rolex as a well made mass produced (i.e. not hand made) watch. I do think that Blue Bottle have to be commended on their marketing and the brand them have created, and while to the people who are passionate about coffee, they will probably never be viewed as the best, but I think they will help to get more people interested in coffee, and help to grow the market for truly great coffee.

[@frankrachlitz804]

Good insights. It think Blue Bottle’s ability to also bring “speciality” into retail supermarkets also plays a part. I think BB have been some of the first at a large scale to bring in Coldbrew (in the milk cartons) and with perfectly ground you again have a possibility to premiumize the growing coffee category in supermarkets - combined with the Blue Bottle brand.

[@jazzfeyer-salo664]

Thanks for the thoughts! I was hoping you would bring the amazon/online/pods connection back around at the end of the video. Left me unsure of the connection between blue bottles brand potential and the necessity of brand wrt amazon/online pod sales. But it’s an interesting connection I hadn’t considered!

[@jazzfeyer-salo664]

Thanks for the reply! Seems obvious now but I hadn’t considered and integration of Nespresso and BB until now. I guess I thought BB would keep their brand separate. How do you think this will play out from BB’s perspective? More cafes, with a BB/Nespresso combined design? The Nespresso store in Toronto is in the high-end fashion district. Could have easily been a BB with Nespresso integration. Works well with the BB clientele demographic you mention.

[@ianholiday8664]

I had never thought of Amazon being a (prime:) driver for Nestle buying Blue Bottle, and in turn generating such a high valuation. I get that BB has created a strong brand identity with a cult following, but not sure how it will help Nestle battle Amazon in the online retail game. It would be more interesting if Nestle Doubled down on the DTC model, in their own right, and really made an effort to go around Amazon, using social media, e-commerce, and developing their own technology to stay closer and more connected to their customers. Unless BB is able to come out with some amazing DTC product, or they are able to scale their cafe's at a fast clip, I don't see how Nestle can leverage BB brand in such a way as to justify the $700mm valuation.

[@dickarbot9283]

First the german Reimann family invests a fortune in "Speciality Coffee" buying all the Brands in America. At the end of the day, they had a bought a base that Nestle really got interessted in. Afaik, german Reimanns & swiss Nestle it took them month to negotiate a deal. As Reimann familiy is worth 30 Billions. you need to come up with a real number to get them interessted. While 700.000.000 is an insane amount for us, for them it's peanuts. With all this Reimann's now took in another 40 Billions of investments so theses days JAB has a staggering 70 Billions on hand.. The big question is: what happens next? James, I really cherrish your view on that transaction and want to thank you for sharing it. It sparked the need to thinking of communicating to customers in 2018. These days the big chains are copy the speciality coffee communication. It's a about time to reset our communication.

[@edwardwong654]

I used to go Blue Bottle in Oakland where James (Freeman, not Hoffman, although I confuse them all the time) off of Mandela Pkwy and buy micro-batches every week back in 2009 AD. And then he opened a great cafe in downtown Oakland, where Gov-elect Brown dropped in casually and hit on my wife. And we both voted for him. Blue Bottle - great brand. And James just explained why they opened one of their first international cafes in Japan. They reflect the Japanese culture of perfection, and likewise, they appreciate Blue Bottle. I am also a Nespresso and Starbucks fan but for different reasons. Interesting insight by James.

[@ncooty]

Interesting, but very abstract, particularly for viewers unfamiliar with Blue Bottle. More examples might have made this more accessible. Also, there's a big difference between paying $700M and buying a majority stake based on a $700M valuation, particularly when both parties are then incentivized to overstate the valuation. This reminds me of WeWork. People love selling hype when they have no real value to offer.

[@ChrisLee-sycly]

WeWork doesn't work as a comparison here. Softbank bought into the hype of WeWork, their exit was a strong IPO. Blue Bottle is all about the brand, it's absolutely complimentary to Nestle, it's like a steroid injection to their core business, they can pivot their existing manufacturing and logistics infrastructure to support Blue Bottle, and Blue Bottle will act as the channel that gets people buying Nestle, something people will search on Amazon specifically for.

[@basenjibill]

Great analysis, James. Acute reasoning, as usual.

[@werty1432k]

I think it's Starbucks that should be worried about BB cafe's all over major cities in the US and later other countries.

[@RedBerryCoffeenista]

For Blue Bottle with 50+ stores to open the same number of stores as Starbucks world wide it would have to open a store every day of the year (weekends and holidays included) for the next 72 years and to reach the same number of stores only in the US everyday for the next 38 years. Without counting Starbucks opening a new store every 15 hours in China and others around the world.

[@werty1432k]

Wow those numbers are truly staggering! I've got a Starbucks about every three blocks in my city's downtown but I do think that if you put 2-3 BB cafes down there it would be the Starbucks that would suffer. It might take 5-10 years but I think BB could be the next Starbucks and bring higher end speciality coffee to the mainstream.

[@slycordinator]

As well, I saw on their site that they're opening a location in Seoul, but if they were to only open as many locations as Starbucks has just in tiny South Korea, it would take around three and a half years of one per day. And probably more, since Starbucks opens new locations around the country regularly.

[@shumakriss]

I had a subscription to both Atlas and Blue Bottle for a period of time and found a lot of great coffees from Atlas. They're both about the same price. Do you have any opinions on subscription? Are you planning on making your own subscription service anytime soon?

[@oompaloompa23]

Another reason might be but correct me if i’m wrong as I’m not overly familiar with the american coffee culture is that there is not an abundance of good reliable independent coffee shops. For example where I’m from in Sydney, Australia within a couple minutes walk you’ll have over 40 coffee shops which basically all make a decent cuppa. There is no room for a blue bottle over there. However, I feel blue bottle as a chain are or have become one’s go to (independent) coffee shop in the states.

[@MatchBookNotes]

As a trained barista with an arguably good palat, taste is mostly subjective and if you enjoy it, great, but in my experience of interneting and trying the plethora on cbd and surrounding burbs in my 11 1/2 months, most are barely better than ok in my opinion(if i have to put sugar in it because they dont know anything about extraction). There also seems to be a prevelance of indonesian, brazilian and low grade guatamalen coffee blends as an average base without many options. Just because they have "craft" tools does not a coffee culture make. Also for a country thats so damn hot why do 99% of people like their milk extra hot? Was so hard to find a barista who knew what the flip they were doing

[@Xantosdude]

I disagree, there is so much room for blue bottle in Sydney. If you want proof, look at Starbucks in Australia. Originally it was a rough start, but when i visited Perth last year... I was shocked to see a starbucks, despite all the other wonderful cafes in the area. It really does have to do with growing a brand.

[@coffeebarguatemala289]

An interesting point of view. Thank you for sharing it.

[@ykervalerio2504]

Blue Bottle networking with coffee producers, their trade ethics, and quality standards can be useful for Nestle too.

[@garrettcphillips]

So does Nestlé own the company or the blue bottle still have it in Nestlé just buy used a company?

[@kyletabor636]

Thanks for the video! Very insightful

[@roblucchetti2993]

I think what James said really describes so many business verticals and the barrier to entry. At first, the industry is made of grass-roots type individuals who speak the jargon, like varietal, regions, brew time etc., as a second language. And that's great - for them. It does nothing to endear them to every day people who just want a cup of coffee. Quality of the coffee, where it's grown how it's brewed - means nothing. It's just coffee. Over time however, some people will naturally become curious as to WHY that cup of coffee is so good, and once industry jargon becomes everyday speech. Think "the cloud". Blue Bottle - right up front, realized this. Apple is Apple, because Steve Job didn't sell computers - he solved problems and created opportunities for computers to be useful. Blue Bottle did the same thing. They delivered a coffee product, that was easy to consume. Having the best product in the world means absolutely nothing - if you can't sell it.

[@adamglen5741]

Really interesting in the American market that when a coffee company starts doing well they just get snapped up for silly money like BB or Stumptown. I guess over here in Europe due to logistical issues which don't exist in America (one big mass of land with no boundaries, be that beurocratic or otherwise) a similar type of buyout probably wouldn't occur. Growth just seems to be much harder to achieve here even though the market, especially speciality, has picked up so dramatically over the last decade or so..

[@michaelmacdonald5792]

Cool video James, thank you.

[@brianharder7714]

I was a big BB fan for several years. Great on line service and good coffee. The sale happened and I bailed for all the reasons stated below. I still love the "rags to riches" story and tell it often to the coffee ignorant. Really quite fascinating and a little sad.

[@razzlfraz]

Does anyone know where good decaf coffee can be found? Years ago Blue Bottle had the best decaf coffee I've ever had, but around 2018 they dropped it, probably from being acquired. The decaf coffee they used to sell had enough caffeine to wake me up yet (opinionated) it was the best tasting beans Blue Bottle sold. Since then I've had no luck finding anything half as good. I know it's possible to make decaf taste as good as normal caf, but it's been an elusive white whale for me. I don't like drinking caffeinated coffee if I can help it, but at the same time, I don't like drinking burnt assh. I'm not picky and am willing to try just about anything anyone will recommend. What's your favorite decaf coffee? Even if it's not great, it might be better than what I'm drinking.

[@MrTacoma]

Verve?

[@Crazee108]

Wonder what your thoughts are on Campos coffee

[@kramer3d]

I bought coffee in a Blue Bottle, Oakland back in 2014 and it tasted amazing. I just ordered coffee from Blue Bottle in DC... 7-11 coffee tastes better.

[@aliveli-hq6zk]

that's a lie.

[@ervin7178]

@@aliveli-hq6zk some 7/11's have decent coffee

[@hohji]

Great, great video

[@guidoserrano2629]

What about fair trade and traceability? I’m happy to be part of a coffee culture that doesn’t care only about quality and sales.

[@olivebranch8729]

I wish we had Blue Bottle in Saint louis!

[@canorth]

I wasn’t aware of Nestles involvement with Blue Bottle… guess I’m going to have to ditch blue bottle.

[@MeiinUK]

People need to start actually own these company's shares, and literally BLOCK them.... in these transactions.... I don't think people know how to play this kind of global MNC games... If James doesn't know what this company is doing, it is doing the same as what Starbucks were doing. Which is to build a building spot, and to hold and escape taxation from country A, by holding onto country's B's estate.... That is why they do that. Plus, if you noticed, then it is at a period of time when there is a contrast in the currency fluctuation.

[@patrickellis3205]

The downside to Amazon compatible pods for Nespresso machines (speaking from experience) is they are absolutely disgusting to the taste, I don’t imagine many going back for a second purchase. Starbucks compatibles, now, that’s a different matter all together! Sin of all sins James, maybe you could do a pod review one day, when the taste buds start to wear out. It is allegedly coffee inside them! 😉

[@jacquesdemolay5171]

I visited one of the Blue Bottle shops in NYC. Had it not been for a reputation that precedes them, it would've been an entirely forgettable experience. People tend to forget that what we're talking about here...is still just coffee.

[@MelindaGreen]

But what do you think of the coffee??? I thought it was nothing special but man were they working hard to cultivate a mystique!

[@MrTacoma]

they pull their shots ristretto

[@sydr94]

And I hope you have a great day!

[@coffeeandproperty]

I tried some of these coffees earlier in the year, one of the few reviews I didn’t do for my channel on COFFEEwithGPA

[@MISJPEREZ]

I came to Blue Bottle because they bought my fav coffee subscription Tonx. But now Tonx has there subscription, Yes Plz, and I’m done with Blue Bottle and back to essentially Tonx and his new venture..Most small roasters think Blue Bottle is legit.And I am okay with that.

[@andrewyarosh1809]

“Their tone, their language, their style......”. Genius, especially when the coffee you deliver is watery, flavorless and heartburn inducing.

[@LisaFladager]

An acquisition by Nestlé puts the lid on Blue Bottle for me. No way I will partake of anything acquired by Nestlé.

[@javabeanllc9985]

Coffee is love

[@Lameen71]

I think from this video you predicted why JAB partnered with illy

[@andybaldman]

WTF is blue bottle?

[@baldheadracing]

What is fascinating to me is Blue Bottle's response to the SCA and Dubai. Is this reaction explainable within/consistent with the context that Mr. Hoffmann has laid out? It seems to be. Was Nestlé involved in the decision? If so, then the action is an indicator of the value Nestlé places on the World Coffee Events.

[@KostasSiderisBarista]

interesting, but I prefer the possibility that they were honest on their decision and not a marketing strategy against SCA

[@hwang1607]

I paid $6 for blue bottle coffee

[@MicahMode]

TL;DR.. Blue Bottle, coffee for people who want to look like they know a thing or two about coffee.

[@razzlfraz]

Yah. That's me. v_v

[@MarcosLopez-bs6xr]

Interesting video 3 years later, also the intro/outro music sounds similar to Pornhub’s

[@YourWrong951]

Blue bottle has the best ice latte in the market

[@mamathirda]

Where’s the blue bottle jellyfish!

[@georgepirpiris7309]

Too expensive and no 5 lb bags either, no excuse they are a big company. I will pass, there are thousands of mail order roasteries in the USA, I could never dream of testing out a 5lb bag from each roaster. Thanks though, maybe when I hit the lottery.

[@MrHackclan]

there is only one question to answer... should anyone support companys owned by nestle? the answer is NO

[@pekye]

Its how Toys r Us was destroyed

[@Badastro59]

I REFUSE TO BUY FROM AMAZON..EVER AGAIN,

[@davidgreenfield3690]

No way shape or form can you make this investment pencil out.

[@DovidM]

What does Blue Bottle have that a competitor of Nestle might outbid them for? It is hard to see the logic behind their decision.

[@caesar90291]

Not worth it! Local roaster is way better and cheaper.

[@kioshe7421]

No bluenbottle is a bourgeoisie

[@bertboltjes2000]

James I love your videos! You explain everything perfectly. Nestle is the king of coffee. They are leaders in soluble and in capsules. They sell Starbucks worldwide in supermarkets. They want to be in the profitable market of speciality coffee.You must come to visit fincalasnieves.mx in the hills of Oaxaca, Mexico. Would love to be your guide.

[@surfinmuso37]

u mean the king of crap coffee...not to mention baby killers

[@surfinmuso37]

@Indy Behr Maybe do some research? unlatched.wordpress.com/2013/04/23/why-nestle-is-evil-it-goes-beyond-just-infant-formula/ www.businessinsider.com.au/nestles-infant-formula-scandal-2012-6?r=US&IR=T#the-baby-killer-blew-the-lid-off-the-formula-industry-in-1974-1

[@andygranatelli8809]

I assume your British? Corporations are singular in the United States.

[@ສະເກັບອັບສະຫມັກ]

Nestle is a cheap brand for poor people a symbol of low quality life

[@andyb2977]

Is anyone else coming to the video without ever having heard of blue bottle? Or am I just really out of the loop.

[@ookthebomber]

shun nestle!

[@KarlPurdy]

RTD's...

[@KarlPurdy]

Absolutely. And do agree with your brand-building assessment. I'd be pretty confident the ROI will come in large part from the ability to market a low-cost, shelf stable, high margin 'luxury' product into multiples in places like North Dakota, Michigan, etc and online (maybe Amazon one day) a lot more attractive / viable. Totally genius IMHO!

[@julianshepherd2038]

Nope

[@renealfonsodiazcruz4979]

So boring 😴😴😴