Blue Bottle Coffee may soon be under new management. Nestle, the Swiss food conglomerate and owner of Blue Bottle, is looking to simply their portfolio, which could mean divesting from the specialty coffee chain.
As reported by Reuters, the move comes as part of a strategic change of course brought on by new Nestle CEO Philipp Navratil who, amongst other initiatives, is seeking to do away with physical retail operations.
Started in 2002 at a farmer’s market in Oakland by James Freeman, Blue Bottle has grown to over 100 locations across America and Asia, making it a prime target for the streamlining efforts. Nestle is working with investment bank Morgan Stanley to mull their options and may retain intellectual property rights in order to continue selling products while forgoing off the retail presence. Per Reuters, the move reflects a wider industry trend away from brick and mortars.
Other Nestle properties potentially up for sale include vitamin brands “Nature’s Bounty, Osteo Bi-Flex, Puritan’s Pride and its U.S. private label business” as well as water brands Perrier and San Pellegrino.
Blue Bottle is currently valued at around $700 million, but sources say the sale price would be less than that.
The timing of the announcement is interesting to say the least. It comes just days after 10 unionized Blue Bottle locations in the Unites States staged a four-day strike to demand “living wages, consistent schedules, democratic control of the workplace, and protection from harassment.” Reuters makes no mention of the two being related, or of the strike at all, but it’s hard to imagine it not adding fuel to the fire for a corporation already looking to divest from retail locations.
Zac Cadwalader is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.
