Peet's Coffee

Peet's Coffee

Peet's Coffee was founded in 1966 by Alfred Peet in Berkeley, California. Peet, a Dutch-born coffee roaster, introduced dark-roast, high-quality coffee to the US market years before Starbucks. The company grew through retail cafés and wholesale distribution, with its initial public offering in 2001. The company focuses on coffee roasting and retail — its core asset mix includes company-owned cafés, packaged coffee sales in grocery stores, and a wholesale business. Peet's has made select acquisitions, including Stumptown Coffee Roasters, Intelligentsia Coffee, and Mighty Leaf Tea, while under the ownership of JAB Holding Company. Geographic footprint is primarily the US, with cafés in eight states and national grocery distribution. Johan Jervøe was named CEO in 2019, replacing Dave Burwick. JAB Holding, the German investment group, acquired Peet's in 2012 for $977.6 million and later merged it with Caribou Coffee. Recent activity includes continued café expansion and product innovation, such as new cold-brew offerings. Peet's operates as a subsidiary of JAB Consumer Partners, a venture of the billionaire Reimann family through JAB Holding. This structure separates JAB's broader investment portfolio — also holding Krispy Kreme, Keurig Dr Pepper, and other food brands — from the operational management of Peet's, allowing scale without diluting brand identity.