Is The End Near for Peet’s HQ in Emeryville After Most Recent Acquisition?

The legendary Peet’s Coffee brand is switching corporate hands (again).

Keurig Dr Pepper announced on Monday it is buying Peet’s current parent company JDE Peet’s for about $18 billion and then splitting into two new public companies. This new entity, dubbed “Global Coffee Co.,” will control more than 50 coffee brands including Green Mountain, Stumptown & Caribou Coffee. They will be headquartered in Burlington, MA.

While it’s important to note that the company has not publicly roadmapped this transition and nothing definitive has been reported, recent corporate maneuvering might have employees of their Emeryville headquarters on edge. These mega deals inevitably bring consolidation and “cost synergies” leading to layoffs and severance packages.

“A lot of employees were blindsided, have been gaslit over the past year, bonuses cut…” provided one anonymous source to us. “And now talks of layoff and closing their corporate office due to greed.”

Founded in Berkeley, Roasted in Emeryville

Founded in Berkeley in 1966, Alfred Peet acquired the 5,000 square feet warehouse in Emeryville for roasting in the early 1970s. The charming brick factory on the tree-lined Park Avenue District was originally built in 1937 for Allis-Chalmers, a manufacturer of farm equipment.

In 1979, Peet sold his business to his hand-picked successor Sal Bonavita who ran the business through the 1980s. Bonavita then sold Peet’s to Starbucks co-founder Jerry Baldwin in 1984.

Peet’s second Roastmaster Jim Reynolds roasting beans a their Emeryville facility. He **held the position from 1984-2006** (Photo: Peet’s Facebook Page).

They roasted coffee beans at the location until about 2007 when they moved their manufacturing operations to Alameda maintaining the Emeryville location as their headquarters.

Based on its popularity with coffee aficionados, Peet’s grew steadily over the years.

Baldwin took the company public in 2001 beginning an era of rapid expansion. They grew from roughly 60 stores in 2001 to more than 190 stores by 2012.

Initial Acquisition in 2012

Peet’s was next acquired by German holding company JAB in 2012. “JDE Peet’s” was formed three years later following the merger of the coffee division of Mondelez International who owned a portfolio of International coffee brands including Jacobs and Tassimo. Mondelez, spun off from the Kraft Foods behemoth, incidentally acquired neighboring Clif Bar in 2022 and have been whittling the workforce down to reportedly less than a quarter of their original staff over the past few years.

In the decade plus since its original acquisition, the Peet’s brand has grown in value from under $1 billion to as much as 4 Billion according to some market estimates.

The coffee industry has slowed significantly over the past few years due to surging coffee bean prices and competition from cheaper store brands. This deal will create a ‘Global Coffee Leader’ expected to generate $16B in annual sales. The deal still requires approval from shareholders and regulators.

Emeryville has been the birthplace or incubator of several CPG (Consumer Packaged Goods) brands that were ultimately acquired and absorbed causing their departure or diminished presence in the city. Plum Organics grew into one of the top-5 baby food brands before being acquired by Cambell’s in 2013. They departed Emeryville two years later. Stasher, born on Park Avenue, was acquired by SC Johnson in 2019 but still maintain a presence in Emeryville.

Peet’s isn’t the only Bay Area-born coffee brand that has been recently acquired. Switzerland headquartered Nestlé acquired a controlling stake in Oakland-founded Blue Bottle Coffee in 2017. SF-born Philz Coffee was acquired by a Los Angeles based holding company earlier this month.

It’s certainly possible that this new entity may maintain this office as their west coast headquarters but a winding down and layoffs seam unavoidable. The company is a perennial Top-10 employer in the city with 270 people as of this 2023 City of Emeryville report.

In addition to their Alameda Roastery, Peet’s also have a distribution warehouse in Tracy (moved from Oakland in 2023 after a tragic roof collapse).

While unrelated, Peet’s shuttered their only Emeryville Cafe, a favorite of locals, in favor of a smaller, kiosk format tailored to the takeout crowd.

Peet’s currently operates over 250 retail locations in 13 states and approximately 150 international locations, all in China and the United Arab Emirates.