Bo's Coffee is a Filipino

coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulant, stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. S ...

and coffeehouse chain. It was founded by Steve Benitez in 1996 in

Cebu City Cebu City, officially the City of Cebu ( ceb, Dakbayan sa Sugbo; fil, Lungsod ng Cebu; hil, Dakbanwa sang Sugbo), is a 1st class Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Central Visayas Regions of the P ...

, Philippines. The company operates a total of 91 outlets throughout the Philippines, with about 30 of them located in Metro Cebu, where it is based. Bo's Coffee sources coffee beans locally from farmers from

Sagada, Mountain Province Sagada, officially the Municipality of Sagada is a 5th class municipality in the province of Mountain Province, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 11,510 people. Sagada is from Bontoc, the provincial capital, ...

Mount Kitanglad Mount Kitanglad is an inactive volcano located in the Kitanglad Mountain Range in Bukidnon province on Mindanao island. It is the fourth highest mountain in the Philippines and has an approximate height of . It is located between Malaybalay City ...

in Bukidnon,

Mount Matutum Mount Matutum is an active stratovolcano, is the highest point in the province of South Cotabato in the Philippines, with an elevation of 7,500 feet (2,286 metres) above sea level, approximately from Acmonan, Tupi, South Cotabato. Matutum and ...

Tupi, South Cotabato Tupi, officially the Municipality of Tupi ( hil, Banwa sang Tupi; ceb, Lungsod sa Tupi; tgl, Bayan ng Tupi; mdh, Inged nu Tupi, Jawi: ايڠايد نو توڤي), is a 1st class municipality in the province of South Cotabato, Philippines. Acc ...

, and

Mount Apo Mount Apo, also known locally as Apo Sandawa, is a large solfataric, dormant stratovolcano on the island of Mindanao, Philippines. With an elevation of above sea level, it is the highest-mountain in the Philippine Archipelago, Mindanao and 2 ...

History

The idea of starting a coffee shop came to Bo's Coffee founder Steve Benitez when he was a student in Ateneo de Manila University. He always had to drink coffee to stay awake to study. In 1992, his parents wanted to shut down their family-owned and managed Ric's Barbeque on Ramos Street in Cebu City. Steve, the youngest of the five Benitez siblings, took over the management of the family business and left Ateneo de Manila Law School. After attending various seminars and training and indications that it was not a viable venture, Steve Benitez stubbornly decided to open Bo's Coffee in a small space in

Ayala Center Cebu Ayala Center Cebu is a large shopping mall owned by Ayala Malls at the Cebu Business Park in Cebu City, Philippines. It is the first Ayala mall located outside of Metro Manila. It opened in November 1994, one year after their rival mall, SM City ...

in June 1996. Two months before the shop opened, he was left alone when his two business partners backed out. Benitez bought his first coffee machine from a coffee exhibition show in Singapore for 65,000 pesos ($1,300) and hand-carried the machine in his flight going back to Cebu. Starting on an investment of 100,000 pesos ($2,000), the business did not produce any profit for its first three months on daily sales ranging from 300 to 1000 pesos. At first, Benitez had to give away free samples as the Cebuano market was not yet familiar of his concept. Sales picked up on the sixth month and then steadily increased to turning a profit to enable him to put up another coffee cart in

SM City Cebu SM City Cebu, also known as SM Cebu or sometimes SM Mabolo, and locally as SM City, is a large shopping mall located in Cebu City, Philippines. It is the 4th shopping mall owned and developed by SM Prime Holdings, the country's largest shopping ...

. In 2018, the Philippine-focused Navegar Fund decided to invest in the company due to its efforts in helping communities and local farmers, which is one of the thrusts of the Philippine-focused fund.

Etymology

Benitez said that the name comes from an Italian-American coffee connoisseur named "Bo," whom he met in a coffee roadshow in New Orleans in the mid-1990s. The 10-minute interaction had inspired him and had a profound impact in his life.

Branches

As of December 6, 2018, Bo's has over 103 branches throughout the Philippines, most of them located in key cities. A big number of these branches are located in Metro Cebu, where the company is based. Bo's coffee also opened its first international branch - located in

Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the coun ...

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...

- on April 25, 2018. They have collaborated with Al Majed Grouping. They also have 2 branches in the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

with Al Mulla Business Group.

References

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External links

Official website
Companies based in Cebu City Restaurants established in 1996 Coffeehouses and cafés Restaurant chains in the Philippines Philippine brands Philippine companies established in 1996

History

Etymology

Branches

See also

References

External links