Diedrich Coffee is a coffee company based in
Irvine, CA. Its first coffee house in
Orange County, California, was opened in 1972.
History
The history of the company started with Charlotte Diedrich inheriting a coffee plantation in
Costa Rica
Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...
in 1916. Her son, Carl Diedrich joined the business in 1946 and purchased a coffee plantation in
Antigua, Guatemala, in 1966. The first coffeehouse, a roastery, opened in
Newport Beach in 1972.
Diedrich Coffee, a neighborhood coffeehouse, was founded by Martin Diedrich in 1983. He took over the retail, roasting and importing facets of the family business from retiring Carl. In September 1996, Diedrich Coffee went public.
The company bought rival chain Coffee People, which also held the franchise rights to
Gloria Jean's Coffees in the United States, in July 1999. In June 2004, Martin Diedrich resigned his position at Diedrich Coffee.
In September 2006, Diedrich Coffee announced plans to close its company-owned retail stores under the Diedrich and Coffee People brands, with 40 locations being sold to rival
Starbucks
Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational chain of coffeehouses and roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It is the world's largest coffeehouse chain.
As of November 2021, the company had 33,833 stores in 80 c ...
and reopened under that brand. The company continued as a roaster and wholesaler of coffee beans and as the franchisor of the Coffee People and Gloria Jean's brands. The company also retained ownership of Coffee People stores inside the
Portland International Airport.
In 2009, Diedrich Coffee sold its US Gloria Jean's franchises to the Australian-owned
Gloria Jean’s Coffees International. As part of the deal, Diedrich retained the rights to use the Gloria Jean's brand in North America for wholesaling and
Kuerig coffee pods.
On November 3, 2009, California-based
Peet's Coffee announced that it was buying Diedrich. On December 8, 2009, Vermont-based
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc.
Keurig Dr Pepper Inc., formerly Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (1981–2014) and Keurig Green Mountain (2014–2018), is a publicly traded American beverage and coffeemaker conglomerate with headquarters in Burlington, Massachusetts. Formed i ...
trumped the offer from Peet's Coffee and agreed to buy Diedrich for $290 million.
See also
*
List of coffeehouse chains
*
References
External links
Diedrich CoffeeCoffee PeopleGloria Jean's
{{Keurig Dr Pepper brands
Restaurants established in 1972
Coffeehouses and cafés in the United States
Fast-food chains of the United States
Companies based in Irvine, California
Regional restaurant chains in the United States
Coffee brands
1972 establishments in California