Gloria Jean's Coffees

Gloria Jean's Gourmet Coffee Pty Ltd is an American-Australian retail coffeehouse brand headquartered in Castle Hill, Sydney. The chain is owned by the multinational fast casual restaurant conglomerate Retail Food Group and has more than 1,400 mostly franchised stores in 40 countries, including over 460 in Australia.

History

Gloria Jean's Coffees was founded by Gloria Jean Kvetko in Long Grove, a small town just outside Chicago, Illinois, United States in 1979. The brand began as a small coffee and gift shop in the Chicago area and grew to over 50 locations in the United States after the franchising rights were purchased by the chain Coffee People.

International Expansion (1995 - 2009)

In 1995, Nabi Saleh and Peter Irvine, former managing director of advertising agency DDB Needham, established Gloria Jean's Coffees Australia and acquired the rights to franchise Gloria Jean's Coffees in Australia from owner Coffee People.

In late 1996, Gloria Jean's Coffees Australia opened its first Gloria Jean's coffee house in Miranda, Sydney, and two weeks later another in Eastgardens, also in Sydney.Gloria Jean's Australia – Our Story

In early 1998, Gloria Jean's Coffees Australia franchised its first store and within six years had opened 185 stores owned and operated by more than 100 franchisees.

In July 1999, Diedrich Coffee acquired Coffee People, the US owner of the Gloria Jean's Coffees brand.

In 2003, Gloria Jean's Coffees Australia opened a franchise in Darwin, Northern Territory, making the brand available in every Australian state and territory.

In 2004, Gloria Jean's Coffees Australia purchased the branding and roasting rights for all territories outside of the United States of America and Puerto Rico from Diedrich Coffee and established Gloria Jean’s Coffees International to handle non-Australian brand and franchising operations.Gloria Jean's Australia – About

Consolidation (2009- )

Gloria Jean’s Coffees International purchased the US and Puerto Rican franchise rights to Gloria Jean's from Diedrich Coffee in 2009, giving the company exclusive worldwide franchising rights. As part of the deal, Diedrich retained the rights to use the Gloria Jean's brand in North America for coffee wholesaling operations and Kuerig coffee pods.

In 2013, Yellow Pages Singapore announced it would purchase the Australian and international operations of Gloria Jean's in a AU$35.6 million deal. Yellow Pages Singapore later pulled out of the deal and in 2014 Gloria Jean's was purchased by Retail Food Group for AU$163.5 million.

Controversies

Sugar and fat content

In 2009, Gloria Jean's was criticized for the sugar and fat content of some of their products. Analysis of a regular 'Gloria Jean's Mocha Chiller Coco Loco' revealed it contained 95.5 g of sugar, which is 106 percent of an adult's recommended daily intake. They have also been criticised for failing to provide nutritional information to their customers. Gloria Jean's now provides nutrition and ingredient information.

Coffee supply

In April 2010, Gloria Jean's Australia was accused of breaking a joint venture agreement with a small US-based coffee supplier, Western Export Services. The matter was resolved in the High Court, in October 2011, with Western Export Services' appeal being dismissed.

Financial support for the Australian Christian Lobby

In November 2010, in the lead up to the Australian Federal Election, Gloria Jean's donated $30,000 to the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL). This donation and Gloria Jean's links to the evangelical Hillsong Church led to a national boycott of its stores. Social media campaigns in support of the boycott on Facebook and a petition on Change.org resulted in thousands of supporters. As a direct result of this donation, national youth mental health foundation '' headspace'' pulled out as a partner of the suicide awareness campaign ''RU OK'', of which Gloria Jean's was a major sponsor. Gloria Jean's released a statement on 11 June 2012 stating "this was a once off donation". Both Gloria Jean's and the ACL claim that the monies were provided as advertising.

Change of management in December 2014 has led some LGBT community members to question the relevance of a continuing boycott.

Underpayment of wages

In February 2014, a Gloria Jean's franchise in the Melbourne suburb of Caulfield was fined $110,000 for underpaying staff following an investigation by the Fair Work Ombudsman which found that 22 workers were paid as little as $8 per hour (or around half the minimum wage).

See also

* List of coffeehouse chains
* List of restaurant chains in Australia

References

External links

Gloria Jean's

{{Food chains in Australia

Companies based in Irvine, California
Coffeehouses and cafés in Australia
Coffeehouses and cafés in the United States
Restaurants established in 1979
Restaurant chains in Australia
1979 establishments in Illinois
2014 mergers and acquisitions