Caribou Coffee in the World of Gourmet Coffee Sellers
Second among the world’s two leading coffee retailers is Caribou Coffee, a specialty coffee house operator that sells coffee, along with tea, bakery, and other items, at more than 460 stores throughout the United States. Caribou Coffee was initiated by John and Kim Puckett in 1992 in Minnesota. In 1998, Crescent Capital, based in the American state of Atlanta, bought Caribou Coffee and made it a big name in the world of coffee house operators. In September 2005, Caribou was turned into a publicly traded company. Today, it has over 5000 employees working countrywide and the company’s motto is ‘be excellent, not average’.
Products of Caribou Coffee
Starting as a coffee retailer, the products of Caribou Coffee now include a whole range of gourmet products including (besides coffee beans and blends) cold coffee drinks, blended drinks, tea, and some clothing items like shirts along with accessories like bags. The specialty of Caribou, however, still remains its coffee products. In fact, Caribou also outranked the world’s top ranked coffee retailer (Starbucks Coffee) in national taste tests carried out for the quality of flavor and composition of coffee brands. Caribou also licenses third parties, allowing them to use its brand on food and merchandise items that meet its criteria of quality.
Caribou’s Role in Environmental Amelioration
Besides making gourmet coffee production a commercial success, Caribou Coffee has been concerned with producing eco-friendly coffee in order to support the efforts of environmental amelioration. It has become a parent with the Rainforest Alliance and also stands as the first coffee-producing company that voluntarily sponsors the Specialty Coffee Association of America’s Producer Support Fund.
Caribou’s Partnerships
Caribou Coffee has business partnerships with several well-known companies including Coca-Cola North America, Frontier Airlines, General Mills, Kemps, Life Time Fitness, Mall of America, USA Today, and Wandering Wifi. Other partners of Caribou include Keurig and Rainforest Alliance. The company is especially interested in involving communities that work for social welfare, especially in the categories of breast cancer, children’s literacy, and environment.
Investment and Controversy
Caribou Coffee has lately been surrounded by much controversy due to the heavy investment of the First Islamic Investment Bank of Bahrain, which is one f its leading stockholders. The controversy especially got heated when Yousaf al-Qaradawi, an Islamic Egyptian scholar, became the bank’s Chairman of the Board in 2002. On account of Qaradawi’s views, he had already been banned from entering the United States. When Qaradawi stepped down the chairmanship later that year, the controversy surrounding Caribou Coffee was slightly cooled down.
Second among the world’s two leading coffee retailers is Caribou Coffee, a specialty coffee house operator that sells coffee, along with tea, bakery, and other items, at more than 460 stores throughout the United States. Caribou Coffee was initiated by John and Kim Puckett in 1992 in Minnesota. In 1998, Crescent Capital, based in the American state of Atlanta, bought Caribou Coffee and made it a big name in the world of coffee house operators. In September 2005, Caribou was turned into a publicly traded company. Today, it has over 5000 employees working countrywide and the company’s motto is ‘be excellent, not average’.
Products of Caribou Coffee
Starting as a coffee retailer, the products of Caribou Coffee now include a whole range of gourmet products including (besides coffee beans and blends) cold coffee drinks, blended drinks, tea, and some clothing items like shirts along with accessories like bags. The specialty of Caribou, however, still remains its coffee products. In fact, Caribou also outranked the world’s top ranked coffee retailer (Starbucks Coffee) in national taste tests carried out for the quality of flavor and composition of coffee brands. Caribou also licenses third parties, allowing them to use its brand on food and merchandise items that meet its criteria of quality.
Caribou’s Role in Environmental Amelioration
Besides making gourmet coffee production a commercial success, Caribou Coffee has been concerned with producing eco-friendly coffee in order to support the efforts of environmental amelioration. It has become a parent with the Rainforest Alliance and also stands as the first coffee-producing company that voluntarily sponsors the Specialty Coffee Association of America’s Producer Support Fund.
Caribou’s Partnerships
Caribou Coffee has business partnerships with several well-known companies including Coca-Cola North America, Frontier Airlines, General Mills, Kemps, Life Time Fitness, Mall of America, USA Today, and Wandering Wifi. Other partners of Caribou include Keurig and Rainforest Alliance. The company is especially interested in involving communities that work for social welfare, especially in the categories of breast cancer, children’s literacy, and environment.
Investment and Controversy
Caribou Coffee has lately been surrounded by much controversy due to the heavy investment of the First Islamic Investment Bank of Bahrain, which is one f its leading stockholders. The controversy especially got heated when Yousaf al-Qaradawi, an Islamic Egyptian scholar, became the bank’s Chairman of the Board in 2002. On account of Qaradawi’s views, he had already been banned from entering the United States. When Qaradawi stepped down the chairmanship later that year, the controversy surrounding Caribou Coffee was slightly cooled down.
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