Gloria Jean's Coffees

Gloria Jean's Gourmet Coffee Pty. Ltd.
Private
Founded 1979 in Long Grove, Illinois, USA
Founder Ed & Gloria Jean Kvetko
Headquarters Castle Hill, New South Wales, Australia
Number of locations
 1,000 in more than 39 countries
Key people
 Peter Irvine
Nabi Saleh
Products Hot and Cold Beverages[1]
Owner Australia and the rest of the world:
U.S. and Puerto Rico:
  • Brothers Gourmet Coffee Inc. (1993–96)
  • Second Cup Ltd. (1996–98)
  • Coffee People (1998–99)
  • Diedrich Coffee, Inc.(1999-2009)
  • Praise International North America Inc. (2009–present)
Website www.gloriajeanscoffees.com

Gloria Jean's Coffees is a franchised specialty coffeehouse company that has opened more than 1,000 coffee houses across 39 markets worldwide, including over 460 in Australia.[2] In 2014 Gloria Jeans was purchased by the Retail Food Group for $163.5 million. It was named after singer, Gloria Jean.[3]

Iced Chocolate Chiller served in Harbour Town, Perth.

History

Gloria Jean's Coffees was founded by Gloria Jean Kvetko in 1979 in Long Grove, Ill., a small town just outside Chicago.[2] The firm began as a small coffee and gift shop in Chicago and grew to over 50 locations throughout the US.[4] In 1995, Nabi Saleh and Peter Irvine,[5] former managing director of advertising agency DDB Needham, visited the United States to sample the Gloria Jean's Coffees brand. Saleh and Irvine identified the opportunity for this brand in Australia, purchasing the international licensing rights from Diedrich Coffee, Inc.

Saleh and Irvine established Jireh International Pty Ltd (trading as Gloria Jeans Coffees[6]), the company that holds the right to franchise Gloria Jean's Coffees in Australia, and purchased the rights to the brand for all other countries from Diedrich Coffee, Inc, with the exceptions of the USA and Puerto Rico. In late 1996, Jireh International Pty Ltd opened the first Gloria Jean's coffee house in Miranda, Sydney, and two weeks later another in Eastgardens, also in Sydney.

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 2003, a franchise opened in Darwin, making the brand available in every Australian state, the ACT and NT.[7] Jireh International Pty Ltd formed a North American Affiliate, Praise International North America, Inc.[8] and as of 14 June 2009, which also operates It's A Grind Coffee House in 13 states.[9] The North American rights were sold by Diedrich Coffee to the American affiliate of the Australian holding company.[10]

In 2013, Gloria Jean's was set to be purchased by the publicly listed Singaporean company, Yellow Pages Singapore, for $35.6 million.[11] Yellow Pages Singapore later pulled out of the purchase, and Gloria Jeans was bought by the Australian Retail Food Group[3]

Corporate governance

The firm's business model is a franchising system similar to many fast-food chains. Franchise owners pay franchise fees and royalties on their sales as well as operating costs.[12] The organisation's board consists of chairman Nabi Saleh, and directors John Dwight, Peter Irvine and Andrew Tyndale.

Philanthropy

In Australia, Gloria Jean's Coffees has raised money for charities including the Variety, the Children's Charity, R U OK?, and Salvation Army. In addition to their funding of charities, they have also funded other Christian organisations such as Family First, Australian Christian Lobby, Mercy Ministries, Jesus Racing and Hope 103.2 Christian radio. A

In mid-2009, Gloria Jean's Coffees International formed a charity, the GJCI "With Heart" Foundation, to support various international charities, including Compassion and Opportunity International.[13]

Controversies

Sugar and fat content

In 2009, Gloria Jean's were criticized for the sugar and fat content of some of their products. Analysis of a regular 'Gloria Jeans 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.[14] Gloria Jeans now provide nutrition and ingredient information.[15]

Coffee supply

In April 2010, Gloria Jean's parent company, Jireh International, was accused of breaking a joint venture agreement with a small US-based coffee supplier, Western Export Services.[16] The matter was resolved in the High Court, in October 2011, with Western Export Services' appeal being dismissed.[17]

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).[18] 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.[19][20] 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.[21] Gloria Jean's released a statement on 11 June 2012 stating "this was a once off donation".[22] Both Gloria Jean's and the ACL claim that the monies were provided as advertising.[23]

Change of management in December 2014 has led some LGBT community members to question the relevance of a continuing boycott.[24]

Underpayment of wages

In February 2014, a Gloria Jean's franchise in the Melbourne suburb of Caulfield was fined $110,000 for under paying 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).[25]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Gloria Jean's Coffees - Australia > Home". Gloriajeanscoffees.com. Retrieved 2017-11-29.
  2. 1 2 Bomkamp, Samantha (August 25, 2017). "Gloria Jean's, coffee shop born in Chicago, set to expand its reach". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved November 27, 2017.
  3. 1 2 "Retail Food Group acquires Gloria Jean's to create monster coffee company". Sydney Morning Herald. 24 October 2014. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  4. ↑ "About Us". Gloria Jean's Coffee-About Us. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
  5. ↑ "Gloria Jean's Coffees celebrates BRW magazine "Fast Franchise" ranking". Franchise Council of Australia. 29 November 2011. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
  6. ↑ "Jireh International Pty. Ltd.: Private Company Information – Businessweek". Investing.businessweek.com. Retrieved 2012-08-11.
  7. ↑ Gloria Jean's Australia – Our Story Archived 15 August 2009 at the Wayback Machine.
  8. ↑ Archived 28 January 2011 at the Wayback Machine.
  9. ↑ It's a Grind Coffee House
  10. ↑ "Diedrich Coffee Completes Sale of Gloria Jean's Coffees Domestic Franchise Operations". Istockanalyst.com. Archived from the original on 22 March 2012. Retrieved 11 August 2012.
  11. ↑ Brett Cole (21 December 2013). "Singapore firm picks up Gloria Jean's".
  12. ↑ Franchise FAQ Archived 12 March 2008 at the Wayback Machine.
  13. ↑ With Heart Archived 29 August 2009 at the Wayback Machine.
  14. ↑ Rolfe, John (21 October 2009). "Gloria Jeans, Starbucks coffee concoctions packed with sugar, fat". The Daily Telegraph.
  15. ↑ "Gloria Jeans: Drink Menu Nutrition and Ingredient Information". Gloria Jeans. Jan 2012. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
  16. ↑ Pollard, Ruth (19 April 2010). "Coffee giant embroiled in bitter battle over beans". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  17. ↑ Western Export Services Inc v Jireh International Pty Ltd [2011] HCA 45 (28 October 2011), High Court, retrieved 3 August 2012
  18. ↑ "Gifts – Annual Returns". Periodicdisclosures.aec.gov.au. 28 June 2012. Retrieved 2012-08-11.
  19. ↑ "Gloria Jeans boycott "despicable" says ACL on". Samesame.com.au. Retrieved 2012-08-11.
  20. ↑ "Gloria Jean's leaves bitter taste | Star Online". Starobserver.com.au. 12 June 2012. Retrieved 2012-08-11.
  21. ↑ "Headspace withdraws support for RU OK? Day | Star Online". Starobserver.com.au. 15 June 2012. Retrieved 2012-08-11.
  22. ↑ "Gloria Jeans: "We embrace equality and diversity" on". Samesame.com.au. Retrieved 2012-11-07.
  23. ↑ Isobel Roe (14 June 2012), Boycott on coffee chain sparked by donation to lobby group, ABC, retrieved 4 January 2017
  24. ↑ "Should the LGBTI community still be boycotting Gloria Jean's?". OutInPerth. 8 January 2016. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
  25. ↑ Drill, Stephen (2 February 2014). "Gloria Jean's outlet fined for paying workers $8 an hour when company was not making a profit". News.com.au=.
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