Gloria Jean's

a bit about Gloria Jean's

Australians have love and passion about their country and culture. That's what makes an Aussie unique to the rest of the world. When it comes to coffee, Aussies too have their love and choices - Gloria Jean's. It is named Australia's favourite coffee brand.

In recent years, the Gloria Jean's brand has gone international with operations across 39 countries with more than 1000 stores. These numbers are no match for Starbucks, which the number of the stores in the US alone surpasses Gloria Jean's worldwide figures as you may have noted in the previous blog post. But for a coffee lover, size doesn't matter! It's all about quality, taste, feel and the environment.

Gloria Jean's has a bit of twist to its history. The brand similar to Starbucks, Gloria Jean's  was established in the US, by a guy called Gloria Jean Kvetko in 1979. However he is no business man. Two Australians purchased the brand and it's rights to operate in countries other than the US and eventually, the brand grew to its presence today. 

Due to strong presence in Australia, the brand is one of the longest supporters of Jeans for Genes day, having raised over $630,000 since 2002. Gloria Jean's is also part of the Rainforest Alliance, which aims at protecting ecosystems and supporting the people and wildlife that depend on them. The company conducts business ethically and was awarded Rainforest Alliance Corporate Green Globe Award, becoming the first Australian company winning the award.

Sadly however, the company was acquired by Yellow Pages Singapore in 2013 for $35.6 million.


References:
Wikipedia 2014, Gloria Jean's Coffees, viewed 8 May 2014, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gloria_Jean's_Coffees>.

By Zhutian Cai