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Gloria Jean's Coffees

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Gloria Jean's Coffees
Company typeSubsidiary
Founded1979; 45 years ago (1979) in Long Grove, Illinois, USA
FounderEd & Gloria Jean Kvetko
HeadquartersCastle Hill, New South Wales, Australia
Number of locations
599 in 40 countries
Key people
Peter Irvine
Nabi Saleh
ProductsHot and Cold Beverages[1]
ParentRetail Food Group
Websitewww.gloriajeans.com Edit this at Wikidata

Gloria Jean's Coffees (commonly shortened to just Gloria Jean's) is an 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 599 stores in 40 countries, including over 140 in Australia.[2]

History

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Vintage Gloria Jeans, Rivergate Mall

Gloria Jean's Coffees was founded by Gloria Jean Kvetko in Long Grove, a small town just outside Chicago, Illinois, United States in 1979.[2] 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.[3]

International expansion (1995–2009)

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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.[4][5]

In late 1996, Gloria Jean's Coffees Australia opened its first Gloria Jean's coffee house at Westfield Miranda, Sydney, and two weeks later another at Westfield Eastgardens, also in Sydney.[6]

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.[6]

In July 1999, Diedrich Coffee acquired Coffee People, the US owner of the Gloria Jean's Coffees brand.[7][8]

In 2003, Gloria Jean's Coffees Australia opened a franchise in Darwin, Northern Territory, making the brand available in every Australian state and territory.[6]

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.[9]

Consolidation (2009–present)

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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.[10] As part of the deal, Diedrich retained the rights to use the Gloria Jean's brand in North America for coffee wholesaling operations and Keurig coffee pods.[11]

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.[12] Yellow Pages Singapore later pulled out of the deal and in 2014 Gloria Jean's was purchased by Retail Food Group for $163.5 million.[13]

Controversies

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Sugar and fat content

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In 2009, Gloria Jean's was criticised 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 grams (3.37 oz) 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 Jean's now provides nutrition and ingredient information.[15]

Coffee supply

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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.[16] The matter was resolved in the High Court of Australia, in October 2011, with Western Export Services' appeal being dismissed.[17]

Financial support for the Australian Christian Lobby

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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 R U 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

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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).[25]

Loss-making shops and illegitimate marketing expenses

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In December 2022, the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission won a civil court case against the owner of Gloria Jean's, Retail Food Group, resulting in Michel's Patisserie and Gloria Jean's franchises receiving repayments and debt erasures totalling $10 million as part of a settlement relating to allegedly illegitimate marketing expenses and allegedly being sold loss-making shops.[26]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Gloria Jean's Coffees - Australia > Home". Gloriajeanscoffees.com. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
  2. ^ a b Bomkamp, Samantha (25 August 2017). "Gloria Jean's, coffee shop born in Chicago, set to expand its reach". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 27 November 2017.
  3. ^ "About Us". Gloria Jean's Coffee-About Us. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
  4. ^ "Gloria Jean's Coffees celebrates BRW magazine "Fast Franchise" ranking". Franchise Council of Australia. 29 November 2011. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
  5. ^ "Jireh International Pty Ltd". Bloomberg Businessweek. Archived from the original on 29 September 2012. Retrieved 11 August 2012.
  6. ^ a b c Gloria Jean's Australia – Our Story Archived 2009-08-15 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ Heritage[permanent dead link‍] Coffee people website. Retrieved October 10, 2008.
  8. ^ Diedrich Coffee of Irvine, Calif., to Buy Coffee People of Beaverton, Ore., Tribune News, February 12, 1999 courtesy link.
  9. ^ Gloria Jean's Australia – About Archived 2022-02-03 at the Wayback Machine
  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. ^ "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.
  12. ^ Brett Cole (21 December 2013). "Singapore firm picks up Gloria Jean's".
  13. ^ "Retail Food Group acquires Gloria Jean's to create monster coffee company". Sydney Morning Herald. 24 October 2014. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  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. January 2012. Archived from the original on 19 August 2012. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
  16. ^ Pollard, Ruth (19 April 2010). "Coffee giant embroiled in bitter battle over beans". 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 11 August 2012.
  19. ^ "Gloria Jeans boycott "despicable" says ACL on". Samesame.com.au. Retrieved 11 August 2012.
  20. ^ "Gloria Jean's leaves bitter taste | Star Online". Starobserver.com.au. 12 June 2012. Retrieved 11 August 2012.
  21. ^ "Headspace withdraws support for RU OK? Day | Star Online". Starobserver.com.au. 15 June 2012. Retrieved 11 August 2012.
  22. ^ "Gloria Jeans: "We embrace equality and diversity" on". Samesame.com.au. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
  23. ^ Isobel Roe (14 June 2012), Boycott on coffee chain sparked by donation to lobby group, ABC News, 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.
  26. ^ Sibthorpe, Clare (23 December 2022). "Retail Food Group to pay $10m in repayments and debt erasing to Michel's Patisserie, Gloria Jeans". News.com.au. Nationwide News. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
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