Diedrich Coffee

History

The company's origins trace to Charlotte Diedrich inheriting a coffee plantation in Costa Rica in 1916. Her son Carl Diedrich joined the business in 1946 and purchased a coffee plantation in Antigua, Guatemala, in 1966. The first coffeehouse, a roastery, opened in Newport Beach in 1972. Martin Diedrich founded Diedrich Coffee as a neighborhood coffeehouse in 1983, taking over the retail, roasting and importing facets of the family business from retiring Carl.

The company went public in September 1996. In July 1999, Diedrich bought rival chain Coffee People, which also held the US franchise rights to Gloria Jean's Coffees. Martin Diedrich resigned his position in June 2004. In September 2006, the company announced plans to close its company-owned retail stores under the Diedrich and Coffee People brands, selling 40 locations to Starbucks.

It continued as a roaster and wholesaler and as franchisor of Coffee People and Gloria Jean's, retaining ownership of Coffee People stores inside Portland International Airport. In 2009, Diedrich sold its US Gloria Jean's franchises to the Australian-owned Gloria Jean’s Coffees International, retaining rights to use the Gloria Jean's brand in North America for wholesaling and Keurig coffee pods. On November 3, 2009, Peet's Coffee announced it was buying Diedrich, but on December 8, 2009, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. trumped that offer and agreed to buy Diedrich for $290 million.