Gloria Jean's Coffees

History

Gloria Jean's Coffees was founded by Gloria Jean Kvetko in 1979 in Chicago, USA. Gloria Jean's Coffees began as a small coffee and gift shop in Chicago USA which now has over 110 locations throughout the US. In 1995, Nabi Saleh and Peter Irvine, 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), the company that holds the right to franchise Gloria Jean's Coffees in Australia, and purchased the rights to the Gloria Jean's Coffees 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. These coffee house were set up to test the concept in the Australian market.

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; this meant that the brand was now established in every Australian state, the ACT and NT. Jireh International Pty Ltd formed a North American Affiliate, Praise International North America, Inc. and as of 14 June 2009, which also operates It's A Grind Coffee House in 13 states. the North American rights were sold by Diedrich Coffee to the American Affiliate of the Australian holding company.

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

Products

Gloria Jeans sells their own version of the Caffitaly system capsule coffee machine as well as their brand of capsules. The Gloria Jeans Caffitaly Capsules are also available at Woolworths Supermarkets.

Gloria Jean's Coffees recently purchased through auction an allocation of the whole coffee bean that came fifth in Brazil's Cup of Excellence awards, the Lot#5 Norival Favaro – Sao Marcos.

Corporate governance

The Gloria Jean's Coffees business model is a franchising system similar to many fast-food chains. Franchise owners have to pay franchise fees and royalties on their sales as well as operating costs. 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 is one of the longest supporters of Jeans for Genes and since 2002 has raised more than $630,000 for the cause. Gloria Jean's Coffees also supports a range of other 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. All franchise partners are also encouraged to support other local charities or causes in their local communities.

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. Through their partnership with Compassion, Gloria Jean's Coffees supports more than 300 children from the coffee-producing regions of Brazil providing them with improved health and education opportunities.

Environmental certification

Gloria Jean's Coffees pays a fee to work in partnership with the global not-for-profit organisation, the Rainforest Alliance, whose stated purpose is to protect ecosystems and support the people and wildlife that depend on them. Gloria Jean's Coffees was recognised in May 2008 with the Rainforest Alliance Corporate Green Globe Award, which recognised the company's work in supporting global sustainability in agriculture, forestry and tourism. Gloria Jean's Coffees was the first Australian company to receive the award which is only awarded to companies affiliated with the organisation. In the 2008–2009 financial year, its signature espresso blend became Rainforest Alliance Certified and is now available throughout its international network of coffee houses. The company also previously launched a Rainforest Alliance Certified Single Origin Nicaraguan whole bean coffee that won a Silver Medal at the 2007 Sydney Royal Easter Show. Gloria Jean's Coffee products can be labelled 'rainforest alliance certified' with only 30% of content sourced from sustainable sources.

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. Gloria Jeans now provide nutrition and ingredient information.

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. The matter was resolved in the High Court, in October 2011, with Western Export Services' appeal being dismissed.

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). 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. 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. Gloria Jean's released a statement on 11 June 2012 stating "this was a once off donation". Both Gloria Jean's and the ACL claim that the monies were provided as advertising.

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

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).