FOOD NEWS
Starbucks And Peet's Have Historic Connections
BY JEN PENG
Alfred Peet opened his first coffee shop in 1966, and it was there that all three founders of Starbucks, Jerry Baldwin, Gordon Bowker, and Zev Siegl, first learned their craft.
The three entrepreneurs wanted to open a coffee shop in Seattle, but as former teachers without backgrounds in coffee, they knew they had to learn about the business first.
The three worked at Peet's flagship store in Berkeley over the holidays in 1970 to learn the ropes, including how to properly source and roast beans.
They also got Peet's permission to copy his store's layout and sold his roasted coffee beans until 1973, when he urged the three founders to start their own roasting operations.
In 1984, Baldwin purchased Peet's Coffee and its four locations and sold his interest in Starbucks in 1987. He remains on the Board of Directors of Peet's Coffee to this day.