Gaviña Gourmet Coffee
 | |
| Private | |
| Industry | Coffee |
| Founded | 1870 Cuba and 1967 U.S. |
| Headquarters | Vernon, California |
| Products |
Whole Bean Coffee Merchandise |
| Website | www.gavina.com |
Gaviña Gourmet Coffee (also F. Gaviña & Sons Inc) is a coffee importer and roaster located in Vernon, California. It produces the Gaviña and La Llave espresso brands, as well as private label (own brand) coffees.
History
The company was founded by brothers José María and Ramón Gaviña, who emigrated from Spain to Cuba in 1870 and operated their own coffee plantation in the city of Trinidad.[1] In the 1930s, the company's business expanded to include coffee roasting as well as coffee growing.[1]
In 1959, the family left Cuba, establishing F. Gaviña & Sons Inc in Vernon eight years later. Initially, the company focused on roasting Cuban-style coffee, but later expanded into coffees for other ethnic markets, including blends to appeal to Middle Eastern and Vietnamese palates.[2]
Operation and brands
By 2002, Gaviña's whole-bean coffee was the top-selling brand in Los Angeles grocery stores, with its ground coffee ranked third behind Folgers and Maxwell House and the company decided to expand supermarket supplies to other regions of the US.[3]
Gaviña had begun selling its coffee to a small group of McDonald's restaurants in Southern California in 1983 and, in 2005, it created a stronger blend that resulted in double-digit growth in coffee sales through the fast-food outlets.[4] It was one of three U.S. suppliers subsequently chosen to produce espresso for the McCafe program.[4]
By 2010, Gaviña was roasting about 40 million pounds of coffee per year[5] and was a $114m business, with a fifth of revenue from making and packaging private label coffees for McDonald's, 7-Eleven and Costco stores, according to the Los Angeles Times.[6] The company, which remains family owned, still produces roasts for different ethnic markets, as well as supplying supermarkets, such as Ralphs, Walmart and Safeway.[6] It sells coffee in 20 states and its range includes the Don Francisco and La Llave brands.[2]
References
- 1 2 Hardie, Anne-Marie (April 2013). "Generations of family all committed to coffee". Tea & Coffee Trade Journal. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
- 1 2 Larsen, Richard (March 4, 2011). "Brewing up sustainability". Hispanic Business. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
- ↑ Fulmer, Melinda (July 29, 2002). "Expansion brewing: Local coffee roaster plans push into bigger markets". LA Times. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
- 1 2 Luna, Nancy (July 10, 2009). "Addicted to McDonalds McCafe". Orange County Register. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
- ↑ Baertlein, Lisa (August 17, 2010). "McDonald's java roaster Gavina eyes premium market". Reuters reprinted at CNN. Retrieved 2014-04-01.
- 1 2 Olivarez-Giles, Nathan (5 January 2010). "Coffee-roasting brood keeps L.A. ethnic communities brewing". LA Times. Retrieved 1 April 2014.