The privately-owned investment firm JAB has bought American restaurant chain Panera for US$7.5 billion. The purchase continues JAB’s pattern of buying up established payers within the food and beverage industries, a strategy that has made it the second-largest player in coffee after Nestlé. Since 2012, JAB has purchased D.E. Master Blenders, the coffee arm of Mondelez, as well as US brands Keurig Green Mountain, Peet’s and specialty roasters Stumptown and Intelligentsia. Last year JAB, which is owned by the German Reimann family, also purchased the Krispy Kreme doughnut chain, as well as Singaporean coffee company, Super Group. In all, JAB has spent around US$40 billion building up its portfolio of food and beverage companies.
Ethiopia records new coffee export record
Ethiopia has achieved a historic coffee milestone, recording unprecedented revenue within the first nine months of the current Ethiopian fiscal...