Gloria Jean's Coffees is an American-Australian retail coffeehouse chain company that operates more than 1,000 coffee houses in 39 countries, including over 460 in Australia. In 2014 Gloria Jean's was purchased by the Retail Food Group for $163.5 million.
History
Gloria Jean's Coffees was founded by Gloria Jean Kvetko in 1979 in Long Grove, Ill., a small town just outside Chicago. The firm began as a small coffee and gift shop in Chicago and grew to over 50 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, the company that holds the right to franchise Gloria Jean's Coffees in Australia, and purchased the rights to the brand for all other countries from Diedrich Coffee, Inc, with the exceptions of the US 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. 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, making the brand available 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
Corporate governance
The firm's business model is a franchising system similar to many fast-food chains. Franchise owners 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.
Controversies
Sugar and fat content
In 2009, Gloria Jean's was criticized for the sugar and fat content of some of their products. Analysis of a regular 'Gloria Jean's 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 Jean's now provides 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.
In November 2010, in the lead up to the Australian Federal Election, Gloria Jean's donated $30,000 to the Australian Christian Lobby. 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 campaignRU 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.
