The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf

Type	Private
Founded	Brentwood, California (1963)
Founder(s)	Herbert B. Hyman[1]
Headquarters	Los Angeles, California, United States
Key people	Sunny Sassoon, Chairman Melvin Elias, CEO
Industry	Restaurants Retail coffee and tea
Products	Whole bean coffee Boxed tea Made-to-order beverages Baked goods Merchandise
Revenue	▲$130.1 million USD (2007)
Employees	4,400 (2007)
Parent	International Coffee & Tea, LLC
Website	coffeebean.com

The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf (sometimes shortened to simply "The Coffee Bean" or "Coffee Bean") is a Los Angeles, California-based coffee chain, owned and operated by International Coffee & Tea, LLC. The first Coffee Bean opened in September 1968. The chain has over 750 locations in 22 countries.^{[citation needed]} Within the United States, The Coffee Bean has locations in San Francisco, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Honolulu, Texas, and Detroit. The majority of locations are in Southern California, including Los Angeles, San Diego, Santa Barbara and Ventura. Many locations outside of California are franchises, such as Hawaii. Singaporean entrepreneur Victor Sassoon has opened locations throughout Southeast Asia.

Free Wi-Fi access is offered at most locations. The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf is an international chain with locations in Australia, Brunei, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Israel, Korea, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mexico, Philippines, Qatar, Singapore, Sri Lanka and United Arab Emirates ^[2].

Several Southern California Ralphs supermarkets have full-service The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf kiosks in their stores.

[edit] History

Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf headquarters in Los Angeles, California

The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf was founded by Mona and Herbert Hyman in September 1963. They opened the first store in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Brentwood. This original location still exists and operates today.

[edit] Halal and kosher

All of the products at The Coffee Bean are certified as kosher. At least one location meets the higher standard of cholov yisroel in their dairy products. Coffee Bean has fared well in its entry into the Israeli coffee chain market. This may be attributed to its kosher food selection, though the main reasoning is said^{[by whom?]} to be that Coffee Bean locations in Israel permit smoking. The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf's beverages are also halal.^[3]

[edit] Charity

[edit] Support from Home

In 2008, The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf launched its "Support from Home" campaign, an event that has continued into 2009. From July 1 through August 31, 2008, consumers were invited to purchase a bag of coffee, a tin of tea and/or retail merchandise to donate to U.S. troops overseas. During the campaign, The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf also offered a "Support from Home" limited edition blend of coffee. The packaged coffee was designed with a special back label created to allow consumers to write a personalized message to soldiers. The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf worked in conjunction with an organization called Soldiers' Angels to provide the product donations. They also donated a portion of the proceeds from the "Support from Home" blend to the Fisher House, an organization that acts as a "home away from home" for families of military personnel and veterans receiving medical care at major medical facilities. In total, Coffee Bean customers donated more than 18,000 pounds of coffee to military personnel.

[edit] Holiday open house

In 2008, The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf held a holiday open house at all company-owned locations in California and Arizona. Customers were treated to 12 oz holiday beverages. The event was three hours long, during which time 35,000 drinks were given away.

The event also helped to raise $30,000 for The Help Group, a Los Angeles-based charity serving special needs youth, through Coffee Bean's "Deck The Walls" campaign. This campaign provided consumers with the opportunity to select and sign holiday-themed cards in exchange for a $1 donation to The Help Group.

[edit] Ice Blended

Over 20 years ago^[when?], The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf launched their The Original Ice Blended drink. Worldwide, over 20,000 Ice Blended drinks are served daily and over 7 million annually.

[edit] Holiday drinks

The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf has several holiday drinks:

• Pumpkin Latte and Ice Blended
• Peppermint Latte and Ice Blended
• Chocolate Orange, Dark Chocolate Raspberry, and Dark Chocolate Peppermint

They also offer a limited edition Holiday Blend coffee and Winter Dream tea.

[edit] Television/movie appearances

Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf in Los Feliz, California

The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf has appeared in a number of television shows.

• The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf was featured in the HBO show Entourage as the regular meeting place for Vincent Chase and his associates.
• The Coffee Bean was repeatedly featured on Jamie Kennedy´s MTV show Blowin' Up as his favorite hangout spot.
• The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf was featured in the 2005 film version of the TV show Bewitched.
• In two of Ashley Tisdale's Youtube videos, she mentions The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. One video, she is seen drinking a Coffee Bean beverage. In another video of her on tour, she is going to Starbucks and says that she is "cheating on The Coffee Bean."
• The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf was featured in the film The Holiday, where the drink held by Jack Black is the "Ice Blended," recognizable by a purple straw and the logo on the cup.
• The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf was seen in Eight Crazy Nights.
• Some promotional pictures of Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie were taken for the fifth season of The Simple Life within a The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf location.
• Gary Arndt, noted travel blogger, used to work at The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf in Las Vegas, Nevada.
• The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf mobile cappuccino station appeared in the 2007 comedy Meet the Spartans.
• A Phineas and Ferb episode features a shack built by their androids called "The Robot Bean and Tea Leaf", and Phineas responds by saying, "Over-powered coffee chains are so '90's."

[edit] Media appearances

The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf is frequently featured in gossip and entertainment publications due to its large celebrity following.

• According to a 2008 issue of Life & Style, Miley Cyrus requested that Coffee Bean's Caramel Ice Blended and Double Vanilla Latte drink mixes be sent to the set of The Hannah Montana Movie.
• In 2008, Ok! Magazine listed The Coffee Bean on Sunset Blvd. in Los Angeles as Nicole Richie's favorite place to grab a No Sugar Added Vanilla Ice Blended.
• In a 2008 issue of Ok! Magazine, The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf's iced tea is listed as a favorite of actress and singer Vanessa Hudgens.

[edit] External links

• Official website of The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf
• The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf Media Queries
• Company profile on Yahoo! Finance
• Hawaii Franchise Website
• "The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf Donates for the Troops"
• "Coffee's trained tasters know their beans and brews"

[edit] References

• BruneiDirect.Com Coffee Bean drinks are halal. Retrieved on July 1, 2008.
• coffeebean.com. International Franchise Locations
• Coffeebeanhawaii.com. Hawaii Franchise Website