RFK Jr. vs Dunkin’ (and All of New England)

• Luckin Coffee's majority shareholder, the private equity firm Centurium Capital, is close to acquiring Blue Bottle Coffee from Nestlé. Bloomberg reports that Nestlé and Centurium are "putting the final touches on a deal", while Chinese news site 36Kr puts the purchase price at "less than $400 million". Nestlé acquired a controlling stake in Blue Bottle for around $425 million in 2017, growing the Bay Area-based specialty chain from 40 to over 100 locations worldwide. According to 36Kr, the deal is for Blue Bottle's cafes, with Nestlé retaining control of the brand's consumer goods business.
• Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is somehow the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, has started a fight with New England by going after the sugar content of Dunkin' beverages. Kennedy singled out Boston-based Dunkin' (as well as Starbucks) for what he says are their overly sugary drinks, to which Massachusetts politicians and social media users responded with various memes and taunts.

Starbucks’ MAHA Misstep

For paid subscribers: What Starbucks’ CEO Brian Niccol’s meeting with Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. says about the company’s embrace of coffee’s wellness trend—and the trend’s darker side.

The PouroverFionn Pooler

• Rather than fight back when their workers decided to unionise (which is the standard response from coffee companies) both Discourse Coffee in Milwaukee and Cat & Cloud in Santa Cruz voluntarily recognised the unions. “There’s no point in building a company if it doesn’t serve people who work in it every day”, Discourse founder and CEO Ryan Castelaz told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

For more on all these stories, check out the full Roundup over at Fresh Cup Magazine:

Coffee News Club: Week of March 9

The government wants a word with Dunkin’ and Starbucks. Luckin’s backer nears Blue Bottle deal, and unionizing heats up from Milwaukee to Santa Cruz.

Fresh CupFionn Pooler

On Friday, paid subscribers received their latest bonus article, which considered what happens to the regulars of chain coffee shops when corporate overlords decide to shut down their local haunt:

Who Mourns the Corporate Cafe Closures?

Even Starbucks and Peet’s stores have regulars who are sad when they close.

The PouroverFionn Pooler

Also last week, everyone finally received my Q&A with Hanan Wazwaz of the Minneapolis coffee shop Sip of Silk:

Coffee Conversations: Hanan Wazwaz on Opening a Palestinian-Salvadoran Cafe in Minneapolis in the Current Moment

The co-founder of Sip of Silk discusses opening a coffee shop and trying to both celebrate her heritage and support her community amidst an ongoing terror campaign by the federal government.

The PouroverFionn Pooler

I'll be back on Friday with a new longread Pourover piece, but until then it's goodbye from my friend Angela's cats Jun and Clem, who are getting ready for St. Patrick's Day: