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Issue link: http://freshcup.epubxp.com/i/139019
OFF THE WIRE Continued from page 19 coffee bean," Jaber says. "It's the coffee that suits your taste, and we can do that really well." Jacob Jaber took the helm of Philz not long after the brand launched its first retail outlet. He was an 18-year-old college dropout ("The people teaching me weren't that interesting," he notes) and has since focused on building a company filled with individuals who are excited about customer service above all else. A press release from Philz in the wake of the Summit partnership notes that up until this deal, the roaster had not utilized any outside funding but was still able to open a dozen new locations over several years. "I was smart enough at a young age to hire people with a wealth of experience who are my direct reports," Jaber says. "They've helped take us to the next level." And how does Philz plan to leverage the major cash influx from Summit? Jaber is hesitant to disclose many details, but it seems the Philz brand will soon be expanding beyond the Bay Area and California. "We have ambitious growth plans but we want to do it in a mindful manner," Jaber says. "Over time we want to be in a lot of great places around the world." The CEO is also quick to bring in a comparison to Starbucks, which also leveraged blends and a unique approach to grow far beyond a single shop. "Similar to how Howard Schultz made the cappuccino and latte popular, we want to in a sense change the way people drink coffee," Jaber says, "by giving them a handcrafted cup in a very personalized fashion." —Dan Leif WORTH THE WEIGHT: INTELLIGENTSIA LAUNCHES TEA COMPANY KILOGRAM When people think of Intelligentsia Coffee & Tea, they likely think of the company's prowess with the first beverage rather than what it does with the latter. But Intelligentsia has long sourced high-quality tea, and for Doug Palas, the company's director of tea, drawing attention to it has been an uphill battle. "Intelligentsia has come to represent good-quality coffee, and it's caused problems for our teas because they've been kind of overlooked," he says. But the company recently made a move to take its tea offerings from backseat to spotlight: In April, Intelligentsia launched a new tea venture called Kilogram. It's a separate company owned by Intelligentsia, and Kilogram-branded teas are now available at all of Intelligentsia's retail stores as well as its Web site. "We wanted to find a way that we could showcase our quality tea and give ourselves an opportunity to be recognized," says Palas. Though not much will change with the move from an infrastructure perspective—Palas says the two-person tea department that was in place at Intelligentsia is now running Kilogram—the new brand will delve deeper into the tea world. "There are a lot of things happening in Asia as far as the tea culture there and a lot of new styles of tea being developed," he says. "We want to focus NEW FACE IN TEXAS: Seattle's Best has opened 10 drive-thrus in the Dallas area, exhibiting one of the growth plans for parent company Starbucks. The idea is to use the Seattle's Best brand to bring a value-focused coffee and 20 Fresh Cup Magazine freshcup.com