The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf to take over specialty coffee market

MANILA, Philippines - To become the best specialty coffee company in the Philippines, The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf knows one needs to run on more than just caffeine.

Which is why at the recently held International Conference in Cebu, The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf’s president and chief executive officer Melvin Elias emphasized how the company’s 50-year heritage is what keeps it strong everywhere it goes.

“Our passion in giving our customers only the best coffee and tea in the world comes from almost 50 years of experience and heritage,” says Elias, “and this is why we are unfazed by the competition no matter how big they are.”

Founded in 1963, The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf was born and brewed in the sunny state of California by its founder, Herbert Hymann, who is more famous as the father of gourmet coffee in California.

Since then, it has grown into the largest privately owned, family-run coffee and tea company in the world. In the US alone, it has branches in San Francisco, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Honolulu, Texas, and Detroit, all over Southern California — including Los Angeles, San Diego, Santa Barbara and Ventura — as well as Hawaii.

As an international chain, The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf is also serving its signature brews in Australia, Brunei, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Israel, Korea, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mexico, Qatar, Singapore, Sri Lanka, United Arab Emirates and, of course, in the Philippines.

“And with the increasingly discerning taste profile of Filipinos, we are very confident in our expansion in this market,” says Elias. “If taste matters to you, then we’re the brand for you.”

With the finest and rarest selection of coffees and loose-leaf teas from the most exclusive estates in the world, The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf prides itself on innovative products made from only top-grade ingredients. “Over the years, we have worked on building and strengthening relationships with individual farms and estates so that we can be assured of the best coffee and tea harvests available,” says Elias.

He further states that unlike their competitors, The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf is not a reseller of beans. “We know where each bean and leaf we use for our products and serve our customers come from,” says Elias. This commitment to giving only the best to their customers is what differentiates them from their competitors, he says.

“Quality has always been our strength as a company and the success we’ve had for more than 50 years has taught us to keep it that way,” says Elias. “We are not here to be the biggest, we are here to be the best.”