Nestlé Blue Bottle sale – summary
- Nestlé plans to sell Blue Bottle as portfolio streamlining accelerates
- Reports indicate Centurium moving ahead with acquisition discussions
- Sale may involve cafés only rather than full Blue Bottle brand
- Move reflects Nestlé prioritising scalable global coffee businesses
- Deal highlights growing Chinese influence across premium coffee markets
Late last year, we reported that food and beverage giant Nestlé was planning to sell-off Blue Bottle coffee. A move said to be part of a broader strategy to streamline the company’s portfolio under new CEO Philipp Navratil.
Now, US media outlet Yahoo Finance says a deal with Chinese private equity firm Centurium is going ahead. This comes just days after Bloomberg reported the multinational was in “advanced talks” with the Beijing-based conglomerate.
Centurium already owns China’s largest coffee chain, Luckin.
Blue Bottle brand vs cafés
While a deal is clearly in the works, it’s unclear whether Nestlé plans to sell its entire stake in Blue Bottle, or whether it’s offloading the cafés alone.
The fact Blue Bottle Coffee products still feature on Nestlé’s website would imply the latter, though the Swiss multinational remains tight-lipped on the situation.
Nestlé and Blue Bottle Coffee
Nestlé bought a majority stake in Blue Bottle Coffee back in 2017, valuing the premium roaster at roughly $700m (€602m).
At the time, it was seen as a way for Nestlé to capture the fast-growing specialty coffee segment, complementing its powerhouse brands Nescafé and Nespresso.
The California-based coffee brand operates around 100 locations across the United States and Asia, as well as selling Blue Bottle-branded products like coffee grounds and mugs.
What this means for Nestlé
If the sale goes ahead, it would mark a significant shift in Nestlé’s approach to the premium coffee market.
Blue Bottle was once positioned as the group’s answer to the surging demand for high‑end, artisan-style coffee, a counterweight to mass‑market Nescafé and the more premium but still mainstream Nespresso.
Offloading the cafés, or potentially the entire brand, suggests Nestlé is doubling down on scalable, global businesses, rather than capital‑intensive retail footprints.
It would also highlight the company’s continued push, under CEO Philipp Navratil, to streamline the sprawling portfolio and refocus investment on categories with higher margins and faster growth trajectories – though coffee remains one of those categories.
For now, what happens next is still far from certain. Until Nestlé confirms the scope of any deal, the future of Blue Bottle remains open to speculation. We’ll be watching developments closely as the story continues to unfold.
Nestlé declined request for comment.
