MJB Coffee is an American brand of coffee that is owned by Massimo Zanetti Beverage USA.

History

After the

California Gold Rush The California gold rush (1848–1855) began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California from the rest of the U ...

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

became a center of coffee importing and roasting in the

western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Western States, the Far West, the Western territories, and the West) is List of regions of the United States, census regions United States Census Bureau. As American settlement i ...

, spawning such future industry giants as Folgers Coffee and Hills Brothers Coffee. In 1881 Max J. Brandenstein (1860-1925), son of tobacco wholesaler

Joseph Brandenstein Joseph Brandenstein (1826–1910) was a German-born American businessman and philanthropist. Biography Brandenstein was born to a Jewish family in 1826 in Hümme, Germany. In 1850, he immigrated to California and settled in Placerville, Califor ...

, began roasting coffee in the

San Francisco Bay San Francisco Bay (Chochenyo language, Chochenyo: 'ommu) is a large tidal estuary in the United States, U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the cities of San Francisco, California, San ...

Area. In 1899 he established a tea, spice and coffee import business in his name that took over his brand with the assistance of brothers Mannie, Charlie, and Eddie. The firm's name was later changed to the MJB Co. to minimize sibling rivalry and disguise their German-Jewish origins. In her 1978 memoir ''Coffee, Martinis and San Francisco'', Ruth Bransten McDougall, the granddaughter of the founder, wrote that her father Mannie Brandenstein changed his name to Bransten to protect the business against anti-German sentiments during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, as well as to please his wife, whose family originated from France. In 1900 Mannie Brandenstein debuted what was to become a well-known advertising campaign: "MJB Coffee Why?" In time, signs bearing the slogan appeared all over the San Francisco Bay Area.

"In 1898, Edward Norton, of New York, was granted a United States patent on a vacuum process for canning foods, subsequently applied to coffee. Others followed. Hills Brothers, of San Francisco, were the first to pack coffee in a vacuum, under the Norton patents, in 1900. M.J. Brandenstein & Company, of San Francisco, began to pack coffee in vacuum cans in 1914."

For the Panama-Pacific International Exposition of 1915 MJB created a temporary "ultramodern"

coffee house A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café (), is an establishment that serves various types of coffee, espresso, latte, Caffè americano, americano and cappuccino, among other hot beverages. Many coffeehouses in West Asia offer ''shisha'' (actually ...

featuring a giant cup and saucer on the roof with the illuminated word "WHY." In the 1940s, MJB got endorsement from several of the industry’s glitterati, including the ''

Cherokee Strip The Cherokee Outlet, or Cherokee Strip, was located in what is now the state of Oklahoma in the United States. It was a parcel of land south of the Oklahoma–Kansas border between 96 and 100°W. The Cherokee Outlet was created in 1836. The U ...

'' film stars promoting the brand. Moreover, a 1970s TV campaign of MJB taglined "tastes good when it should" featured actress

Teri Garr Terry Ann Garr (December 11, 1944 – October 29, 2024), known as Teri Garr, was an American actress. Known for her comedic roles in film and television in the 1970s and 1980s, she often played women struggling to cope with the life-changing ex ...

. The campaign's success led to her being discovered by director

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg ( ; born December 18, 1946) is an American filmmaker. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, Spielberg is widely regarded as one of the greatest film directors of all time and is ...

, who cast her in his film ''

Close Encounters of the Third Kind ''Close Encounters of the Third Kind'' is a 1977 American science fiction film, science fiction drama film written and directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Richard Dreyfuss, Melinda Dillon, Teri Garr, Bob Balaban, Cary Guffey, and François ...

''. Ruth Bransten McDougall, Mannie’s daughter wrote a book named ''Under Mannie’s Hat'' that is a collection of memoirs of their family and brand history. MJB was acquired by Nestle in 1985. The San Francisco headquarters were closed in 1997. In 1999 Sara Lee Corp. acquired MJB, Hills Brothers, and Chase & Sanborn from Nestle. In 2005 MJB, Hills Brothers, Chase & Sanborn, and Chock full o'Nuts were purchased by

Massimo Zanetti Beverage Group Massimo Zanetti Beverage Group is an Italian coffee company that owns multiple brands. Massimo Zanetti developed the firm starting in the 1970s after he moved to Bologna and acquired a local company called Segafredo, a historic coffee producer wi ...

from Sara Lee for $82.5 million.

References

External links

Official websiteMassimo Zanetti Beverage USA
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mjb (Coffee) 1881 establishments in California Coffee brands Drink companies based in California Food and drink in the San Francisco Bay Area History of San Francisco Massimo Zanetti brands Nestlé brands Sara Lee Corporation brands