Café Bustelo

Café Bustelo is an American coffee brand owned by The J.M. Smucker Company.

Café Bustelo

Product type	Coffee
Owner	J.M. Smucker
Country	U.S.
Introduced	1928; 97 years ago (1928) by Gregorio Menendez Bustelo
Website	cafebustelo.com

History

Gregorio Menéndez Bustelo (1892–1965) traveled from his native Asturias, Spain^[a] to Cuba as a young man, and moved to the United States in 1917.^[5] He founded the Café Bustelo coffee company in East Harlem, New York in 1928.^[6] His product became popular among Cuban exiles who preferred to prepare it in espresso coffeemakers rather than the then-common method of filtering it through a coffee "sock".^[7] The company remained successful throughout the 20th century, and was known for its distinctive yellow and red cans.^[6]

Café Bustelo was purchased by Rowland Coffee Roasters of Miami in 2000.^[6] Rowland was acquired by the Cuban-American Souto family the same year, and sold to the J.M. Smucker Company in 2011.^[7]

Cultural impact

Bustelo gained a particular cachet among artistic and hipster subcultures in the 1990s and 2000s. It is referenced by name in the song "Today 4 U" from the 1996 musical Rent.^[6]

The Bustelo image and logo have also been creatively utilized by multiple artists who use the Bustelo theme in their paintings, prints, etc.^{[8][9][10][11][12][13][14]}

Notes

1. Bustelo has been cited as being born in Galicia in numerous occasions,^[1][2] but immigration records name Luarca as his birth place.^[3][4]