Espresso House

Swedish coffeehouse chain From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Espresso House

Espresso House is the largest coffeehouse chain in the Nordic countries.[1][2] The company was founded in Lund, Sweden in 1996 by Elisabet and Charles Asker. In April 2023 it reached over 510 locations throughout Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, and Germany.

Quick Facts Company type, Industry ...
Espresso House
Company typeSubsidiary
Industry
Founded1996; 29 years ago (1996) in Lund, Sweden
Founder
  • Elisabet Asker
  • Charles Asker
Headquarters,
Sweden
Number of locations
510 (2023)
Area served
Denmark, Finland, Germany, Norway, and Sweden
Revenue 1.4 billion SEK (2018)
125.368 million SEK (2018)
-4.940 million SEK (2018)
Total equity 76.820 million SEK
Number of employees
1697 (December 2018)
ParentJAB Holding Company (2015)
SubsidiariesJohan & Nyström
Websiteespressohouse.com
Close

History

Espresso House was founded by the couple Elisabet and Charles Asker with the coffee bar Café Java in Gothenburg. The first café bearing the name Espresso House opened on street Kyrkogatan in Lund 1996.[3] In 2005 the chain consisted of sixteen different cafes, which in March 2018 had expanded to 430 coffee shops.[4] All bread and pastry served is baked by the central bakery Espresso House Bakery in Malmö.[5]

Organisation

JAB Holding Company, who in connection with the purchase of Espresso House also bought Baresso Coffee in Denmark, decided during the fall of 2016 that all 45 cafés in the Danish chain would convert to Espresso House.[6]

One thing that's relatively unique for Espresso House is that all coffee houses are corporate-owned, unlike similar chains, like Starbucks, that sometimes use franchising.[4][7]

Until September 2012, Espresso House was owned by the British private equity firm Palamon Capital Partners, that also acquired the coffee shop chain Coffee Cup that started in Stockholm 1997. The two brands were united under Espresso House. In September 2012, the chain was acquired by the Norwegian private equity firm Herkules Capital that later sold it again in 2015 to the German family business JAB Holding Company.[8]

Locations

As of April 2023, there were 510 stores in the following countries:[9]

More information Country, Number of stores ...
Country Number of stores
Denmark 76
Finland 73
Norway 63
Sweden 258
Germany 40
Close

Impact

Espresso House has been compared to Starbucks in North America in regards to its ubiquity and spread. In Norway, the chain has become a symbol of gentrification and "commercial monoculture".[10][11][12][13]

In January 2022 the Finnish investigative journalism show M.O.T reported multiple occasions of mismanagement, hygiene related issues and employees having monthly working hours exceeding lawful limits.[14]

References

Loading related searches...

Wikiwand - on

Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.