Blue Bottle Coffee
Coffee chain · 140+ locations · US (incl. NYC, Bay Area, Boston, LA), Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong
Blue Bottle is the craft-coffee pioneer Nestlé bought control of in 2017 and is now selling, at a markdown, to Luckin Coffee's private equity backer. Along the way its baristas have unionized, struck and filed twenty unfair-labor-practice charges.
The Big Picture
Nestlé bought control of Blue Bottle in 2017, founder James Freeman left in 2021, and in April 2026 Nestlé confirmed it is selling the cafés to Centurium Capital, Luckin Coffee's controlling shareholder, at about $400 million, down from $700 million. Its baristas have unionized in Boston and the East Bay and struck twice in 2025. The cafés now answer to their next owner.
The Dirty Details
Ownership
Centurium CapitalPrivate Equity
Centurium Capital is a China-focused private equity firm led by chairman and chief executive Hui Li, and it holds the two coffee companies Ferret tracks under it at different stages. At Luckin Coffee it is the controlling shareholder: through affiliates it held 7.6% of the Class A shares, all of the ten-vote Class B shares and all of the senior preferred shares as of February 2026, which together carry 47.8% of the vote, and Hui Li has chaired Luckin's board since April 2025. Abu Dhabi's Mubadala agreed in September 2026 to take a significant minority stake alongside it. Its Blue Bottle position is newer and less settled: Nestle confirmed the sale of Blue Bottle's cafe and retail operations to Centurium in April 2026, and as of September 2026 no source has confirmed the deal formally closed.
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Company data last updated September 2026
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