MJB (coffee) - History

History

After the California Gold Rush, San Francisco became a center of coffee importing and roasting in the western United States, spawning such future industry giants as Folgers Coffee and Hills Brothers Coffee.

In 1881 Max J. Brandenstein began producing coffee in the Bay. In 1899 he established a 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 minimise sibling rivalry and disguise their German-Jewish origins.

(Addendum by a family member: Some say that the name MJB was to hide the family's German Jewish origins. But as a member of the Brandenstein family (now "Bransten") I disagree. Our family was always proud of being Jewish and I sincerely doubt there would ever have been an effort to hide that. On the other hand, the German origin of the name caused a change from Brandenstein to Bransten during World War I. However, this would have no bearing on the original naming of MJB.)

In 1910 Mannie Brandenstein debuted what was to become a well-known advertising campaign: "MJB Coffee Why?", beginning with a promotional fans giveaway at a boxing match in Reno, Nevada. In time, signs bearing the slogan appeared all over San Francisco.

For the Panama-Pacific International Exposition of 1915 MJB created a temporary "ultramodern" coffee house featuring a giant cup and saucer on the roof with the illuminated word "WHY".

MJB was acquired by Nestle in 1985. 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 from Sara Lee for US$82.5 million.