The Freaky Bean Coffee Company

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The Freaky Bean Coffee Company
Type	Private
Founded	in October of 2005 by Andrew Kessler and Jonathan Stratton.
Headquarters	Westbrook, Maine, Maine, USA
Key people	Jonathan Stratton, President Andrew Kessler, V.P. Creative & E-commerce Gary Woodworth, V.P. Logistics
Industry	Restaurants Retail Coffee and Tea Retail Beverages Entertainment
Products	Whole Bean Coffee Boxed Tea Made-to-order beverages Bottled beverages Baked Goods Merchandise
Employees	50 (Mar '08)
Subsidiaries	Maine Roasters Coffee
Website	Freakybean.com

The Freaky Bean Coffee Company is an independent, Maine, United States-based specialty coffee house and roaster, with retail locations, a roasting division, and wholesale accounts. The Freaky Bean is the largest independent coffee company in Maine.^[1]

The Freaky Bean currently has five locations, with a sixth opening in July 2008.

As of March 2008, the members of the company board were Jonathan Stratton. Andrew Kessler, Gary Woodworth, Jon Ricci, Jim Walsh, Jim Talbot, Jim Mclaughlin, Einar Seadler and Randy Male.

Contents 1 History 2 Products 3 Name 4 Logo 5 References

[edit] History

The original Freaky Bean opened in June of 2006 at the Willowdale Place business complex on Route 1 in Scarborough, Maine.^[2]

In March, 2007, The Freaky Bean was one of 30 companies honored as “outstanding role models of entrepreneurship,” by The Maine Small Business Development Center. ^[3]

In July, 2007, the Freaky Bean opened its second retail location and its Headquarters/ Roasting Operations Hub and Distribution Center on Main Street in Downtown Westbrook, Maine. In addition to being a coffee raostery and distribution center, this location includes Maine's only public coffee cupping Room.

In December, 2007, the Freaky Bean Coffee Company announced its agreement to purchase Maine Roasters Coffee Company. This purchase included coffee shops located in Yarmouth and Falmouth, ME, as well as it's wholesale business. ^[4]

In May, 2008 the Freaky Bean will open it's 5th retail location at the new Gateway complex in Scarborough, ME. This complex is anchored by the national sporting goods retail outlet Cabela’s.^[5]

It will also open it's 6th retail location on Broadway Ave. in South Portland, ME. This location will be the first drive-thru location for the Freaky Bean.^[6]

In May, 2008 the Freaky Bean was selected as the Official Coffee of The American Pavilion of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France. Freaky Bean will be the only coffee available at the Pavilion.

[edit] Products

The Freaky Bean serves a variety coffee and espresso-based drinks as well hot chocolate, and organic, teas, along with their version of a blended ice coffee drink, the Freakazoid.

[edit] Name

The Freaky Bean name was whittled down from about 400 names. Some of the previous choices from their list were Dirigo Coffee, Sublime Coffee, and Waxing Poetic.

The folk tale that has been spread about the origin of the Freaky Bean name states that it was created when Jon Stratton's wife had an epiphany while taking a shower. She leaned out of the shower and yelled, "Call it the Freaky Bean!" to Jon.

[edit] Logo

The Freaky Bean's round logo is based upon a statue found at the Mayan temples in Central America. Designed by Arielle Walrath, a local Maine designer and illustrator ^[7], the stone statue's design was illustrated to show the mayan character juggling a coffee cup, a coffee bean, and a freshly baked muffin.

A second logo was created for use use in smaller spaces. This logo consists of the company's name, with a coffee cup in the middle with steam emanating from it.

Both logos are used interchangeably within the companies stores, literature and branding.

[edit] References