| Traded as | TWSE: 2723 |
|---|---|
| Industry | Food |
| Founded | 2004 |
| Headquarters | Taichung City |
| Key people | Wu Cheng-Hsueh, President and Founder |
| Products | Bread, Cake, Coffee, Tea |
| Website | www.85cafe.com |
85°C Bakery Cafe (85度C) is a Taiwanese chain of coffee shops run by Gourmet Master Co., Ltd. The company, with an estimated yearly revenue of $200 million, was founded in 2004 by tea shop owner Wu Cheng-hsueh and currently has over 325 branches located within Taiwan (Republic of China)[1] and Australia. Known as the "Starbucks of Taiwan", in 2008, the company opened its first US location in Irvine, California.[2][3] During the 2008 Chinese milk scandal, 85C posted signs that read, "None of our dairy products were directly or indirectly made using China-made products" (see photo caption).
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Wu Cheng-Hsueh, President and founder of 85℃ Bakery Cafe, opened the first shop in Bao-Ping, Taipei County, July 2004. Once opened, the shop was serving almost 2000 guests per day and selling over 2000 cups of coffee as well. This built a foundation to quickly open the second shop in Yuan Toun, Taipei County, in August 2004. Following the success of the two stores, a third store was opened in Goun Yi, in Taichung City, which marked the beginning of the franchising name 85℃ in November 2004. The name "85C" refers to Wu's belief that 85 °C (185 °F) is the optimal temperature to serve coffee.[4]
It became listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange in November 2010 with 3.85 million shares in its IPO.[5]
85℃ Bakery Cafe sells a wide variety of goods including breads, cakes, and drinks. While most of the branches of the store are relatively successful, the Irvine branch that opened on September 26, 2009 is the highest grossing store of the company. This store bases the majority of its sales on the pastries. The breads incorporate European, Japanese, Taiwanese, and Danish styled flavors and consist of over 80 varieties. A few of their top sellers include the Berrytale, Marble Taro,andBrioche. The Cakes department also has items ranging from the Italian Tiramisu to the German Black Forest to the Taiwanese Taro Cake.
Another contributing factor for their success is the Sea Salt Coffee. The coffee is made by sweetening their iced Americano and adding a sea salt whipped cream on the top. This coffee has been featured in Times, CNN, and NPR[6]. The concept of this drink supposedly came from the Taiwanese habit of sprinkling salt on fruit to bring out the sweetness. They are now selling over 400 cups a day. A large part of this success is due to the high quality coffee beans they use as well. They only use premium Guatemalan Dark Roast Arabica coffee beans. In 2004 Wu Cheng Hsueh went to the source of Starbucks’ most popular beans and persuaded the Guatemalan supplier to sell him all of his Arabica beans. All of these factors contribute to the “Low Price Luxury” concept of the company.
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