Nestlé to sell Blue Bottle Coffee to Centurium Capital
Nestlé confirms Blue Bottle Coffee sale to Centurium Capital as strong coffee demand boosts Q1 performance across global markets.
USA – Nestlé has confirmed it will proceed with the sale of its Blue Bottle Coffee business to Centurium Capital, marking a strategic shift in its coffee portfolio as the category continues to deliver strong growth.
The company said it has agreed to sell Blue Bottle Coffee to Centurium Capital, with the transaction subject to customary conditions and expected to close in the first half of 2026. Nestlé originally acquired a majority stake in Blue Bottle in 2017 for US$425 million.
As of December 2025, Blue Bottle Coffee operated 78 locations in the United States and more than 100 outlets globally. Centurium Capital, which is also the majority shareholder of Luckin Coffee, brings extensive experience in scaling coffee retail operations, with Luckin operating over 31,000 locations worldwide.
Speaking during a follow-up results discussion with analysts, Nestlé CEO Philipp Navratil confirmed that the agreement covers the entire Blue Bottle business, including its café operations.
“We have Blue Bottle branded capsules on Nespresso that are quite successful and we intend to keep that business sold through Nestlé,” Navratil said. “But all the cafes are obviously in the perimeter of the sale.”
The announcement comes as Nestlé reported solid first-quarter results, driven largely by its coffee segment. Organic growth for the group reached 3.5% in the three months, slightly down from 4% in the fourth quarter of 2025, as an infant formula recall impacted sales in Europe and China.
Navratil highlighted coffee as the strongest-performing category during the period. “Real internal growth was positive across all zones and categories,” he said, adding that coffee “was the star, with recovering volumes and positive mix.”
Organic growth in the coffee division reached 9.3%, supported by real internal growth of 3.5%, significantly outperforming the group’s overall RIG of 1.2%. Coffee generated SFr6 billion in sales, closely trailing the SFr6.18 billion recorded in the food and snacks category.
“We love this category because it’s a category that is resilient,” Navratil told analysts. “This is broad-based, the performance on coffee, and it’s definitely based on performance across all zones, across almost all markets. And it’s strong across all of our brands – Nescafé, Starbucks and Nespresso.”
Chief Financial Officer Anna Manz also pointed to strong performance in key markets. She said the “strength” in Nestlé’s coffee business was evident in the United States and other major markets, including Mexico, Brazil, Chile and Canada.
Manz added that growth in Nespresso “is still led by pricing,” noting that increases are expected to moderate as the company assesses pricing actions taken in 2025 and monitors consumer demand trends.
Sign up HERE to receive our email newsletters with the latest news and insights from Africa and around the world, and follow us on our WhatsApp channel for updates.
