United States: 59 shops [2]
Australia: 12 shops [3]
85 °C Bakery Café, also brand-named 85 Cafe, 85C Daily Cafe, or 85 Degrees C (Chinese :85度C; pinyin :Bāshíwû Dù C), is a Taiwanese international chain of retailers selling coffee, tea, and cakes, as well as desserts, smoothies, fruit juices, souvenirs, and bakery products. [5] It has 1000 retail shops worldwide. [6] The chain's parent company (Gourmet Master Co. Ltd) is located in the Cayman Islands. [4]
Wu Cheng-hsueh incorporated the company in January 2003 and opened the first shop in Bao-Ping, Taipei County (now New Taipei) in July 2004. [7] The name "85C" refers to Wu's belief that 85 °C (185 °F) is the optimal temperature to serve coffee. [8]
In September 2006, the company opened its first overseas store in Sydney Australia. [7] A year later, the first store in China was opened in Shanghai. [7] The first store in Hong Kong was opened in 2012, [9] the first store in the United States in 2008, in Irvine. [10] [11] The US central kitchen began operations in September 2013. [9] In March 2017, the chain's United States central kitchen in Brea, California became its first solar-powered facility worldwide. [12]
In 2016, 67% of the chain's revenue came from China, while 18% came from Taiwan. [9] In 2013, the average US store generated more than US$700,000 in monthly sales, seven times more than an average store in China. [13]
The chain is known for their sea salt coffee, made by sweetening their iced Americano and adding a sea salt whipped cream on the top. This coffee has been featured on TIME Magazine, CNN, and NPR. [14] The concept of this drink supposedly came from the Taiwanese habit of sprinkling salt on fruit to bring out the sweetness. [15]
In China, 85C Bakery Cafe stores are advertised as being from Taiwan, but, in reality, the chain's main company (Gourmet Master Co. Ltd) is registered in the Cayman Islands. [16] Because this mother company is registered in the Cayman Islands, R.O.C. laws do not apply. After being established in Taiwan in 2004 and undergoing equity restructuring in September 2009, [4] the mother company became listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange in November 2010 [4] under the statute of a foreign company of first listing (thus designated as an "F share," with the "F" denoting "Foreign"). [16]
Because the company is listed as an "F share", Wu Cheng-hsueh and other major shareholders pay 20 percent marginal tax rate on the dividends they receive instead of the top marginal tax rate of 40 percent they would have to pay as shareholders in a Taiwanese company. In the 2011 fiscal year, for example, such dividends received by Wu Cheng-hsueh amounted to more than NT$10 million in tax revenues lost to the Taiwanese government. [16]
Furthermore, because "Gourmet Master Co. Ltd" is registered in and retains profits in the low-tax haven Cayman Islands, in 2010, for example, Taiwan lost NT$167 million in corporate taxes which tax agencies otherwise would have been able to collect if the pre-tax profit had been fully reported by a company in Taiwan. [16]
When the company became publicly listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange in November 2010, it had 3.85 million shares in its IPO. [13] [17]
In August 2018, an LA branch of Taiwanese-owned 85C Bakery Cafe served Tsai Ing-wen and gave her an "enthusiastic welcome". Chinese customers of branches in mainland China called for a boycott, while the chain's statement "distancing itself from pro-independence sentiments" angered Taiwanese people, who accused 85C of "bowing to Chinese pressure". [18]
In 2017, Shanghai's market supervision department found that the so-called "pork floss bread" sold in Shanghai at 85 °C was not actually made with pure pork floss, but rather was made of "pork floss powder" and contained both pork and pea powder. The department believed that this behavior violated the Consumer Protection Law of the People's Republic of China and imposed a fine of Renminbi 150,000. [19]
On 24 July 2015, the newspaper China Times reported that a green tea of a retail store in Taoyuan, Taiwan, analyzed by the Department of Public Health of that city during a sampling event, contained 4.7 times as much bacteria as what would be allowed according to the standard set by that Department. This may have been due to poor sanitation or quality of ingredients or inappropriate handling during the production process. [20]
In 2008, the "95 Youth Labor Union" investigated 50 stores of 85C Bakery Cafe, of which 32 were found to be involved in unlawful practices. Among them, 22 stores were in violation of wage regulations and 29 were employing uninsured workers. [21]
From 2009 to October 2014, in Sydney, Australia, 85 °C Bakery Cafe paid four workers (three Taiwanese nationals on Working Holiday Visas and one PRC Chinese exchange student) only 56% of the lawful minimum wage. The Australian Fair Work Ombudsman ordered 85C Bakery Cafe to reimburse the workers for a total of 42,775 [AUD] it would have paid them had they been employed working for the minimum wage they would be legally entitled to. In January 2021 this enforceable undertaking was allegedly breached in a new claim by the Fair Work Commission which cites a fake student trainee program was a scheme to underpay foreign workers. [22]
A mooncake is a Chinese bakery product traditionally eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋節). The festival is about lunar appreciation and Moon watching, and mooncakes are regarded as an indispensable delicacy. Mooncakes are offered between friends or on family gatherings while celebrating the festival. The Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the four most important Chinese festivals.
99 Ranch Market (simplified Chinese: 大华超级市场
Einstein Bros. Bagels is an American chain that specializes in bagels and coffee.
The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf is an American coffee shop chain founded in 1963. It is owned and operated by Jollibee Foods Corporation, which has its corporate headquarters in Pasig City, Philippines. As of 2017, the chain has over 1,000 self-owned and franchised stores in the United States and 31 other countries.
Bruegger's Enterprises, Inc. is a restaurant operator and subsidiary of the Luxembourg-based company JAB Holding Company. It and its wholly owned subsidiary Threecaf Brands Canada, Inc., are franchisers and operators of Bruegger's bakery-cafés, and Michel's Baguette.
Au Bon Pain is an American fast casual restaurant, bakery, and café chain headquartered in Richardson, Texas and operating over 250 locations in the United States, India, and Thailand. The company is owned by Panera Bread, which is owned by JAB Holding Company. JAB is owned by the Reimann family of Germany.
Mister Donut is a fast food franchise founded in the United States in 1956 by Harry Winokur. The primary offerings include doughnuts, coffee, muffins and pastries. After being acquired by Allied Domecq in 1990, most of the North American stores became Dunkin' Donuts. Outside of the United States, Mister Donut maintains a presence in Japan, El Salvador, Philippines, Thailand, Taiwan, Lagos and Ibadan in Nigeria.
Corner Bakery Cafe is an American chain of cafes that specialize in pastries, breads, breakfast dishes, gourmet sandwiches, homemade soups, salads, and pasta. Corner Bakery Cafe is considered to be a part of the fast casual market segment of the food service industry, offering a somewhat higher quality of food and atmosphere than a typical fast food restaurant, and offering limited table service.
Maxim's Caterers Limited is a Hong Kong based food, beverage and restaurant chain. It is jointly owned by Dairy Farm International Holdings Limited and Hong Kong Caterers Ltd.
Cooplands is the third largest bakery chain in the UK with over 160 outlets and 12 cafes located across Yorkshire, County Durham and Lincolnshire in the United Kingdom. Cooplands produces takeaway food chiefly for the lunch-time trade, specialising in sandwiches, pasties, desserts, cakes, and bread. It competes with other local cafés and takeaway outlets, and national and international high street food chains and franchises.
Marvellous Mmmuffins, also known as mmmuffins, is a former Canadian restaurant chain that sells coffee and muffins. It was established in 1979 and granted its first franchise in 1980.
Lee's Sandwiches International, Inc., is a Vietnamese-American fast food restaurant chain headquartered in San Jose, California, with locations in several states and in Taiwan. Lee's Sandwiches specializes in bánh mì, "European-style" baguette sandwiches, Vietnamese iced coffee, and Vietnamese dessert chè. It is credited with having helped to popularize Vietnamese sandwiches and iced coffee among mainstream American consumers and inspiring several other Vietnamese-owned bakery chains.
Café Britt is a Costa Rican company that produces and markets gourmet coffee, chocolate and other products. They create and sponsor coffee-related tourism and education in Costa Rica. Products are sold in retailers, online, in Britt Café • Bakery locations, and in Grupo Britt-owned Morpho Travel shops. The company currently employs around 450 people. Its coffee-roasting and chocolate-making operations are based in Costa Rica, Peru, and Colombia.
Kahala Brands is a wholly owned subsidiary of Canada-based MTY Food Group Inc. of Montreal, Quebec. Based in Scottsdale, Arizona, Kahala is one of North America's largest holding company of franchise fast food restaurant companies. In May 2016, the publicly traded Canadian MTY Food Group announced a friendly takeover deal with the Kahala Brands. MTY agreed to pay about US$300 million to acquire Kahala. The two companies generated near $2 billion in revenues in the previous year. Jeff Smit was chosen to lead the US operations of MTY.
Master Kong is the largest instant noodle producer in China.
Jollibee Foods Corporation is a Filipino multinational company based in Pasig, Philippines. JFC is the owner of the fast food brand Jollibee.
2018-06-13