Bryan Meehan is an Irish businessman and formally the executive chair of Blue Bottle Coffee Company. He also created Fresh and Wild organic markets in London, and then founded the all-natural skincare beauty line, Nude with Bono and Ali Hewson. Meehan is now focused on climate related projects including Dromgarriff Rainforest in Glengarriff, Ireland and since 2018 has served on The Global Sustainability Board at Nestle. His investments and philanthropy are heavily focused on projects that are positively impacting climate change.
Meehan led a major investment of Blue Bottle Coffee in 2012. [1] Blue Bottle Coffee Company is a US coffee roaster and retailer headquartered in Oakland, California and considered a major player in third wave coffee. The company was founded by James Freeman in 2002. Blue Bottle currently has stores in the San Francisco Bay Area, LA, New York, Cambridge, Boston, Miami, & Japan. In 2015, the company raised $73,000,000 in a round led by Fidelity Investments. [2] Other investors include Jared Leto, Tony Hawk, Chris Sacca & Bono.[ citation needed ]
Meehan developed the idea of bringing organic stores to the UK after seeing the Whole Foods Organic Supermarket concept while living in Boston and studying at Harvard Business School [3] and Trinity College in Dublin. Meehan came back to London in 1998 and set up organic Fresh & Wild stores with Hass Hassan (founder of Alfalfas/Wild Oats in US). [4]
Meehan and Hass built the Fresh & Wild chain to seven stores, the largest chain of natural and organic food supermarkets in the UK. Widely popular with high-income earning Londoners, the stores amassed over 40,000 shoppers a week. In 2004, they sold the business to US-based Whole Foods Market. [5]
Meehan launched 'Nude Skincare' in 2007. Using his experience with organic food, Meehan spent two years learning about skincare, building a careful understanding of ingredients and clinical testing. [5]
Good friend Ali Hewson is the inspiration, investor and 'muse' of the brand and supermodels Christy Turlington and Helena Christensen are keen devotees. [6]
A supermarket is a self-service shop offering a wide variety of food, beverages and household products, organized into sections. This kind of store is larger and has a wider selection than earlier grocery stores, but is smaller and more limited in the range of merchandise than a hypermarket or big-box market. In everyday U.S. usage, however, "grocery store" is often used to mean "supermarket".
Wm Morrison Supermarkets Limited, trading as Morrisons, is the fifth largest supermarket chain in the United Kingdom. As of 2021, the company had 497 supermarkets across England, Wales and Scotland, and one in Gibraltar. The company is headquartered in Bradford, England.
Whole Foods Market, Inc., a subsidiary of Amazon, is an American multinational supermarket chain headquartered in Austin, Texas, which sells products free from hydrogenated fats and artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives. A USDA Certified Organic grocer in the United States, the chain is popularly known for its organic selections. As of March 4, 2019, Whole Foods has more than 500 stores in North America and seven in the United Kingdom.
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SuperValu, Inc., was an American wholesaler and retailer of grocery products. The company, formerly headquartered in the Minneapolis suburb of Eden Prairie, Minnesota, had been in business since 1926. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of United Natural Foods (UNFI).
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Wild Oats Marketplace is a producer of natural and organic food distributed through partnerships in the United States.
Earth Fare is an American health and wellness supermarket with 20 locations in 8 states throughout the Southeast United States. It sells natural and organic food that the company claimed to have the highest product standards in the United States, and was one of the largest natural and organic food retailers in the country. After closing all stores in February 2020, three locations reopened in June 2020 and a total of 20 locations operate as of March 2021.
Alison Hewson is an Irish activist and businesswoman. She is married to singer and musician Paul Hewson, known as Bono, from the rock group U2.
Bristol Farms is an upscale grocery store chain in California, United States. Founded in Los Angeles County, Bristol Farms operates 19 stores: 14 as Bristol Farms locations and 5 branded as Lazy Acres Markets throughout Southern California. The company is currently owned by Good Food Holdings.
Coop amba, formerly FDB is a cooperative based in Denmark. The coop has 1.9 million members and three subsidiaries. The Coop Danmark subsidiary operates the retail store chains of Kvickly, Brugsen, SuperBrugsen, Dagli'Brugsen, LokalBrugsen, Fakta, Coop 365 and Irma supermarkets as well as the furniture company FDB Møbler. The last two subsidiaries comprise Coop Bank and Coop Invest.
Central Group is a Thai multinational conglomerate consisting of subsidiaries in retail, property development, brand management, hospitality, and food and beverage sectors.
The Save Mart Companies is an American grocery store operator founded and headquartered in Modesto, California. It owns and operates stores under the names of Save Mart, Lucky, Lucky California, FoodMaxx, and Maxx Value Foods. The stores are located in northern and central California and northern Nevada.
EDUN is a fashion brand founded by Ali Hewson and Bono in 2005 to promote trade in Africa by sourcing production throughout the continent. In 2009 EDUN became part of the LVMH group. In June 2018, LVMH sold their shares back to the founders.
Sunflower Farmers Market was an American chain of full-service grocery stores headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, which emphasized value-priced natural and organic products. Sunflower opened its first store in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 2002. In June 2013, Sunflower Farmers Market was operating 38 grocery stores located in eight Southwestern states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Oklahoma and Texas. In June 2012, Sunflower merged with Sprouts Farmers Markets.
Blue Bottle Coffee, Inc., is a coffee roaster and retailer once headquartered in Oakland, California, United States. In 2017, a majority stake in the company was acquired by Nestlé (68%). It is a major player in third wave coffee. The company focuses on single-origin beans.
Beautycounter is an American direct to consumer company that sells skin care and cosmetic products. As of 2018, the company had 150 products with over 65,000 independent consultants, and with national retailers.
Food Lover's Market is a South African supermarket chain that operates franchised grocery stores and convenience stores in Southern Africa. The company is a member of the Franchise Association of South Africa. As of 2022, there are over 300 stores in South Africa, 2 in Botswana and 3 in Namibia.