Jamaica Blue is a franchise business of Foodco which operates small coffee shops throughout Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, China, Malaysia, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates. The company mainly operates businesses in residential areas, malls, airports, hospitals and high streets.[1] In 2012, the first Jamaica Blue cafe opened in Singapore, in that same year the cafe celebrated its 20th anniversary.[2] Jamaica Blue has around 134 cafés internationally in 7 different countries.[3] It opened its 100th store in Australia on 16 October 2014, with the 100th café opened in the new development of Westfield Miranda.[4] Jamaica Blue is the sister company of Muffin Break, which is also a franchise of Foodco.[5]
FoodCo, the owner of Jamaica Blue, does not issue any kind of Sustainability Report, nor do they have any kind of Animal Welfare policy in place.[6]
Cage-Free Eggs
In October 2024, FoodCo has released a statement where they claim they are “committed to the ongoing evolution of our supply chain, to ensure that we are operating sustainably, and with our corporate social responsibility at front of mind”.[7]
Further, they claim they are committed to sourcing eggs from cage-free sources 100% by 2030 in their network. However, they do not require their franchise partners the same. This allows majority of the stores operating under their brands, e.g. Muffin Break and Jamaica Blue, to use caged eggs without any repercussions.
Dozens of leading food and coffee retail businesses in Australia and globally have already committed to using only cage-free eggs, for example Retail Food Group.[8]
This means that Jamaica Blue still continues to use eggs from caged-egg farms with no commitment to change.[9]
Awards
The Jamaica Blue brand have received a number of achievements since beginning their operations:
In 2016, QSR also named Jamaica Blue as the Best Franchise Network Support[10]
In 2016, Jamaice Blue won QSR's Best Innovation – Food & Beverage[11]
In 2017, QSR announced Jamaica Blue as the recipient of the Best Franchise Partner Engagement Award[12]
In 2017, Jamaica Blue was the Golden Bean Roaster's Competition GOLD Winner for the Overall Large Franchise Champion[13]
In 2019, Jamaica Blue were awarded as the QSR Winner of the Best Brand Transformation[14]
In 2019, rated “High Performers” by FRANdata – the independent Australian Franchise Rating Scale. Ratings are given after an independent and fact-based examination.[15]
The City of Wanneroo, working with Alzheimer's WA, Jamaica Blue and Ocean Keys Shopping Centre, will join the growing network of memory cafes at the end of September 2020.
“Memory cafes help reduce stigma and promote a society that enables and supports people living with dementia to remain active in the community rather than be confined within the four walls of their home,” said Alzheimer's WA chief executive, Maria Davison.[16]
In 2020, Jamaica Blue together with their sister company, Muffin Break, raised over $90,000 to assist those affected by the devastating bushfires within Australia[17] by donating to the Australian Red Cross Bush Fire Appeal.
Controversies
In November 2020, Former journalist and Labor candidate Ali France made alleged the Jamaica Blue Indooroopilly store appeared to discriminate against her due to her disabilities and had security escort her from the premises.[18] After publicly discussing the incident on International Day of Persons with Disabilities, it gained significant national media coverage. The next day, the company issued an unreserved apology on behalf of Jamaica Blue and the franchisee, and expressed deep disappointment at the treatment of France.[19]
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