Food & Beverage

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NEW YORK, July 6 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ -- More than 130 years ago, two brothers left their homeland in the Basque region of Spain in pursuit of a dream: to grow the best quality coffee beans that would produce the perfect cup of coffee with every serving.

Today, the dream of Jose Maria and Ramon Gavina lives on with every cup of coffee served in more than 3,000 McDonald's restaurants throughout most of the West division. Family-owned Gavina Gourmet Coffee of Los Angeles has served as one of the major coffee suppliers to the global restaurant chain since 1983 and helped formulate the company's successful line of McCafe specialty coffee drinks recently launched on a national level.

With Gavina's help, McDonald's share of the beverage segment has jumped to more than 10%, fueled largely by the introduction of Premium Roast Coffee in 2005. In May, the company expanded its lineup of coffee offerings with espresso-based hot beverages and iced coffee drinks.

"When you look at how McDonald's has grown its coffee business over the last three years, it's truly an amazing success story that wouldn't have been possible without the support of our partners at Gavina," said Mary Munoz, New Products Supply Chain Manager for McDonald's.

In the 1860s, the Gavina brothers left their homeland in Spain for the coffee-bearing soil of the southern Cuban mountains. The Gavina's plantation in Cuba, Hacienda Buenos Aires, produced the finest coffee on the island and established the region's coffee community.

Company patriarch Don Francisco was born on the plantation and learned the intricacies of growing and roasting the highest quality coffee beans. He worked the fields, learning how to pick and dry the beans slowly and how to judge which ones were the best quality. That commitment to quality continues to this day in coffee produced under the company's own brands and for McDonald's.

When the Castro regime took control of the island in 1959, Don Francisco moved the family to Southern California. He found work as a restaurant busboy, but the lure of the coffee business pulled hard, and in 1967 he purchased used roasting equipment and launched the Gavina brand.

Don Francisco's commitment to quality lives on today under the leadership of his four children, Leonor, Pedro, Jose, and Francisco "Paco", who oversee all aspects of the operation from a gleaming new 240,000 square-foot plant in Vernon, CA that houses 250 employees.

Today, Gavina is the largest privately owned coffee roaster in the country. The company's three primary brands, Don Francisco's Gourmet Coffee, Cafe La Llave Espresso, and Gavina Gourmet Coffee, are available in markets across the country and account for more than $100 million in sales annually.

Gavina's relationship with McDonald's began in 1983 when it became the supplier for 10 local restaurants. The account soon grew to include all of Southern California, and eventually almost the entire West division.

When McDonald's decided to pursue the beverage business and reformulate its coffee, Gavina was ready for the task. The Gavina and McDonald's teams worked closely together to devise the perfect blend of beans that became Premium Roast Coffee. The result has been a dramatic surge in coffee sales that quenched the country's thirst for convenient, quality, affordably priced coffee. The introduction of McDonald's McCafe beverages includes espresso-based coffees such as cappuccinos, lattes, mochas, iced lattes and iced mochas, as well as hot and iced Premium Roast brewed coffees and hot chocolate. All McCafe Coffees can be customized with flavored syrups, including Caramel, Hazelnut, Vanilla and sugar-free Vanilla, and can be topped with rich, decadent chocolate, frothy milk and whipped cream.

Gavina's commitment to its community is as strong as its commitment to quality. "Giving back to the community is just the way we were brought up," Leonor explains. The company supports organizations that assist small coffee growers in Latin America, provides funding for local education and cancer organizations, and supplies coffee to Ronald McDonald Houses and supports RMHC(R)/HACER(R) and other McDonald's causes.

"McDonald's has given us the opportunity to prove ourselves," Leonor says. "We can't just sit back and start fanning ourselves; we've got to keep growing with McDonald's and our own brands."

And with an assortment of nieces and nephews spending time at the plant, the Gavina family tradition is sure to continue for many generations to come.

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SOURCE Gavina