Press

SAN RAFAEL, CA – Elevate Gourmet Brands is proud to promote Angelita Velasco to Regional Manager, SFO.

Ms Velasco has distinguished herself over the last 6 years with EGB as Area Manager of SFO airport’s high volume properties including Green Beans Coffee locations at Terminals 1, 3, and International G, as well as Pronto! kiosk locations. In her new role, Ms Velasco will coordinate the  Green Beans Coffee locations at SFO, and emerging Pronto! brand.

Ms Velasco came to Elevate Gourmet Brands with an extensive background in operations and management, having served at Cinemark Theatres in Marin, CA as a General Manager with a focus on launching new Century locations, onboarding, and staff mentorship.

“My life’s calling has always been about serving people, whether its making a latte or helping a lost family find their way around the airport.” Angelita said. “That philosophy also translates to my passion for building our teams, and developing baristas into perhaps future business managers. I’m proud to work alongside a great group of people at Elevate Gourmet Brands who share the same spirit of fortitude and diligence- especially considering the challenges of the pandemic. I am grateful for the opportunity to steward our EGB team as our company gains ground at SFO!”

SAN RAFAEL, CA – Elevate Gourmet Brands^® is pleased to announce Benedikt Reifler has joined EGB as its new Chief Financial Officer. Benedikt, formerly CFO at Philz Coffee, brings 22 years of financial executive experience in the hospitality industry to Elevate Gourmet Brands, with a proven track record of value creation.

Originally from Switzerland, Benedikt started his career in banking and after completing business school, he moved to the Bay Area for its mild weather, cultural diversity, and forward-thinking mindset. He’s an incisive and focused leader with experience with several US brands including Philz Coffee and Tavistock Restaurants, where he built strong financial and administrative foundations, allowing them to successfully expand their footprint. He was a key player in growing Philz Coffee from 14 to 55 coffee shops and Tavistock Restaurants from 17 to 115 restaurants (with a mix of fine dining, casual and quick service concepts all across the US). Benedikt brings a talent for problem solving in operations, systems, and process optimizations in addition to his financial expertise.

“I’m excited to join the Elevate Gourmet Brands team,” Benedikt said. “One of my highest priorities right out of the gate is to leverage technology to transform the accounting and finance department to a fully digital environment, enhance the analysis and planning functions, and help build the strategy for successful growth of Elevate Gourmet Brands’ existing and new concepts in the US airport space.”

Benedikt holds a business degree from the school of economics and business administration (SEBA) in Zurich-Winterthur and is a Certified Public Accountant in California.

SAN RAFAEL, CA – After 25 years of leadership, Elevate Gourmet Brands’ founders Jason and Jon Araghi have named Brian Laliberte as new CEO. Laliberte, EGB’s Chief Operating Officer since 2008, will assume his new role May 1st as US air travel ramps up for summer 2022. The Araghis will continue to serve on EGB’s Board of Directors.

For more than a decade Brian has directed Elevate Gourmet Brands’ growth and diversification within the airport industry, and was instrumental in navigating EGB through the unprecedented challenges brought on by the Pandemic of 2020. Now as US air travel climbs, Laliberte is ready to lead EGB upward as well.

“We’ve developed an aggressive roadmap for growth that we’re very excited to begin implementing. We have two new brands launching in the next 12 months, as well as  four build-outs in two airports to complete by the end of the year. Our entire US team is ready to serve airport employees, flight crews and travelers at pre-pandemic volume,” said Brian Laliberte. “We’re committed to continue elevating our customers’ airport dining experience at all our established and emerging brands!”

Elevate Gourmet Brands include Green Beans Coffee, Pronto! and Whisk & Bowl locations in six US airports, with four awarded leases moving to build-out phase in Q2 and Q3 of 2022. Most recently, EGB opened a new 3,000 square foot Green Beans Coffee serving Nashville International Airport. A Pronto! marketplace opened in BNA’s B Concourse in August of 2020.

“Jon, Negissa and I started Elevate Gourmet Brands as a family business, and over the last 14 years, Brian has become part of our family,” said Co-Founder Jason Araghi. “I know that I speak for all of us in thanking Brian for his tireless dedication to the company, our mission and our customers.”

DALLAS, TX – Elevate Gourmet Brands^® Green Beans Coffee^® will sponsor this year’s Forum on Leadership at the George W Bush Presidential Center in Dallas, TX.

Green Beans Coffee, a supporter of America’s Service Members since opening their first café serving Troops in Saudi Arabia in 1997, will serve speakers and attendees of the forum with an espresso bar and fresh brewed coffee. Green Beans Coffee will also present a Cup of Joe For a Joe exhibit at the forum, showcasing the program’s 15 year impact on American Service Members deployed overseas, and their supporters stateside.

The 2022 Forum on Leadership features speakers including the 26th Secretary of Defense, General James Mattis, 24th Secretary of Labor, Elaine Chao, and the 61st Secretary of State, James A Baker III, bringing together leaders in domestic and foreign policy, global health, and economics.

“Green Beans Coffee’s mission is to support American Service Members from deployment to discharge and beyond, and we’re proud to share that with attendees at this year’s Bush Center Forum on Leadership,” said C.O.O. Brian Laliberte. “We launched Cup Of Joe For A Joe in 2008 so Americans stateside could connect with Service Members deployed overseas by buying their next cup of coffee at one of our cafes there, and exchange messages with them. With Cup of Joe For a Vet civilians can say thank you and help support veterans here at home every time they buy Green Beans Coffee products online. We’re thrilled to have the opportunity to showcase Green Beans Coffee’s 25 year history with the US military, and present the Cup of Joe For a Joe and Cup of Joe For a Vet programs’ impact in the military community, at home and abroad.”

KANSAS CITY, MO – Whisk & Bowl ACDBE Partner and Co-Owner Elliott Threatt sent some holiday cheer to all the Whisk & Bowl team members at DFW airport in a new video.  

“Through all this adversity you’ve gotten through all those DFW lines of stressed customers and sent them on their way with what they need- with a smile on your face through the mask!” Threatt said. Holding up his Christmas lights, he continued, “I think you’re our points of light, and I want to thank you!”

Threatt, a Grammy^® Award nominated comedian and entrepreneur has been a moving force behind several Elevate Gourmet Brands partnerships, including the Cup of Joe For a Vet Program, a partnership with Kansas City-based veteran nonprofit Veterans Community Project.

Whisk & Bowl, Elevate Gourmet Brands’ premiere bakery concept, launched in Summer 2019 with two locations at DFW airport. Offering airport travelers, employees and flight crews an elevated selection of modern twists on local Dallas favorites and indulgent pastries and treats, baked fresh daily. In 2020 Green Beans Coffee rebranded their breakfast and bakery sections with Whisk & Bowl at all locations.

Green Beans Coffee’s new Terminal 3 location which opened in 2019 was featured again in San Francisco International Airport’s second video “Call 9-11” focused on the airport’s “If you see something, say something” policy. Green Beans’ team members act out both the incorrect and correct protocol for employees to address abandoned luggage left at the café.

Check it out on SFO’s Youtube Channel!

Green Beans’ Spiced Chai has been a favorite among Green Beans Coffee drinkers for over a decade. Now it’s finished 2020 in the number 1 spot on Amazon’s Hot New Releases list for Chai, topping household names like The Coffee Beans & Tea Leaf and Celestial Seasonings. 

“We’re thrilled Amazon shoppers are starting to discover our Spiced Chai, it’s been a best-seller in our cafés and online for over two decades,” said Elevate Gourmet Brands’ Chief Operating Officer Brian Laliberte. “We launched it as a complement to our coffee offerings in our cafés, and customers immediately loved it. The Spiced Chai latté is delicious on its own, but in our smoothies and frappés it really elevates them to the next level. When we first added our Spiced Chai Smoothie on the menu it was an instant hit and outsold other blended coffee drinks the first week.”

To promote the Spiced Chai, Green Beans continues that spirit of playfulness and experimentation with a series of  “snackable” social media recipe videos using the Spiced Chai powder. Flourless Spiced Chai Chocolate Cake, Spiced Chai Roasted Nuts and Spiced Chai Chia Seed Pudding are among the fun recipes Green Beans suggests you try with the Spiced Chai.

The Spiced Chai is available in 1.5 lb and 3 lb pouches on Amazon, and Green Beans will be including the Spiced Chai alongside coffee selections in its forthcoming Green Beans Coffee Tasting Collection launching in early 2021.

When you do travel, SFO wants you to #TravelWell. Wear your mask. Stay six feet apart. Wash your hands. Wear your mask. Stay six feet apart. Wash your hands. We hear it over and over again and sometimes it feels like a chore.

That’s why the amazing crew at #SFO wanted to switch things up by communicating these critical health reminders in a different and more memorable way. The result: SFO’s first ever music video, #MaskOnSFO!

Green Beans Coffee was excited to be a part of the video along with gate agents , custodians, airfield crew and engineers.

Check it out on SFO’s Youtube Channel!

KANSAS CITY, MO – Starting Veterans Day, Green Beans will donate coffee to veterans in need for every box of K-Cups purchased from their Amazon store. The “Cup of Joe For a Vet” promotion continues their partnership with Veterans Community Project (VCP), a Kansas City-based nonprofit working to eliminate veteran homelessness through transitional housing solutions and social services.

For over a year Elevate Gourmet Brands’® Green Beans Coffee® has supplied coffee and collateral to veteran residents of the Kansas City community. The Cup of Joe For a Vet initiative is the first step in engaging Green Beans customers in the brand’s efforts to support America’s Veterans in the same way their Cup of Joe For a Joe program engages civilians to support deployed Service Members.

“Green Beans Coffee is committed to supporting American Service Members from deployment to discharge and beyond. That’s been at the core of our mission as a company from Day 1; we opened our first café ever in 1998 in Saudi Arabia serving American Service Members. We launched the Cup of Joe For a Joe program in 2008 as a platform that a person in New York or Omaha or San Francisco could use to connect with a soldier deployed overseas by buying their next cup of coffee in real time, at one of our cafes there,” explained Co-Founder Jason Araghi. “COJ even allows them to exchange messages with the Service Member. Sharing a cup of coffee is universal, and Cup of Joe For a Vet connects civilians with veterans here at home in the same way.”

Cup of Joe For a Vet will run through the end of November, Military Family Month. Visit amazon.com/greenbeanscoffee to purchase K-Cups and participate in the Cup of Joe For a Vet program.

For more information about VCP, please contact Sara Loar at: sloar@vcp.org