Originally, Egbert Douwes only sold his product locally. However his son, Douwe Egberts, who entered the business around 1780, built up national reputation by supplying coffee and tea to shop owners throughout the country, spreading the fame of the Douwe Egberts brand. The shop grew onto a coffee-roasting house and a tea and tobacco-trading company.
The village of Joure was soon too small for the company’s activities and it started new production in Utrecht in 1919.
Gradually the company grew to become the Dutch market leader for coffee. By the 1950s, the company was responsible for over 50 percent of coffee exported from the Netherlands.
Douwe Egberts internationalized in 1927 opening production and distribution activities in Germany. As of 1948 Douwe Egberts expanded into Belgium, Denmark, France and Spain.
In 1978, the company was taken over by Sara Lee Corporation. In 2012, Douwe Egberts again went to the stock market under its own, slightly embellished, name as DE Master Blenders 1753.
History of Douwe Egberts
