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| Starbucks Coffee founders, from left, Zev Siegl, Jerry Baldwin and Gordon Bowker toast their success outside their store. Photo from Feb 1979 |
Jerry Baldwin
Baldwin learned the coffee trade from Alfred Peet, whose store Peet's Coffee & Tea was the inspiration for Starbucks. Starbucks purchased roasted coffee beans from Peet's during its first year of operation. In 1984 Peet's was put up for sale; Baldwin led a group of investors that purchased the company. In 1987 he sold his interests in Starbucks. Baldwin was Chairman of Peet's until 2001 when Peet's became a publicly traded company; he now holds the title of Director.
Baldwin has also served as director and founding chairman of Technical Standards Committee of the Specialty Coffee Association of America, president of Association Scientifique International du Cafe (ASIC), and chairman of Coffee Quality Institute. He was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award by Specialty Coffee Association of America. He is a director of TechnoServe, a non-profit NGO working in Latin America and Africa
Zev Siegl
Zev Siegl is an American entrepreneur. In 1971 he, Jerry Baldwin, and Gordon Bowker founded the original Starbucks Coffee store, near Pike Place Market, in Seattle in the U.S. state of Washington. Siegel, a former history teacher, was the only paid employee in the early days of the company. In 1980 he sold his share of the business, which by then had expanded to four stores
Gordon Bowker
Gordon Bowker is an American entrepreneur. He began as a writer and went on to co-found Starbucks along with Jerry Baldwin and Zev Siegl. He was later a co-owner of Peet's Coffee & Tea and Redhook Ale Brewery. He attended the University of San Francisco.
He is credited with coming up with the name Starbucks, and changing the primary color of the logo from brown to green in 1987, a nod to his Alma Mater