Alfred Peet, a coffee-roasting entrepreneur, was a major inspiration to the founders of Starbucks. Peet was a Dutch immigrant who had begun importing fine arabica coffees into the United States during the 1950s. In 1966 he opened a small store, Peet’s Coffee and Tea, in Berkeley, California, that specialized in importing first-rate coffees and teas. Peet’s success encouraged the Starbucks founders to base their business model on selling high-quality coffee beans and equipment, and Peet’s became the initial supplier of green coffee beans to Starbucks.
