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Douwe Egberts is a Dutch brand specialising in coffee and related products. It is owned by JDE Peet's, a Dutch global coffee and tea company. The brand is marketed to retail consumers in Australia, Belgium, Hungary, Netherlands, New Zealand, South Africa and the United Kingdom.
In 1925, it introduced its logo, a red seal with a "D.E." initialism. Douwe Egbert's former tobacco brand White Ox was named for the original De Witte Os grocery store in Joure (Douwe Egberts later sold White Ox to Imperial Brands in 1998).
In 1948, the company began to sell its products in Belgium, followed by France, Spain and Denmark. It founded a new holding company, Douwe Egberts Koninklijke in 1968, and a year later took over the Dutch coffee manufacturer Kanis & Gunnink. The company expanded through Europe, acquiring other tea, coffee and tobacco companies, such as the UK tea distributor Horniman's Tea.
In 2001, the company collaborated with Philips to produce the Senseo coffee maker. The following year it established the Douwe Egberts Foundation, an independent entity that initiates and manages coffee and tea projects in countries of origin.
In 2007, Douwe Egberts sued the Dutch Province of Groningen for requiring coffee machine suppliers to meet the EKO organic standard and fairtrade criteria established by Stichting Max Havelaar, specifically a minimum price and development premium. Douwe Egberts, which marketed its own ethically sourced coffee brands, claimed the requirements were discriminatory. The Province of Groningen prevailed in court.Groningen District Court, Civil Section, Judgment in preliminary relief proceedings, Douwe Egberts Coffee Systems Netherlands B.V. v. the Province of Groningen, 23 November 2007 ( ECLI:NL:RBGRO:2007:BB8575) According to Coen de Ruiter, director of Stichting Max Havelaar, the victory was a landmark, enabling governments to mandate fair trade coffee in purchasing policy to support poverty reduction efforts.Max Havelaar Foundation (2007), 85.82.218.199/fileadmin/Bruger_filer/Dokument_database/IKAvaerktoej/EU_siden/Max_Havalaar.pdf
In 2012 Douwe Egberts became an independent Dutch company again, trading under the name D.E Master Blenders 1753 NV. Dutch Coffee Brewer Coming Home May Give Jolt to Exchange, Maud van Gaal and Maaike Noordhuis (for Bloomberg), San Francisco Chronicle, June 12, 2012
In May 2014 the company announced plans to merge with the coffee division of American food conglomerate Mondelez International. The merger received approval from the European Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager on 5 May 2015, subject to several conditions. These included a requirement that Merrild and Carte Noire brands be sold (now owned by competitor Lavazza), and that the Senseo brand in Austria be licensed to a competitor (Lavazza).
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