- Van Houtte
and related products.
France -bornAlbert-Louis Van Houtte (1877–1944) [ [http://www.s88457477.onlinehome.us/genealogie/vanhoutte.html onlinehome.us Van Houtte geneaology] ] emigrated to Canada in 1912. After theFirst World War made his attempt at a horse importing business unsustainable, he turned to food retailing. He opened a grocery store in 1919 to sell specialty items, but soon found particular success with gourmet coffee roasting.After Van Houtte's death in 1944, his family continued to operate and develop the Maison A.L. Van Houtte business. In 1980, the family business evolved into a corporation known as A.L Van Houtte Inc., led by Paul-André Guillotte and Benoît Beauregard. Its corporate name was shortened to Van Houtte Inc. following a shareholder vote on
12 September 2000 . [ [http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/Van-Houtte-Inc-Company-History.html Funding Universe: Van Houtte Inc.] ]Today, Van Houtte has grown into an international supplier of coffee,
coffee machine s and related support for over 60,000 offices and other places of employment in theUnited States and Canada. The company claims this to be the largest such system in North America. [ [http://www.vanhoutte.com/en/services/ Van Houtte website: Coffee Services] ] Van Houtte also supplies and supports coffee sales forcafeteria s, grocery andconvenience store s,restaurant s andhotel s. Van Houtte also offers a selection of fair-traded coffee products.Van Houtte still sells coffee directly to customers through its chain of cafés throughout the province of Quebec. It also operates a store in one
Ontario location at theOttawa Bus Central Station . Van Houtte also offers coffee and associated products for sale through its website.In May 2007, U.S. private equity firm
Littlejohn & Co. announced a $600 million deal that will take Van Houtte ownership out of Canadian hands, although the gourmet coffee company will continue to have headquarters in Montreal under its existing name and have the leadership of its current management team. [ [http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/211411 Private equity firm buying Van Houtte: Connecticut-based Littlejohn & Co. plans privatization] , By LuAnn LaSalle of Canadian Press, "TheToronto Star ", May 8, 2007, retrieved on May 23, 2007]References
External links
* [http://www.vanhoutte.com Van Houtte official website]
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