Our Mission: Providing a Hub for the Community to Connect and Co-Create
When you think about how many great ideas and businesses came to life, you realize that it often involved some way of coincidence or serendipity – just as running into the right person at the right time.
Such moments often happen unexpectedly, and it feels they can’t be planned. Still, sometimes we feel that other people are consistently luckier than others. They always know the right person to contact and are invited to all the interesting events. As a consequence, these people achieve their goals much faster.
We believe that this is not only about luck. At HanaHaus, we build and design a space that encourages and facilitates this kind of serendipity – almost like an “engineered serendipity”. People come to HanaHaus because of the community they can find here, and they know that it will help them to achieve their goals more easily.
HanaHaus customers exchanging ideas in the open seating area of the workspace.
Our Concept: Having a Coffee Shop at the Heart of Our Building
When defining our vision for HanaHaus, we took inspiration from the concept of European coffeehouses that originated in the 17th and 18th centuries.
What was typical about them, is that they didn’t solely function as a gathering point to drink coffee. Instead, these places served more as a social venue where people met throughout the day for conversations and commerce. Some individuals spent so much time at coffee houses that even their mail was delivered to this address.
People would go there at least once a day to talk about business and news. Typical topics in such conversations were also politics, literary criticism, fashion trends, and latest happenings in town, but also debates on philosophy and sciences. For many people during that time coffeehouses even served as a supplement to universities. As many coffee houses charged only a penny for a cup of coffee, they sometimes were even referred to as “Penny Universities”.
Coffeehouses also played a significant role in the development of financial markets. The origin of the London Stock Exchange, for example, which is the world’s oldest stock exchanges, can be traced back to Jonathan's Coffee-house where founder John Castaing started organizing the market with a list of stock and commodity prices (Money-Zine). As a matter of fact, even some famous companies started out of these kind of coffee houses.
One example is Lloyd's Coffee House which opened on Tower Street in London in the 1680s. It served as a popular meeting place for the shipping community. People met there for conversations about foreign trade, shipping routes as well as maritime insurance. In 1771, a group of regulars at Lloyd's Coffee House collectively founded the Society of Lloyd’s, which continues existence until today as Lloyd’s of London – one of the world’s leading insurance markets in the field of shipping and business insurance (Time Magazine). In 2012, more than 300 years later it still declared a profit of 2.8. billion pounds.
“The coffee house, which originated in the Middle East around 1511, began simply as a place to enjoy an exotic drink, coffee, but soon evolved into a place that helped change the course of history.” - INeedCoffee
Blue Bottle Coffee counter in HanaHaus Palo Alto.
Picking up this idea, HanaHaus embraces this concept by offering a public place fostering social interaction and collaborative work. In the heart of our vision there has always been a crowded café because we believe that there is no better way to unite people than over a cup of coffee.
By designing our first HanaHaus in Palo Alto it was clear that we want to have the busy coffee shop right in the middle of the building as people should smell the coffee throughout the place and hear the busy interactions at the coffee shop counter. Also, for our second HanaHaus that recently opened in Newport Beach we kept the concept the same.
Looking for a Partner: Blue Bottle Coffee as Our First Choice
To be able to realize this idea, we were looking for a partner that would help us bring our ambitious vision to life. It was very important to us to provide a first-class coffee experience and we found the perfect partner in Blue Bottle Coffee to authentically translate the story that we want to tell.
Blue Bottle Coffee’s clean branding, their high standards with regards to quality, their approach to always choose the customer first, as well as their sustainable-oriented thinking in the way they conduct their business seemed like a perfect fit.
Blue Bottle Coffee counter in HanaHaus Newport Beach.
Originated from Traditional Farmer Markets, Blue Bottle Coffee established as a World-Class Brand for Coffee Specialties
Blue Bottle Coffee is a rising star in the food and beverage industry. It was venture-funded and is known for its premium products which satisfy even the most passionate coffee aficionado.
Blue Bottle Coffee was founded in Oakland by founder and CEO James Freeman in 2002. James is a former freelance musician with a passion for quality coffee. His passion for fresh coffee and the ambitious promise that he gave to his customers can be summarized by the following quote:
“I will only sell coffee less than 48 hours out of the roaster to my guests, so they may enjoy coffee at peak flavor. I will only use the finest, most delicious, and responsibly sourced beans.” - James Freeman, Blue Bottle Coffee Founder
With this vision in mind, he has grown the company from an itinerant, artisanal coffee cart serving customers at Bay Area farmer markets to a rapidly growing business comprised of a network of retail stores and cafes across the US and Japan.
Blue Bottle Coffee’s simple purpose: Getting great coffee to everyone who asks for it.
We are deeply impressed by his passion and have high respect in his achievements. James is helping pioneer the “third wave” of coffee—a megatrend in which consumers are moving to higher quality, artisanal micro-roasters, and where quality, beauty and a distinctive experience are being sought over more mainstream alternatives - something we are proud to be a part of!
The story of Blue Bottle Coffee shows what a single entrepreneur can achieve as long as he is convinced of his mission and embodies it through and through. We are fascinated by such entrepreneurial stories and want to support founders of this kind.
“Partnering with HanaHaus has given us so many great things. We get to meet new guests through their workspace and collaborate on fun opportunities that can influence both guest experiences, which adds so much value. Plus, because we work so closely with their team on-site, we have an expanded community and a fresh perspective that we look forward to tapping into each day. It’s a special and cherished relationship.” - Elizabeth Boatman, Blue Bottle Coffee Area Leader
Blue Bottle Coffee and HanaHaus: A Long-lasting Friendship and Partnership
With the values they stand for, Blue Bottle Coffee elevates HanaHaus to an authentic place where people driven by values and the will to achieve their goals come together over exceptional coffee.
Together, Blue Bottle Coffee and HanaHaus create a space where people naturally like to spend their time because so many interesting and positive things are happening.
“I am very grateful for a delicious cup of Blue Bottle Coffee and this beautiful waterfront workspace. - It’s such a rich combination, but what's even more powerful is that HanaHaus & Blue Bottle teams are working hand in hand to make everyone’s visit a seamless and exciting experience!” - Julia Schlier, Head of HanaHaus Newport Beach
Going Forward: Taking our Partnership to a New Level
HanaHaus Newport Beach is Blue Bottle Coffee’s first location in Orange County. As it is the first time joining the local ecosystem, for both of us, the opening of HanaHaus Newport Beach was very exciting.
Now, that we have been open for several weeks in Newport Beach we couldn’t be happier with the decision to join the SoCal community. We love the vibes we are receiving by our customers, and it’s great to see that this space is already transforming into a central meeting place among the different stakeholders in SoCal’s growing ecosystem.
We are convinced that – again – we were able to create a space fostering interaction and innovation and thereby increasing the probability of lucky coincidences. We are excited about the many ideas and projects that will be born at HanaHaus Newport Beach!
“I am so excited to be involved with the second collaboration of Blue Bottle and HanaHaus. Newport Beach is a new market for us both, and this partnership provides our guests a beautiful and innovative work space alongside delicious coffee and food. It creates a unique experience unlike anything in the area!” - Sarah Barnum, Blue Bottle Coffee Cafe Leader for Newport Beach