KUNG FU COFFEE: Chan To Open Up Coffee Shops

And you thought Jackie Chan was only capable of fight scenes.

It turns out, he's a savvy business man as well!

PITTSBURGH A U.S. company is hoping to put some kick in Jackie Chan's coffee.
Hometown Coffee Co. of Bridgeville, Pennsylvania, is partnering with Chan, the kung fu movie star known for his gravity-defying stunts and corny humor, to open a chain of cafes, carts and kiosks bearing the martial artist's name across Asia.

The company is supplying coffee beans and retail branding services to the Hong Kong-based venture, Jackie's Java Co. Ltd., which has already opened seven carts or kiosks in China and signed a franchise agreement to open 20 shops in the Philippines, according to Thomas Kazas, Hometown Coffee's president.

"The stores are going to be East-meets-West with some Jackie Chan type of influence," he said, without elaborating. "But it's not going to be like a Planet Hollywood-type place. It's going to be (an) upscale, comfortable lifestyle environment."

Kazas said he started working with Chan about a year-and-a-half ago after the two were introduced by a mutual business associate, Curtis Wong. Wong is a former publisher credited with introducing Chan to the United States years ago by featuring him on a martial arts magazine cover.

Besides supplying coffee beans, Hometown Coffee will be responsible for conceiving drink recipes, menus and other aspects of the operation. Kazas declined to say how much the company is investing in the venture.

"We're kind of the coffee guys (in the partnership)," said Kazas, who previously worked for Gloria Jean's Coffees.

Hometown Coffee has started shipping some beans to Asia, but expects the amount to increase early next year, when the shops are scheduled to begin opening, he said.

The bean varieties will come from around the world but will be roasted and processed in the United States before being shipped to Asia.

Hometown Coffee, which was founded in 1989 and has 47 employees nationwide, has roasting operations in Maryland and Georgia. It co-owns coffee bean plantations and roasting facilities in Mexico and Brazil.

"We don't know what the volume is going to be in terms of how many stores we can get up and running and how fast we get them up and running," Kazas said.

Projected revenue from the coffee chain will depend on the location of its outlets, he said. Coffee shops may earn from $600,000 (€471,068) to $700,000 (€549,580) annually at a mall or retail area or as much as $2 million (€1.6 million) at an airport, said Kazas.

The company and Chan's staff in Hong Kong are negotiating to open outlets in Singapore and Chinese cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzou.

Solon So, a spokesman for Chan, said the enterprise is still in the early stages in the Philippines, and that forthcoming shops in China will likely be located at airports or hotels.

"And then we franchise out shops in major cities," he said in a telephone interview from Hong Kong.

The chain will be competing with the likes of Starbucks, he said, and it remains unclear whether paraphernalia from Jackie Chan's movies will be displayed at the shops.

Chan, who is widely popular in Asia, is the 52-year old star of the "Rush Hour" movies. His other film credits include "Shanghai Noon" and "Shanghai Knights," costarring Owen Wilson.
"The concept is to have a place for people to gather, not just a place for coffee," So said.
With Chan, Kazas said he sees "an opportunity to build the brand out, not unlike Paul Newman has done," referring to the Newman's Own brand of dressings, pasta sauces, popcorn and salsa, which have raised some $200 million (€157 million) for charities.

Eventually, he said, he hopes to sell Jackie Chan-branded food items to U.S. supermarkets.