Tartine Bakery and Blue Bottle Coffee will not be merging, according to a report by SFGate.com.
The popular San Francisco Bay Area artisan food companies announced their union in April, but the partnership has fallen through. According to a statement from Tartine owners Chad Robertson and Elisabeth Prueitt and Blue Bottle’s James Freeman, the two sides “decided that remaining separate companies makes the most sense.”
“Our individual plans would be better served pursuing them independently,” said Robertson, pointing out that both companies will still expand in the same markets, the Bay Area, Los Angeles, New York and Tokyo. “Coffee infrastructure doesn’t really support food and food infrastructure doesn’t really support coffee.”
Both companies appeared poised for global expansion, with projects in the United States and Japan. For Blue Bottle, it was a potential opportunity to sell Tartine bread and other pastries at its shops.
For Tartine, it was the chance to use the coffee company’s infrastructure to build its brand. But Robertson and Prueitt will still expand in the coming year. They plan to open a restaurant/bakery, Tartine Manufactory, on 18th Street in the Mission District next spring, as well as projects in Los Angeles, New York and Tokyo, according to the report.