Caleb Chase moved to Boston and in 1864, he went on to business as a coffee roaster. While James Sanborn moved to Boston three years later and set himself as a coffee seller. They partnered to form Chase and Sanborn in 1874.
In 1878, Caleb and James Sanborn introduced canned coffee. They advertised heavily the Chase and Sanborn product heavily and consumers responded enthusiastically to is quality and convenience.
Chase and Sanborn claimed to import the best coffees in the world, which were then ground and packaged in Boston.
They hired local agents throughout the nation and Canada to tout the benefits of Chase and Sanborn’s sealed cans, a first in the industry.
By 1893 Chase and Sanborn had become established enough to be selected to supply coffee to all the salons of that year’s Chicago World’s Fair.
Chase and Sanborn coffees did well into the first half of the 20th century helped by heavy advertising. The company was the first ground coffee in America to be distributed coast to coast.
In 1929, Chase and Sanborn combined with Royal Baking Powder and Fleischmann to form a company called Standard Brands. In 1981, Standards Brands merged with Nabisco, which then sold off the coffee business to a small Miami firm, General Coffee.
History of Chase and Sanborn Coffee Company
