New England Coffee Turns 100!

The story of New England Coffee begins in the Old World, with a Greek family living in Greece. From there, in 1910, Menelaos Kaloyanides, with his brother, came to the United States. By 1916, Menelaos was running a successful restaurant in Boston, but he wanted to start his own business. So he, along with his brother George Kaloyanides and his cousin Megaklis Papadopoulos, founded the New England Tea & Coffee Company. From their location at Milk and Broad Streets in Boston, they delivered coffee to restaurants all over the city.

Slowly but surely, the company gained a reputation for consistently good coffee. As its reputation grew, so grew the reach of the company’s deliveries and the size of its accounts. While many things have changed over the decades, the commitment to quality has never wavered. As we look back at the last 100 years, we have highlighted some of our most memorable moments.

1916: While Pancho Villa was leading a raid against Columbus, New Mexico; while the Saturday Evening Post was publishing Norman Rockwell’s first cover painting; while Babe Ruth, pitching for the Boston Red Sox, was going 23–12 with a 1.75 ERA and nine shutouts, plus a 14-inning complete-game victory in game 2 of the World Series; and while future actor Gregory Peck was being born in La Jolla, California, the New England Tea & Coffee Company was born in Boston.

1918: The company purchased its first delivery truck. The move signaled the end of the horse-drawn wagon – and the beginning of a rolling fleet that, by the 1930s, delivered coffee across New England.

1948: Owner/officers Steven Dostou, Stephen Kaloyanides, and Basil Kaloyanides ran New England Coffee from the late 1940s into the 1990s. Steven ran finance. Basil ran sales, office administration, computers, and oversaw the company’s move to Malden, Massachusetts, in the 1960s. Stephen oversaw operations, coffee purchasing and quality control. Today, Stephen—also known as Steve, Sr.— still goes to work every day to check green bean inventory and to test quality.

1966: After outgrowing several homes, the company moved north to 100 Charles Street in Malden, Massachusetts, a facility now totaling nearly an acre of office, production, and warehouse space.

1986: New England Coffee’s flagship retail store opened, serving factory fresh coffee to the local community.

1996: The third generation of the Kaloyanides family began running the business.

1999: The company successfully introduced packaged New England Coffee for supermarket sales.

2007: New England Coffee entered the world of internet retail by launching “The Coffee Shop” online store.

2012: The brand continued to grow with its entry into the innovative, fast-growing single serve coffee segment.

2016: New England Coffee turns 100!

Thank you for the continued support and stay tuned throughout the year exciting news and contests, honoring our extraordinary customers!