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This essay is based on a conversation with George Vukasin, Jr., President and CEO. Unparalleled coffee and teaIt has been edited for length and clarity.
When I was a child, my parents ran a coffee and tea company called Peerless, whose warehouse was DisneylandIt had an open concrete floor so you could ride your bike indoors, and it was like a jungle gym for me and my two sisters, with 150-pound bags of coffee beans piled high.
My father ran a business, but he was in charge of purchasing and Roasting the beansSo he tasted a lot of coffee. Coffee tasting is called cupping, and he did it at the same table that his father (the guy who founded the company) used. Whenever my dad made his own coffee, he would pour me a cup of hot chocolate. I would listen to him taste the coffee, and I would drink the hot chocolate. It was the best way to taste the beans.
I grew up near the company. Inside the warehouseMy mother was a business partner, so my parents always talked about work at home, but I always felt a bit removed from it.
My parents encouraged me to get some outside experience.
My grandfather founded Peerless in 1924. He had two sons. My oldest uncle was Law School And he ended up in a career that had nothing to do with drinks at all. My dad wanted to be an FBI agent and catch bad guys, but he didn’t have any other options. My grandfather told him, “You’re going to go into the coffee business.” Coffee wasn’t as cool or sexy as it is now, and my dad was basically forced into the coffee business.
So my parents told me Entering the businessIn fact, my parents encouraged me and my two sisters to gain professional experience outside the family business: I studied Economics at university and then went to culinary school in France for a year.
After that period, I really Joining the family businessThe timing was right because my dad needed a coffee buyer and he knew I had the skills, so I started working for Peerless when I was 23.
I Master of Business AdministrationThere was no better business school than learning from my father. He truly was my best friend. Working and living together, we could get frustrated at times, but we also knew how to admit when we were wrong.
My parents wanted a relative to run the company.
I built my career at Peerless. My sister, Christina, went to law school and worked at the DA’s office. Getting outside experience, something my parents always said was important, is what brought her back to Peerless. Now she’s a vice president at the company. We talk every day and see each other almost every day, but we try to get work done and away from our families.
Fifteen years ago, Christina and I bought Peerless from our parents. My other sister, Michelle, no longer works for the company but has a small ownership stake. Our parents wanted to pass the ownership to a blood relative, not a spouse. Running a family business It’s complicated enough without any more people involved, and luckily we all agreed on that.
I don’t know if it will last four generations.
Christina has three children who are now young adults. I have two children, ages 11 and 13. None of them seem interested in taking over the family business. I hear the same thing from other family business owners I know.
To be honest, I don’t know if I want our kids to follow in our footsteps. Running a business is really hard. I want them to be successful and happy. That’s more important than having a fourth generation in the business.
My father has passed away, but he would have been happy with that. He would have been very proud that the company is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. My grandfather would have been amazed. He was a very down-to-earth person, and all he wanted was for the people he loved to be happy.
But I’m still teaching my kids how to roast coffee. They love it, and it’s a skill they can rely on for the rest of their lives. They roast in the same roaster their great-grandfather used in the 1940s, but now with digital technology controlling the process. It’s kind of romantic watching my kids enjoy the same sights, smells, and rituals of my childhood.