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= Blenz Coffee = From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Blenz Coffee (a.k.a. Blenz The Canadian Coffee Company) is a Canadian franchise chain of coffee shops. The first shop opened in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1992. The chain has grown to include a network of franchised locations, 65 in British Columbia and overseas in the Philippines and Japan. The Vancouver company offers baked goods and beverages such as Organic and Whole-leaf teas, Rooibos, Macchiato s, Americano s and protein shakes.

History
The company was founded in 1992 in Vancouver, British Columbia by Sarah Kate Moen, Geoffrey Hair and Brian Noble. Hair served as the company's first President until resigning in 2003 after losing the "thrill of building a company" and pursing other interests of devoting more time with his family. He chose a head office employee, Mark West, as his successor. In 2007, West resigned as President for operational and product development initiatives and George Moen became the third company President. As of 2018, Moen is assumed the role as the current President.

Charity and Community Involvement
Aside from the beverage business, Blenz Coffee supports local charities such as the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation and Canadian Red Cross. For the past 5 years, the company has raised more than $100 000 for Breast Cancer Research in Canada.

At the beginning of 2015, Blenz Coffee opened a new location in the HOpe Centre: The Greta and Robert H. N. Ho Centre for Psychiatry and Education at Lions Gate Hospital. It is the first coffee shop in British Columbia to employ individuals who have "lived experience" of mental illness. This social enterprise also partners with Canadian Mental Health Association and Vancouver Coastal Health to assist individuals in the recovery stage of getting employed, obtaining work experience and regaining a sense of purpose in the community.

The Canadian franchise sponsors a variety of art festivals including Vancouver International Dance Festival, Fringe Festival and Vancouver International Film Festival through the use of their Blenz Coffee Community Stage and event promotions.

Stanley Cup Riot
On June 15, 2011, 3 of the Blenz Coffee stores were vandalized by a "faceless mob" of Vancouver Canucks fans that rioted over the Stanley Cup loss. George Moen, president of Blenz Coffee filed a lawsuit against 150 individuals for trespass, damage, looting, theft and general malicious mayhem. Besides the property damage of over $100 000, there was psychological trauma on the 2 staff and customer who were trapped in the back room of one of the stores. Moen stated theses individuals "were terrorized for over 2 hours" and offered the "opportunity for those involved to do the right thing and accept the consequences for their actions". However, the company has only identified 12 individuals.

Car Accident
On July 8, 2011, a car hit a Blenz Coffee shop at UBC Village, resulting property damage and minor injuries. A woman accidentally hit the gas and drove straight into the window. The 2 ladies involved in the accident received medical assistance and reported no major injuries. The storefront damage is estimated to be $10 000 to $25 000.

Controversy
On March 24, 2014, a group of former Blenz Coffee franchisees, Wayne Taylor, Kulvinder Sahdra and Ali Kormi sued BlackTusk Trading Co. and the company co-founders for complicating the process to renew the leases and sell the businesses. When the franchisees attempt to sell their operations, Blenz Coffee lengthened the procedure by refusing to approve buyers and renew the leases. They also failed to disclose the conflict of interest with BlackTusk Trading Co., the tea supplier owned by the Blenz Coffee co-founders. The franchisees are not allowed to negotiate lower prices with BlackTusk Trading Co. or other wholesalers, which is in the best interest of the franchisees. All of these allegations have not appealed in court.