Beaner’s Coffee chain looks to distance itself from disparaging name.

Beaner’s Coffee, the third-largest retail coffee chain in the Midwest, announced its plan to re-brand the company to Biggby Coffee. The change will be inclusive of all 79
of Beaner’ current stores, in addition to those currently under construction.

As the company has grown from a single store to a regional chain, the need for a new name became evident amidst growing concerns over the use of the word “beaner” as a disparaging term against Hispanic Americans.

“As we’ve continued to expand into new markets, we’ve heard more and more comments about our name, to the point that we had to take a hard look at changing it,” said Bob Fish, Beaner’ CEO and co-founder. “We ultimately felt we would be condoning the use of a disparaging term if we chose to do nothing.