Jerry Baldwin, along with Gordon Bowker

Gordon Bowker

Gordon Bowker is an American entrepreneur. He began as a writer and went on to co-found Starbucks along with Jerry Baldwin and Zev Siegl. He was later a co-owner of Peet's Coffee & Tea and Redhook Ale Brewery...

 and Zev Siegl, founded Starbucks

Starbucks

Starbucks Corporation is an international coffee and coffeehouse chain based in Seattle, Washington. Starbucks is the largest coffeehouse company in the world, with 17,009 stores in 55 countries, including over 11,000 in the United States, over 1,000 in Canada, over 700 in the United Kingdom, and...

 in Seattle in 1971.

Baldwin learned the coffee

Coffee

Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...

 trade from Alfred Peet

Alfred Peet

Alfred H. Peet was a Dutch-American entrepreneur and the founder of Peet's Coffee & Tea in Berkeley, California, in 1966. He is most famous for introducing custom coffee roasting to the United States....

, whose store Peet's Coffee & Tea

Peet's Coffee & Tea

Peet's Coffee & Tea is a specialty coffee roaster and retailer. Founded in 1966 by Alfred Peet in Berkeley, California as "Peet's Coffee, Tea & Spices", Peet's is especially known for its strong, dark roasted coffee, including its Major Dickason blend.- Company history :Alfred Peet started Peet's...

 was the inspiration for Starbucks. Starbucks purchased roasted coffee beans from Peet's during its first year of operation. In 1984 Peet's was put up for sale; Baldwin led a group of investors that purchased the company. In 1987 he sold his interests in Starbucks. Baldwin was Chairman of Peet's until 2001 when Peet's became a publicly traded company; he now holds the title of Director.

Baldwin has also served as director and founding chairman of Technical Standards Committee of the Specialty Coffee Association of America

Specialty Coffee Association of America

The Specialty Coffee Association of America is a civilian trade organization for the specialty coffees industry, founded in 1982. The SCAA seeks to set standards for growing, roasting, and brewing premium coffees. Members of the SCAA include coffee retailers, roasters, producers, exporters and...

, president of Association Scientifique International du Cafe (ASIC), and chairman of Coffee Quality Institute. He was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award by Specialty Coffee Association of America. He is a director of TechnoServe

TechnoServe

TechnoServe is a non-governmental organisation based in Washington, DC which helps entrepreneurial men and women in poor areas of the developing world to build businesses that create income, opportunity and economic growth for their families, their communities and their...

, a non-profit NGO working in Latin America and Africa.

In 2001, he established Baldwin Wines, a Zinfandel grower and producer in Sonoma Valley, California.