History
Summary
The Hoffmann Coffee Company of San Antonio, Texas was founded by William Robert Hoffmann in 1899. Hoffmann-Hayman Coffee begins in 1912 when Hoffmann merges with Merchants Coffee and partners with Mr. W. E. Hayman, its founder.
Mr. Hoffmann was married to Wilhelmina “Minnie” Menger. Minnie was the daughter of Dr. Rudolph and Catherine Menger. Catherine was the daughter of William L. Menger, owner of the Menger Hotel. When Mr. Hoffmann passed away in 1912, Minnie brought her brothers, Gustav P. Menger and Rudolph W. Menger, into the coffee business.
In 1920 the remaining partner, Mr. Hayman, sold his stake in the company to the Mengers. The company continued to expand and their new factory was constructed in 1932.
By July 1964, a San Antonio Express advertisement identified H & H Coffee as “A Division of the Continental Coffee Co.”, marking the company’s sale into Continental’s regional operations. Continental continued to use the 601 Delaware plant through the late 1960s and into the early 1970s (deed records and help-wanted ads from 1967 and 1970 still list the Delaware Street address), and in August 1972 G. P. Menger sold the Hoffmann-Hayman Warehouse Co. property at 601 Delaware to Kenneth L. Wagner—closing out the Menger family’s seventy-plus-year association with the address.
Since books haven’t been written about Hoffmann-Hayman yet, this history is being pieced together from newspapers, industry journals, and other sources.
A working index of people named on this site (founders, family, officers) lives on the People page.