Introduced in 1892 by wholesale grocer Joel Owsley Cheek, it was named in honor of the Maxwell House Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee, which was its first major customer. For nearly 100 years, until the late 1980s, it was the highest-selling coffee brand in the United States. Kraft Heinz acquired the Maxwell House brand 30 years ago when Kraft merged with Philip Morris\'s General Foods unit. Description. The original Jacksonville coffee plant was built in 1910 by the Cheek-Neal Coffee Company to produce Maxwell House Coffee, in downtown Jacksonville.