Joyride Coffee has secured a partnership with food and beverage service provider Aramark Corporation to cover distribution and equipment service for both existing and future office accounts, the company announced Friday.
Under the terms of the deal, Aramark has acquired all assets of Joyride’s delivery business and will create a new division, called Joyride by Aramark, to assume account management, delivery and equipment service. Meanwhile, operating as an independent entity, Joyride will leverage its facilities in New York and Bakersfield, Calif. to produce cold brew for its own branded line of products, which will also be distributed by Aramark, and for co-packing partners.
Founded in 1936, Aramark is a $14.6 billion business representing interests in food service, facilities and uniform service. Joyride initially partnered with the company in 2016 to distribute its “Craft on Draft” keg services to Aramark customers and in recent years had expanded the working relationship by coordinating on new product development, said David Belanich, co-founder and president of Joyride.
While the previous agreement only gave Joyride access to select Aramark office accounts, the new program will be expanded to additional channels including universities and sports and entertainment venues as Aramark seeks to market Joyride as a premium offering.
“This opens up the entire Aramark ecosystem to Joyride with the goal to bring Joyride by Aramark to other markets where they see need and there are customers,” Belanich said. “It’s a great way for us to grow the offering and the brand in a way that we couldn’t grow independently.”
Joyride by Aramark will be helmed by Joyride’s chief of strategic partnerships Paul Toscano. Other team members will move to Aramark to man the new division while Joyride will focus on repopulating its production team by hiring back furloughed employees. According to Belanich, Joyride will also seek to hire a new sales and marketing lead in the near future.
Joyride’s deal with Aramark aims to provide the New York-based company some stability following a tumultuous year. Prior to COVID-19, the brewer and distributor had established a growing business providing cold brew in kegs to office and food service accounts in New York, Massachusetts and California. After its customer base of primarily office accounts was wiped out this spring, Joyride had been actively seeking alternative revenue streams, launching a direct-to-consumer shipping for bag-in-box cold brew in April to reach coffee drinkers working from home.
Despite attempts to pivot to e-commerce and control costs, the company was forced to temporarily pause operations in July while awaiting the completion of its deal with Aramark. Belanich said Aramark will reach out to Joyride’s existing partner brands in the coming weeks and he anticipates the transition to be finished by the end of the year.
“One of the weaknesses of our distribution business, historically, was that we only solved one part of the puzzle for our office accounts’ needs,” he said. “We didn’t do snacks, we didn’t do paper toner, we didn’t do the full suite of products. That was always kind of our Achilles’ Heel. But with a company like Aramark that has such a comprehensive offering and has such world class service and national coverage, it’s a great opportunity for our customers to get that full service.”
According to Belanich, Joyride will use the capital gained through the sale to Aramark to expand its New York and California production facilities and relaunch its coffee products as a consumer-facing brand. The company plans to target grocery and food service accounts, as well as an ecommerce platform, with its bag-in-box product but is also exploring cans and other packaging formats.
As well, private label production and co-packing will become a more vital pillar for the company, Belanich said. In addition to servicing Aramark, Joyride will seek out new customers to develop products for in the coming months.
Belanich said he believes the company will be able to find space in the crowded cold brew category by tapping into existing brand recognition from consumers who had Joyride kegerators in their offices. As well, Aramark intends to expand the Joyride distribution service into new markets, which will in turn help Joyride grow its RTD line in retail by targeting those same regions.
“Long term, we see room in the marketplace for a brand like Joyride,” he said. “A lot of Joyride drinkers were drinking us everyday at work, and they will be again with Joyride by Aramark. So figuring out how we can bring them Joyride for their non-office occasions is definitely an opportunity.”