Specialty coffee roaster BLK & Bold is taking its first step into the ready-to-drink sector with the launch of its canned cold brew coffee line, which is rolling out to Target stores nationwide this month.
Founded in 2018, the Des Moines-based brand has established itself as the first nationally distributed Black-owned coffee and tea company in the U.S., selling its whole and ground beans in over 6,000 retail stores, including Target, Albertsons, Vons, Whole Foods and Shop Rite.
Since its launch, the company has scaled rapidly, now standing at 25 full time employees, and in a September report CNBC estimated that it made roughly $840,000 in profit in 2020. Last year, BLK & Bold signed several brand partnerships to further extend its retail presence, creating an exclusive line of coffee blends with the NBA called The Warm Up and working with Ben & Jerry’s for co-branded coffee ice cream flavor Change Is Brewing.
The new cold brew line, however, meets a different use occasion and will help BLK & Bold to draw in new consumers in the post-pandemic marketplace, according to co-founder Rod Johnson.
“As the world is opening back up, people are not going to be at home as much to brew coffee as they had been over the pandemic,” Johnson said. “This idea of home baristas exploded over the past couple of years, and while I think that’s going to be here to stay with work from home being now a part of our norms, there will be a lot more travel. People are going to try to make up for lost time and the convenience of our new ready-to-drink cold brew coffee allows for us to go along on a ride with them.”
The cold brews are available in Unsweet, Sweet and Nitro Caramel varieties and are brewed from the brand’s Smoove Operator dark roast blend. The drinks will be sold for $10.99 per 4-pack online and in the refrigerated set at about 250 Target locations with a focus on major markets like Chicago and Los Angeles.
Johnson said the launch with Target, which was previously BLK & Bold’s first national retail partner for its bagged coffee products, will serve as a test to see how the RTD line is received before making a decision to expand it with additional retailers. Calling the drinks a “pure cold brew” option with the unsweetened SKU leading the line, Johnson suggested the products will serve as a zero sugar counterpart to the “typical latte, milk-based” offerings that dominate the coffee category while messaging will focus on coffee as an alternative to energy drinks.
In particular, BLK & Bold plans to target Gen Z consumers and marketing campaigns around the launch will emphasize flavor and health benefits. As well, the company will continue to emphasize its social mission; the brand pledges 5% of its profits to support youth programs around the country and its partnerships include LA Conservation Corps in California, Code Fever Miami in Florida and No Kid Hungry in Washington, D.C. among others.
BLK & Bold will face stiff competition on-shelf from the likes of RISE Brewing Co., High Brew, Super Coffee, Starbucks and others, but Johnson believes the category “is still wide open.”
“I think what is going to help us stand out among our competitors that have gotten a head start will be the fact that it is not a latte-based drink. It’s not necessarily for the purists, but it is for those who can appreciate all of the nuances and the flavor notes that come along with a good cup of specialty cold brew coffee. So our goal is to show up as ourselves, but just with a product form that is growing exponentially in today’s market.”
The RTD launch will also help set the tone for BLK & Bold’s next stage of growth, Johnson said. The canned format will, ideally, help the brand to play in the convenience channel in the near future. The founders also hope to explore other beverage categories beyond coffee, with tea being the next likely candidate.
“We want to fully embrace this idea of innovation of coffee and tea-based beverages,” he said.
“Our naming convention lends itself to that and the more success that we have with these experiments, like our ready-to-drink, and our steeped coffee previously, it gives us more confidence to try new things, or rather bring new ideas to market. But whatever those decisions are, they’ll be rooted. We want to listen to what consumers are asking for and while we want to have fun and experiment, we want to make sure that it’s going to resonate with existing and potential customers.”