Specialty coffee and tea manufacturer BLK & Bold is kicking off football season with a new partner as the Black-owned business announced this week it has brought in College Football Hall of Famer Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders as co-owner and social change leader.
Sanders, a two-time Super Bowl champion and current head football coach for the University of Colorado Boulder, joins the six-year-old startup as its brick-and-mortar footprint has surpassed 13,000 doors nationwide, with a growing presence in conventional retail and foodservice.
Founded in Des Moines, Iowa, in 2018 by Pernell Cezar and Rod Johnson, BLK & Bold makes a variety of coffee and tea products, including bagged coffees and ready-to-drink canned cold brew offerings.
“Joining BLK & Bold is more than just a business move for me — it’s about making a LASTING IMPACT,” Sanders said in a press release, emphasis his. “I’ve always believed in the power of giving back and uplifting others, and with BLK & Bold, we have the perfect platform to do just that.”
Speaking to BevNET, Johnson said that Sanders had been a consumer of the brand prior to connecting with the company and became interested in officially joining BLK & Bold in order to support its social missions, which includes the non-profit BLK & Bold Foundation to support underserved Black and Brown communities in the U.S. – which since launching earlier this year has donated over $250,000.
“His professional world is about investing in youth,” Johnson said. “He’s always in the headlines about how he is giving back and making sure that he is pouring into the youth in some real, transformative ways. And so those synergies will be on the forefront of this partnership, and that’s what made it easy for us to welcome Deion into our ecosystem.”
While Johnson acknowledged the company is still “fleshing out” Sanders’ ‘Social Change Leader’ role, he said the position will serve as an “amplification of the social impact and the societal change that we are trying to have as a social enterprise.”
That amplification will include marketing for the brand, beginning this week with a video announcing the partnership posted to Sanders’ social media accounts. Johnson said there’s “definitely more media and more content on the way,” including features going deeper into why Sanders connected with BLK & Bold’s brand and mission and his vision for helping young kids and teenagers succeed in life.
The partnership is also a big shift for Johnson and Cezar, marking the first time the co-founders have offered an ownership stake to an outside partner.
Sanders, however, is no stranger to food, beverage and other brand partnerships. The coach has had longstanding relationships with companies like Nike and Van Heusen, and in June he entered an endorsement deal with KFC and Pizza Hut.
Looking ahead, BLK & Bold is continuing to focus on retail and foodservice expansion, most recently adding Winn Dixie stores in the Southeast, Johnson said.
The company is also working to expand in college towns, Boulder, Colo. – Sanders’ current home school as of 2023 – being high on the priority list.
“We’re taking care of what’s on our plate, but adding in strategically a little bit more so that we can increase the accessibility of BLK & Bold,” Johnson said. “While we just announced this huge partnership, in the grand scheme of things, we’ve got an uphill battle as it pertains to getting the word out about our brand. But Coach Prime is definitely going to help out with that.”