Bizzy Coffee was created after its co-founders stumbled upon cold-brew coffee in their pursuit for a “healthy, caffeinated and convenient” beverage brand. Here, FoodBev’s Jessica Gay spoke to Bizzy Coffee co-founder Alex French about the brand’s origins, what sets it apart from the competition and what plans it has for the future.
What is Bizzy Coffee and what inspired its creation?
Bizzy Coffee is a certified organic cold-brew coffee concentrate delivered straight to your door on a subscription. My co-founder Andrew and I came up with the idea while working corporate jobs, training for a 24-hour obstacle race and running a group fitness company. Because of our extremely busy and active lifestyles, we needed a product that was healthy, caffeinated and convenient. In the summer of 2012 we stumbled upon cold-brew coffee. It fulfilled all of our requirements for the perfect source of energy, it was natural, sugar-free, and simple, but there was one very significant drawback, it wasn’t at all convenient. To make it on our own took 24 hours and if we wanted to buy it we had to wait in-line at a coffee shop or in a grocery store. Over the next several years our love for cold-brew grew, and so did our frustration with its lack of convenience and availability.
How did you decide upon the brand’s name?
Our whole lives we’ve been called “busy”, but we weren’t busy in the typical sense of the word. We were Bizzy working on things we cared about, exercising, chasing our dreams, and seeing what we were capable of. It’s our goal to turn being Bizzy into something that is seen as positive.
How do you make the beverage? Did it take a while to perfect the process?
To make cold-brew coffee you replace temperature with time. In our case, we cold-brew our unique blend of beans for 18 hours, which creates a product that is three times as caffeinated and 68% less acidic than traditional drip coffee. What makes our product so unique is that it does not require refrigeration. This does not mean much for the end consumer, but what it does do is allows us to ship directly to our consumers, which saves them time and money.
You were involved in Food-Xcel Day 2015. Tell us more about the event. What did you gain from the experience?
Food-Xcel day was a really fun event! One of the main things we gained from the experience was learning how to clearly articulate the value proposition of our business. We also were fortunate enough to meet several investors and industry contacts, which has proven very helpful.
Where are you currently selling Bizzy Coffee? And where are you looking to expand?
We currently sell Bizzy Coffee directly through our website. We’ve received interest from several big box retailers, but have decided that strategically, this does not fit within our goals at this time.
How do you plan to stay ahead of your competitors?
By giving our customers more time in their day and money in their pockets – something that our competitors cannot do.
What’s next for Bizzy Coffee? Are you hoping to launch any more products?
We do have several products in the pipeline, but nothing that I can speak of at this time. What I can say is that 2016 is going to be a big year for Bizzy!
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