Black Medicine, the innovator behind the first pressure-brewed RTD coffee, has exceeded its fundraising goal of $1 million on equity crowdfunding platform CircleUp, and expanded its distribution on the US’ West Coast.
Black Medicine’s sales in the six months to May have increased 68% on the same period last year. During the last few months, the brand has significantly expanded its distribution footprint in the Pacific Northwest market, increasing the brand’s presence to over 700 stores across leading natural, speciality and grocery retailers such as Whole Foods Markets, New Seasons and Safeway.
In the brand’s core Northern California market, Black Medicine’s iced coffee is the best-selling unsweetened, single-serve cold coffee, figures show, and its iced latte is the number two.
Founder and CEO Chris Cooper said: “We are thrilled to have nearly doubled our goal, successfully raising $1 million to accelerate the brand’s western US expansion and bolster our resources to support rapid growth. We are very impressed with the quality of CircleUp’s service and online platform.”
“While the coffee category has continued to see innovation and new products for years, Black Medicine managed to bring something entirely new to the market with its unique pressure brewing, which really makes the product pop,” said Ben Lee, director of business development for CircleUp. “The unique product, combined with their sheer velocity of sales, led Black Medicine to raise one of the fastest rounds CircleUp has seen to date.”
Black Medicine has set about redefining the RTD coffee experience by offering uncompromising taste as a result of its proprietary pressure brewing process, which keeps oxygen out and allows for a fuller extraction from the coffee, resulting in a more balanced, smooth and flavourful experience than standard cold brews.
“Our rapid growth since we first launched Black Medicine two years ago has been driven by strong consumer demand, leading to increased velocity and distribution within leading natural, speciality and grocery food retailers,” explained Chris Cooper. “We are seeing significant interest among cold coffee loving drinkers who consistently cite the brand’s bold package design, delicious all natural taste, and extra-strength caffeine content as reasons for making Black Medicine their preferred ready to drink cold coffee option.”
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