More than just another coffee brand, Blackout Coffee, (https://www.blackoutcoffee.com/ ), is creating an impressive brew of business success with its focus on sourcing premium specialty coffee beans combined with a unique roasting process while giving back to military veterans, first responders, and supporting the traditional American values of family and hard work.
At the core of the Blackout Coffee brand is a celebration of the daily grind.
With its headquarters in LaBelle, Florida, the innovative company offers uniquely branded coffee products online featuring whole bean or ground coffee, coffee pods, flavored coffee, tea, and hot cocoa along with branded merchandise. They also provide subscriptions where customers can receive regular deliveries to their homes or business of Blackout Coffee's products.
So far it has proved an inspiring hit with coffee lovers as Blackout Coffee made an impressive $2.4 million in sales in 2022 with 98 percent of its revenue coming from online purchases.
In the four years since Blackout Coffee was founded, the company has created more than 40 coffee roasts and flavors and experienced tremendous growth serving more than 45,000 customers and surpassing 100,000 fulfilled orders.
Blackout Coffee has launched a StartEngine campaign, (https://www.startengine.com/offering/blackoutcoffee ), to spread the word about its coffee brand and to seek potential investors for its fast-growing business. Blackout Coffee's campaign is off to an impressive start raising more than $757K since launching late last week.
"We combine premium caffeination and American inspiration to create our own unique slice of the multi-billion-dollar global coffee industry," said John Santos, founder and CEO of Blackout Coffee. "Blackout Coffee is best known as a community-engaged, small-batch coffee roasting company that actively supports conservative American values. We pride ourselves as an American family-owned and operated company that delivers right to your doorstep a small batch of freshly roasted coffee that lets you stay on your grind all day and every day.
Blackout Coffee was created for all our fellow American warriors who work hard, play hard, and never stop. We don't just have a passion for making coffee with an exciting but unique taste -- we are also proud of what we do. We want you to enjoy a badass cup of coffee, knowing that all of our coffee beans are responsibly sourced. Our mission is to provide the highest-quality, best tasting, and a most impressive cup of coffee to the hardest working people in America."
A significant part of the company's vision is giving back to the community that supports them.
As a proud supporter of the U.S. military, Blackout Coffee created Operation Blackout, (https://www.blackoutcoffee.com/pages/operation-blackout ), to send donated coffee to deployed troops. Customers can order a deployment package on the company's website to be sent to a designated military unit or a random unit. If you choose a random unit, they will send coffee to troops who have reached out to the company and would like roasted coffee for their team.
"For every bag of coffee you purchase on our website, we donate two cups of coffee, which gives you, our honorable customer, an opportunity to give back to our deployed troops as a way of saying, 'Thank You' to all our service men and women," Santos said. "We donate every few months. I don't have an exact count of how much but we have donated more than 25,000 cups worth. We also donate to first responders and we have donated close to $15,000 to organizations that help defend the 2nd amendment."
Although Santos did not serve in the military, he said he grew up surrounded by a lot of people that served, including his father-in-law.
"I heard all the stories and I know how difficult it can be," he said. "This a great way to show our troops support from home and let them know we are thinking about them and they are not forgotten."
What sets apart Blackout Coffee in the highly competitive coffee industry is its attention to sourcing top coffee beans and its meticulous roasting process.
"There are many online coffee companies that do not roast their own beans. They get it private labeled, or contract manufactured, and usually are dominated by lower-grade beans that are full of defects," Santos explained. "We adopt a strict adherence of small batch roasting our coffee to provide you with a freshly roasted brew. This is in consideration of the origin and goal of our company. This process is why we are consistent in providing you with coffee that provides an exceptional taste."
Blackout Coffee's top coffee brands feature creative names such as "Brewtal Awakening," "Morning Reaper," "Covert Op Cold Brew," "Pitch Black Espresso," "Low Voltage Decaf Coffee," "Smooth Finish," "2A Medium Roast," and "1776 Dark Roast."
It's all part of the fun of the Blackout Coffee brand customers enjoy, Santos said.
"We have a 40% customer return rate which is higher than the industry average," he added. "This is due to the premium specialty coffee we source, the way we roast our coffee and the lightning-fast shipping. Customer service is our top priority. Our focus on conservative values, duty, family, and rights, brings us a very different base of people than other companies. This is exciting for us because we get to do business with like-minded people who love their coffee and their country."
After spending a few years in Europe and enjoying coffee abroad, Santos was convinced that U.S. coffee just didn't taste the same. He started developing his coffee roasts and found his inspiration for starting Blackout Coffee.
"Blackout Coffee is the perfect product for anyone who appreciates quality coffee and fun opportunities to help out others," Santos said. "We started this business because we were tired of giving our money to companies who didn't share our values. There are many people in this country who feel this way as well. The conservative coffee movement just recently skyrocketed, and our positioning and focus is a unique approach that has already proven to be successful," Santos said.
The global specialty coffee market is expected to grow from USD 53.67 billion in 2021 to USD 152.69 billion by 2030, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.32%, according to a report by the Brainy Insights, (https://www.thebrainyinsights.com/report/specialty-coffee-market-12699).
Coffee subscription models are one of the world's fastest-growing industries. The access to coffee software and easy integrations with e-commerce platforms have enabled coffee roasters to offer subscription coffee services and direct-to-customer sales at scale. This is the key factor for the market growth opportunity.
Blackout Coffee appears to be well positioned to benefit from this growth trend and is eying expanding its manufacturing facility in the coming years to meet growing demand.
"Operating at close to full capacity in our current manufacturing facility has limited our ability to grow even further," Santos added. "We recently ordered a new coffee roaster and other additional equipment that will allow us to roast five times the current amount and increase our product output by up to 10 times. We are also currently working towards expanding our facility.
This will allow us to accommodate larger retail accounts, build new partnerships with brands, and begin accepting profitable private-label opportunities. Our wholesale business is another means of serving our customers and offers an additional revenue opportunity that we currently support and are expanding."
With increased marketing, investment in branding, and additional employees, the company's roadmap is focused on continuing its rapid growth.
"It's simply coffee that never fails you even if every other thing isn't working. Blackout Coffee is strategically positioned to deliver America a coffee that brings everything back to life," Santos said.
RELATED ARTICLE : This Next-gen Coffe Machine Uses Coffee Balls Instead of Capsules
