This week feels big. Wandering Bear Coffee is launching our expanded 32oz organic cold brew line in five regions (200+ stores) of Whole Foods Market. It’s the first expansion of our retail distribution since we pulled back from grocery growth in March 2020 -- as our office coffee business went into sudden, deep hibernation -- so we could re-build Wandering Bear as an e-commerce led brand. #dtc was <1% of our sales at the time. Today, it’s nearly 75%. Scaling online helped create this opportunity. So did luck, persistence and the hard work of many.
Brand building is a team sport. The team for this win extends far beyond our payroll. In an attempt at chronological order, THANK YOU... Elly Truesdell for foraging and giving us our initial "homework" to sell-in to a few stores... teams at WFM Tribeca, Bowery and Columbus circle for taking a risk in 2016... John Lawson for your trust when we launched the current product line and for your thoughtful advice... to the team at Dora's Naturals, including Christopher Psuik and Sean Hurley, for busting a** every day to keep us looking great on shelf… Kadijah Wellons for taking a 15-min meeting over donuts and to Charlie New for truly engaging... with us, with the data and with our vision for the future of the #coldbrew #coffee category. This is just the beginning.
I referenced it, but to be explicit, this is our second time beginning an expansion of our #grocery business… we’re on page one of a new chapter. We have some stories to tell, some lessons learned the hard way, and plenty of thoughts on how to grow “the right way”. If this is at all of interest, please follow and comment. I’m feeling compelled to share as this part of our story begins.
🎉 WE GOT INTO WHOLE FOODS! 🎉
If you had a time machine and set it to the TriBeCa Whole Foods store in June 2016, you might catch a glimpse of our founders, Matt Bachmann + Ben Gordon, walking into the store cold and convincing the manager to put Wandering Bear on the shelf for the first time.
Fast forward to this week, and now we’re officially launching in 200+ Whole Foods Market stores across the country — in the Northeast, Southern Pacific, Rocky Mountain, Mid-Atlantic and Florida regions!
You can find our 32oz cartons in the refrigerated “cold brew & iced coffee” section.
Getting to this exciting milestone has been a saga, and our story is not over. We’re working hard to make sure this launch is a success, so we can continue growing our distribution and making it even easier for you to find Wandering Bear.
Go Frtio-Lay teams.