Fire Department Coffee is a veteran-owned and firefighter-run company handcrafting super-premium coffee with a family-focused lifestyle that serves fellow first responders in need. The company is fast-growing and achieved a revenue of over $6M last year.
The coffee provided by the company is freshly roasted in the U.S. by the company’s dedicated team of firefighters, first responders, veterans, and coffee experts. Its unique product offering is its non-alcoholic spirit-infused coffee. Distribution channels include D2C, retail, media, food away-from-home channels, and media. FDC sells whole-bean coffee, coffee pods, ready-to-drink coffee, and merchandise. The company has numerous subscribers to the Spirit Infused Coffee Club, Coffee of the Month Club, Charity of the Month Shirt Club, and other coffee subscriptions that auto-renew. The company sells each pack for an average of $12.99. It has also formed a charity for first responders in case of need. The non-alcoholic drinks market forecasts a 25.4% growth in non-alcoholic offerings in the U.S. through 2026 and a 5.9% growth in the low-alcohol segment during the same period. Further, revenue in the coffee segment amounts to $95.58B in 2023 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 3.51% until 2025. According to Business Wire - North American 2022 Coffee Report, the North American coffee market is projected to register a CAGR of 5.9% during the forecast period (2022-2027). The company is in a highly competitive and fragmented market but has differentiated itself with a community-oriented approach and amazing-tasting coffee. The company has built a strong social media presence with a monetized channel and 1M+ followers. Beyond being a coffee-making brand, the company is making headway in the automotive and motorsports industry. Its recent endeavors include becoming the Official Coffee of the National Hot Rod Association and a primary sponsor for Kaz Grala – driver in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
The company has good market traction. The company has products in 3,670 stores and it aims to expand to 20,887 stores by the end of 2023. It has 7,552 subscribers and is expected to reach 12,000+ subscribers by the end of the year. It has established relationships with distributors like UNFI, DPI, Core-Mark, and Mclance and is currently in the midst of establishing a partnership with KeHE. The revenue increased from $4.96M in 2021 to $6.27M in 2022. This was due to the introduction of FDC into retail establishments through wholesale channels. Gross margins fell from 44% in 2021 to 39% in 2022 as a result of one-time slotting fees for wholesale introduction.
