Tampa, Florida-based Buddy Brew Coffee has won a distribution agreement with Jacksonville, Florida-based Southeastern Grocers Inc., one of the largest conventional supermarket companies in the U.S.
SEG will begin carrying Bolt, Buddy Brew’s organic, ready-to-drink, canned cold brew coffee in original and nitro versions at 110 Winn-Dixie locations in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi. Bolt will be featured in the stores’ natural foods section.
“We are thrilled to partner with SEG to distribute Bolt,” said Susan Ward, Buddy Brew Coffee co-founder and president. “We believe Bolt fills a white space in the market for an organic, clean energy drink that is pure, refreshing and made from the highest quality coffee beans in the world.”
The agreement represents Buddy Brew’s largest geographic footprint to date for its cold brew line, which is currently sold in all 33 Whole Foods Market stores. The organic energy drink is cold brewed, filtered and canned at Buddy Brew’s Tampa headquarters using a proprietary sterile filtration system.
Bolt has no sugar, flavorings, chemicals or additives. The company says the drink is named in honor of Florida’s nickname, “Lightning Capital of the World,” and for the bolt of energy you get when you drink one. Bolt has three times the amount of caffeine in a cup of coffee.
This is the second grocery expansion for Buddy Brew in 2022. The growing coffee company landed a distribution deal for its whole bean coffees at all 159 The Fresh Market stores in 22 states, adding to its distribution in Whole Foods stores and select Publix stores.
All Buddy Brew coffees are sourced ethically and sustainably through small-lot farmers and women-owned co-ops, paying highly equitable prices so farmers can thrive.
The company gives back to multiple environmental and humanitarian causes, including reforestation in East Africa and the support of foster children and victims of human trafficking in Florida. In 2021, the Tampa Chamber named Buddy Brew Coffee Small Business of the Year.
For more information, visit buddybrew.com.
