Backed by BeyondBrands (the company behind several brands including Cool Beans, Steaz Tea, Good Catch and others), GoodSam Foods was co-developed and founded in 2019 by Sam Stroot, a natural products industry veteran and social mission entrepreneur, and Heather K. Terry, BeyondBrands chief strategy officer and co-founder of NibMor organic chocolate.
GoodSam coffee beans are grown by the same group of farmers who grow the cacao used in GoodSam Foods' no-sugar-added, allulose-sweetened chocolate products.
Regenerative agriculture
Like GoodSam's chocolate products, its new direct-trade coffee line is grown using regenerative farming techniques (i.e. a system of farming principles and practices that increases biodiversity, enriches soils, improves watersheds, among other ecological benefits), notes Terry, who in addition to her role at BeyondBrands is CEO and co-founder of GoodSam Foods.
Still a novel concept for many consumers, regenerative agriculture is gaining traction (Whole Foods named it the No.1 food trend for 2020) not just with small, emerging brands but with large companies including General Mills, Nestlé, and Walmart, which have all accelerated their investments into regenerative practices.
"One of the key tenants of regenerative agriculture is crop diversity, many of our farmers in Colombia not only grow cocoa but also nuts, fruits, honey, avocado, citrus and coffee," she said.
"Launching a coffee line from the same small, family-owned farms that grow our cacao is a natural next step for GoodSam Foods."
GoodSam Foods debuted two coffee varieties working with two separate communities in Colombia.
The first, Orlando's Single Farm Origin (named after the Colombian farmer and his family that in the foothills of the Central Andes mountain range), is made of a blend of Castillo, Caturro, and Tipico beans and features flavor notes of peach, honey, and caramel. The bags are USDA Organic certified and sold in small quantities for $19.99/bag.
The second coffee product, GoodSam Everyday Coffee, is grown by the indigenous Arhuaco tribe (which GoodSam also sourcs organic cacao from) in the high coastal Sierra Nevada mountain range in Northern Colombia. The blend features fruity notes of apple/pear and honey. Priced a $19.99, each 2lb bag sold helps to directly fund local education efforts in the isolated Colombian region.
"As the warming world threatens the future of coffee, we stand by our farmers to help maintain steady yields and qualities of both coffee and cacao. We hope that with our support, farming practices and fair wages, their communities, and our entire planet, will thrive for generations to come," said Stroot.
Building e-commerce channel
As Terry previously told this publication, GoodSam Foods is focused on the e-commerce channel for the immediate future where the brand can catch a wider swath of consumers already searching for attributes such as regenerative agriculture and direct-trade.
"It's really expensive to play in brick-and-mortar retail, and it's also really difficult to measure your returns on investment in marketing. The majority of GoodSam's go-to-market in its early days will be on direct-to-consumer. We do have some early plans around brick-and-mortar, but they are hyper-, hyper- strategic," noted Terry.
GoodSam Foods is continuing to build on its online retail partnership with Thrive Market, where GoodSam's Orlando Single Farm Origin Coffee will be first available as well as on the brand's new DTC site, GoodSamFoods.com.
Everyday Coffee, launches in June on Thrive Market, GoodSamFoods.com, and Amazon.
