¶ Black Rifle Coffee Company
BRCC
| Logo |  |
| Industry | Retail |
| Traded as | NYSE: BRCC |
| Founded | December 2014 |
| Headquarters | Salt Lake City, Utah, United States |
| Products/Services | Coffee, clothing, accessories |
| Website | https://www.blackriflecoffee.com/ |
Black Rifle Coffee Company (BRCC) is a Veteran Owned and Operated coffee company based in Salk Lake City, Utah founded in 2014.
¶ History
The Black Rifle Coffee Company (BRCC) is a coffee company based in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was founded in December 2014 by former Green Beret Evan Hafer[1]. The company initially sold a small volume of its “Freedom Roast” coffee through Article 15 Clothing’s website. After the coffee sold well, Hafer launched his own brand and website with their support to sell his coffee and branded accessories[1:1].
BRCC specializes in its online, direct-to-consumer coffee subscription service, which had over 100,000 subscribers as of 2020[2]. In addition to online sales, the company has physical coffee shops in Utah, Texas, Oklahoma, Georgia, and Montana[3]. The coffee is also distributed at some firing ranges[4], 5.11 Tactical stores1, and Bass Pro Shops[5].
The company gained national attention in 2017 when it pledged to hire 10,000 veterans in response to Starbucks’s pledge to hire 10,000 refugees[6][7][8]. In 2018, BRCC opened a new coffee roasting facility in Manchester, Tennessee, as part of a $6 million investment in the state[9]. It also launched Coffee or Die Magazine with Editor-In-Chief , an online news and lifestyle publication that reports on military, veteran, law enforcement, and coffee topics[10][11].
In 2019, BRCC employed more than 200 people—40 percent of them veterans of the U.S. military. Their products were available at 1,700 retail locations across the country[12][13]. According to the Washington Examiner, circa 2021 they employed approximately 550 people, half of whom were veterans, military spouses, or reservists[14].
In November 2021, Black Rifle Coffee Company merged with SilverBox Engaged Merger Corporation via a special-purpose acquisition company in an effort to raise funds for expansion and to go public. The company has a valuation of approximately $1.7 billion[15]. The merger completed in February 2022[16].
¶ Key Figures
Evan Hafer is the founder and CEO of Black Rifle Coffee Company. America’s leading Veteran-owned and operated premium, small-batch coffee roastery.
I started Black Rifle Coffee Company to provide a high-quality coffee to the pro-American and Veteran communities.
Mat Best joined the Army at the age of 17 and deployed five times to Iraq and Afghanistan with the 2nd Ranger Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment. After leaving military service, Mat deployed to a variety of overseas locations as a contractor during his five years with the CIA. Mat graduated with a Bachelors Degree in Liberal Arts, and began creating satirical videos and building brands like Article 15 Clothing, Leadslingers Spirits, the Drinkin’ Bros Podcast, and Black Rifle Coffee Company.
Tom Davin is the Co-CEO at Black Rifle Coffee Company. He is a U.S. Marine Corps infantry officer veteran with 25 years of experience as a senior executive, investor, and board member of fast-growing, category-defining brands including PepsiCo, Taco Bell, Panda Express, Oakley, Zumiez, and 5.11 Tactical. Professionally, Tom brokered the deal between PepsiCo and Starbucks to bring bottled Frappuccino’s to the retail market, and he’s responsible for introducing 5.11 Tactical to the brick-and-mortar retail market. As a Recon Marine, Tom attended and graduated from some of the top military training and leadership schools, including Parachute Jumpmaster, Special Forces Combat Diver, and U.S. Army Ranger School. Tom holds a bachelor’s degree from Duke University and an MBA from Harvard. He takes his coffee black — specifically, Blackbeard’s Delight Americano-style brewed with an espresso machine — and enjoys fitness and spending time with his family.
Richard Ryan has been at the forefront of digital media and marketing since 2005, with over five billion affiliated views and millions of subscribers and followers to his brands. His shift in focus went from traditional medial to digital when he started a software company to facilitate the needs of content creators with a development of an iOS.
Since then, he has worked with Google, the YouTube Product Team, 20th Century Fox, Paramount, and Universal. In 2015 he launched Rated Red with Verizon and Hearst becoming one of their fastest growing digital media brands garnering millions of subscribers in its first year and millions of views. After years helping BRCC as an owner and Co-Founder, Richard joined the Black Rifle Coffee Company family full time in 2017 developing content, marketing strategies and creating shows like “Its Who We Are.” In his spare time, he enjoys wingsuiting up in the mountains or rigging things to explode (legally).
Jarred ‘JT’ Taylor grew up in the Pacific Northwest. After graduating from North Kitsap High School, he shipped off to Air Force basic training to become a Munitions Systems Apprentice. He later opted to go through the process to become a Tactical Air Control Party Specialist (TACP). In early 2013, JT met his business partner, Mat Best, and, together, they began producing Mat’s Youtube Channel, “Mbest11x." After 11 years on active duty, JT separated from the Air Force in November of 2014.
Andy Stumpf Former Navy seal, Purple Heart Recipient, World Record BASE jumper, & Keynote Speaker.
¶ Marketing
¶ Other Projects
Black Rifle Coffee Company and its team have founded various projects and ventures over the years, notable:
- Drinkin’ Bros Podcast
- Coffee or Die Magazine
- Black Rifle Coffee Podcast
- Free Range American Podcast
- Launch Code Podcast [defunct]
¶ Locations
¶ Technology
BRCC leverages Shopify for their ecommerce solution.
¶ Politics
The company’s corporate image is built on its conservative politics and supporting veterans. Over half of its staff are former military[12:1]. The company maintains a pro-military, pro-gun, pro-police image[17][18] and has publicly supported the politics of former US President Donald Trump[19][20].
¶ Links
¶ Social
| @blckriflecoffee | |
| YouTube | @BlackRifleCoffeeCompany |
| Giphy | @blackriflecoffeecompany |
| blackriflecoffeeco | |
| blackriflecoffee | |
| Threads | |
| @blkriflecoffee | |
| TikTok | @blackriflecoffee |
| Crunchbase | black-rifle-coffee |
Communities
| The Spearhead | spearheadofficial |
¶ Additional Reading
¶ References
Vice https://www.vice.com/en/article/59z8qz/we-spoke-to-the-black-rifle-coffee-owner-about-guns-hipsters-and-hiring-veterans ↩︎ ↩︎
Digital Commerce 360 https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/2020/04/09/online-sales-surge-at-black-rifle-coffee/ ↩︎
San Antonio Express-News https://www.expressnews.com/food/article/Black-Rifle-Coffee-opening-first-S-A-location-15458563.php ↩︎
Black Rifle Coffee Company https://www.blackriflecoffee.com/pages/store-locator ↩︎
Yahoo! Finance https://finance.yahoo.com/news/grounded-data-hyper-growth-dtc-130000305.html ↩︎
Fox Business https://www.foxbusiness.com/features/black-rifle-coffee-company-vows-to-hire-vets-after-starbucks-refugee-pledge ↩︎
The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/14/magazine/black-rifle-coffee.html ↩︎
Business Insider https://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-jr-endorses-black-rifle-coffee-2017-11 ↩︎
Area Development https://www.areadevelopment.com/newsItems/8-16-2018/black-rifle-coffee-company-manchester-tennessee.shtml ↩︎
Coffee or Die Magazine https://coffeeordie.com/letter-from-the-editor/ ↩︎
Coffee or Die Magazine https://coffeeordie.com/about/ ↩︎
Forbes https://www.forbes.com/sites/markrockefeller/2018/04/05/how-this-veteran-entrepreneur-brewed-30-million-from-coffee-and-passion/ ↩︎ ↩︎
Coffee or Die https://coffeeordie.com/black-rifle-coffee-origin-story/ ↩︎
Washington Examiner https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/op-eds/a-new-battlefield-to-conquer-americas-war-veterans-face-down-corporate-behemoths-as-small-business-owners ↩︎
InvestorPlace https://investorplace.com/2021/11/black-rifle-coffee-aims-to-be-the-next-big-controversial-spac/ ↩︎
Daily Coffee News https://dailycoffeenews.com/2022/02/10/black-rifle-coffee-company-joins-the-new-york-stock-exchange/ ↩︎
The Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/magazine/wp/2019/03/04/feature/the-heavily-armed-millennials-of-instagram/ ↩︎
Mother Jones https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2021/02/black-rifle-coffee-company/ ↩︎
Business Insider https://www.businessinsider.com/black-rifle-coffee-company-supports-trump-muslim-ban-2017-2 ↩︎
Fox News https://www.foxbusiness.com/features/pro-america-black-rifle-coffee-becoming-popular-among-conservatives-founder-says ↩︎