Once A Street Coffee Vendor With Three Carts, Nitro Beverage Is Now Making Waves In Retail With New Capital Injection

Nitro Beverage Co. is having a busy year: after introducing cold brew coffee to specialty retailers like Whole Foods and Bristol Farms and optimizing its cold chain by utilizing decentralized warehouses, the New Jersey-based coffee marketer is now entering the kombucha market.

In 2016, when Mike D’Amico, his brother Paolo D’Amico, and their friends Ali Mohamed and Kareem Elhamasy opened the business with three street carts, none of these were on their agenda.

While we were selling coffee on tap to beachgoers and commuters, we did not anticipate becoming a ready-to-drink brand. Mike D’Amico recently told me at Natural Products Expo East that their goal was to provide the best nitro cold brew experience through quality ingredients. But as consumer demand grew, compelling the company to upgrade from the original three-gallon kegerator to a five-gallon kegerator and serve up to 100 locations, it seemed natural for the business to expand into retail.

Initially, a mobile beer canning business took notice and partnered with Nitro Beverage between 2018 and 2020 as its co-packer. Since then, the coffee manufacturer has switched to a larger partner as it transitioned from the standard 12-ounce soda can to the 12-ounce slim can and increased distribution.

Read more • forbes.com