In this episode, Fire Department Coffee Founder Luke Schneider, a former firefighter and Navy veteran, shares the company's inspiring journey – which began in 2016 as a direct-to-consumer business with a single blend and now is a successful national brand with several lines of products in approximately 10,000 stores.
Much of FDC’s success comes from adopting a highly-focused strategy rather than chasing high door counts; Luke is not afraid to walk away from a potential retail deal if it's not an ideal fit. This deliberate approach has led to its highly successful partnership with Walmart, which originated from a meeting at Walmart's Open Call event. Now Luke returns to the event every year to speak and mentor other startup brands.
Luke also highlights the importance of having a vibrant brand culture and building a solid team of experts, and creating engaging, humorous, and educational content that builds a loyal community and keeps the brand top-of-mind, rather than merely promoting products.
Emerging brands will learn what it takes to build and grow a successful brand, as well as how to avoid common pitfalls along the road to success!
