I started my career as a retail merchandiser 40 years ago and along the way called on Walmart in Bentonville. One key element to Walmart’s success was Sam Walton’s decision to “swim upstream”. If everyone is going in one direction, there may be opportunity the other way. That’s how Walmart started big box deep discounting in less populated areas.

Speed ahead to my last consulting role with Nestle Starbucks in Seattle. There I witnessed every coffee swimming in the same direction (full caffeine) with all these limitations. The alarm bells began to ring. To understand the opportunity, we must understand caffeine’s role in the coffee paradigm:

• Caffeine Is Drug #1 – It is the most widely consumed psycho substance on earth.
• Coffee is a +$100b caffeine-dependent category consumed by 75% of U.S. Households.
• Caffeine is consumed most in coffee – far outpacing other caffeinated beverages in the U.S.
• Coffee consumption is packed into mornings - 83% of caffeinated coffee is consumed before noon.
• The morning coffee surge creates a noon guardrail that limits later day consumption. Although the caffeine in coffee is used for morning energy, its negative side effects such as energy crash, jitters, anxiety, potential sleep disruption in the evening, etc. prevent consumption beyond noon.

At the same time, consumers consistently said the largest missing attribute in coffee was relaxation, according to Mintel category studies. They wanted their coffee to do more. The challenge was figuring out how to bring relaxation to products steeped in stimulation.

Point: Coffee is a morning stimulant with relaxation opportunities

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To address relaxation, we considered flipside functional benefit candidates to pair coffee with and landed on Cannabidiol (CBD). Known for its calming, focus and anxiety reducing properties, CBD is also known to help with chronic pain and inflammation, facilitate more restful sleep and other benefits. There were several synergistic effects to combining coffee and CBD:

• CBD can reduce the anxiety associated with caffeine consumption in coffee, making the experience more focused and sustained yet calm.
• The caffeine from coffee can activate (speed) the CBD into the system for faster effect.
• Modulating caffeine and CBD amounts could help clear the noon guardrail into later day occasions.

Point: Coffee + CBD may be a good pair worth further investigation

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Rounding out the research, we found that, of all markets, Portland was the most unique. In addition to having one of the highest coffee development indexes (yet everyone swimming in the same direction with full caffeine), the differentiator was the high acceptance of this relaxing CBD and a flourishing CBD sparkling water segment. These things didn’t exist in other markets due to federal regulations, a ‘gap’ that could provide air cover for testing prior to federal approval. The federal regulation ‘gap’ also created legal uncertainty for large CPG and retail firms, so their involvement was non-existent. What we found was a market to simulate a test without competitive interference prior to the Feds opening the flood gates. We connected these dots and asked how we could create a product to meet these needs in this market, a question that drove us to return to Portland and swim upstream in pursuit of an answer. The result was the creation of All Day Coffee.

All Day Coffee uses the highest-quality Colombian Arabica beans to create a superior-tasting cold brew coffee that is infused with nano-CBD extracted from broad-spectrum hemp that is guaranteed to be safe, effective and reliable. Our proprietary combination of caffeine and CBD delivers long-lasting energy with a calm, focused mind with no jitters or anxiety – the ultimate energy boost! And for those who consume CBD for medicinal benefits (relief from pain, stress/anxiety, inflammation, and better sleep), the caffeine in All Day Coffee speeds the medicinal benefits of CBD to the consumer for quicker longer-lasting relief. Choose Full Caf or Half Caf based on your preference for caffeine and the time of day. Later in the day or evening choose Decaf for relaxation and focus.

Since January, All Day Coffee has been sold in Portland at John's Marketplace stores, a handful of coffeehouses and at street fairs and market events. After thousands of consumer interactions, acceptance and feedback is exceptional and sales are strong and growing. Consumers are trying All Day Coffee because they are intrigued by the brand's unique selling proposition. Repeat purchases are robust due to the brand's great taste and the superior energy experience it provides, specifically:

• Extended energy without the crash experienced from caffeine’s stimulation
• No jitters or anxiety typically associated with caffeine, providing energy with calm and focus
• Reports of fewer aches and pains; caffeine appears to help speed activation of CBD benefits like the way Excedrin works. The Excedrin marketing slogan was ‘speeds the pain relief to where your body needs it most’ with the help of 65mg of caffeine.
• Relaxation with later day coffee occasions and more restful sleep when consuming the less caffeinated items

Point: All Day Coffee delivers desirable unique benefits that other coffees do not provide

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All Day Coffee’s uniqueness suggests its sales will be incremental since there are no other similar items to cannibalize or take sales from. If cannibalization occurred, such as someone going from Stumptown to All Day Coffee, the sales would be a trade-up to All Day Coffee’s premium price. For example, All Day Coffee’s low/no caffeine sales are over 6 times larger than category averages with virtually no low/no caffeine cold brews options to take sales from:

All Day Coffee will act like a Quick Serve Restaurant that adds breakfast to its lunch menu (and thereby opening another day part occasion) while every other restaurant continues serving lunch-only which is exactly what McDonald’s did in 1972.

Point: All Day Coffee provides incremental sales that can grow the coffee category

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Finally, All Day Coffee’s uniqueness is matched by its craftsmanship. EVERY aspect of its manufacture and distribution is handled by the founders and their team in a very concentrated footprint (Roasting, brewing, CBD infusing, packaging and filling, delivery and sampling) wholly using locally provided services and ingredients. All this work is not for handmade sake; the super-freshness of this non-pasteurized cold brew earns very high marks around taste with many claiming it to be the best they have tasted.

Point: All Day Coffee is completely locally handcrafted

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In summary, All Day Coffee enhances the coffee experience and extends its occasions by delivering unique and incremental benefits and unmatched local craftsmanship. Competitors will emulate parts of All Day Coffee’s success in a process that will accelerate to big manufacturers and retailers as CBD approval clears federal hurdles. Portland is a microcosm of this evolution, and the goal of All Day Coffee is to be the catalyst. We will continue to drive awareness and sales of All Day Coffee in Portland into the new year and ultimately grow the coffee category by swimming upstream.