Local Collective leads expansive effort to bring local roasted specialty coffee to more than 2,200 Walmart stores across the US
BENTONVILLE, Ark., August 1, 2023 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — Hatchery Group –a Bentonville, Arkansas-based company–is pleased to announce an expanding partnership with Walmart that brings locally roasted specialty coffee to more than 2,200 stores in the US. The expansion is based upon the success of the first-year program in 2022, and a strong desire for Walmart to invest in sustainable growth communities by offering their customers a broad range of specialty coffees, roasted locally and owned by local vendors.
Hatchery Group’s operations company is called the “Local Collective,” and works directly with all involved vendors to ensure proper distribution, forecasting and deliveries that meet Walmart’s guidelines for operational excellence, as well as coordinating key “Made in America” manufacturing, financing, and ingredient partnerships to make the program successful.
As a part of this expansion execution, Local Collective is working in partnership with Snapchill™, a national leader in patented chilling techniques that instantly chill hot brewed coffee, capturing all of the nuanced flavor coffee has to offer. Snapchill is the exclusive Ready-to-Drink (RTD) manufacturer for 20 of the participating program roasters and will be creating a new brand in cooperation with Local Collective called “In a Snap!”–a RTD product that will be available in more than 800 of the 2,200 participating stores. The RTD segment is growing exponentially, exceeding $1 billion in US retail sales. Walmart is enabling all participants to tap into this lucrative market through the Local Collective program.
Starting in 2022, Hatchery Group has bridged the gap between local business and Walmart by facilitating the development of Local Collective. “We understand that consumers want to purchase items made by local and independent businesses, even when shopping at big box stores. Local Collective started with supporting coffee roasters from across the country, but this is just beginning. We’re anticipating growing into sauces, spices, and other shelf-stable beverages, so that more local brands have access to the broad range of consumers who are shopping at Walmart everyday,” said Alex Kent, Founder and CEO, Hatcher Group.
Local Collective enables independent roasters the ability to create a RTD coffee utilizing Snapchill™’s patented technology. Snapchill instantly chills hot brewed coffee from 204 to 38 degrees within seconds, protecting the beans’ “flavor integrity” and creating cold coffee with all the full-bodied nuanced flavors only afforded by freshly brewed hot coffee, which cold brew cannot accomplish. Once chilled, Snapchill has the capacity to produce millions of pasteurized cans in one of their four production centers, including its newest 20-million canning production and fulfillment center in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
“It has been an honor to collaborate with the passionate, independent roasters in the Local Collective program. Our mission at Snapchill is simple, yet mighty: make the best tasting cold coffee in less time as a more sustainable and flavorful option. By 2025, the cold coffee market is expected to grow by $1.37 billion and the RTD market could exceed $36 billion in value. Partnering with Hatchery Group has enabled us to expand our turnkey services to roasters, which also benefits coffee enthusiasts shopping at Walmart nationwide,” said Dave Dussault, Inventor and Founder, Snapchill.
Although each regional Walmart will have different Snapchilled™ SKUs based on the local roaster, more than 800 stores will sell the Walmart exclusive brand, “In a Snap!” Sold in a 4-pack, “In a Snap!” represents an additional powerful ingredient partnership, offering consumers two favorite brands that they love–clover honey from Local Hive Honey™ and Oatly, the world’s original and largest oatmilk company.
“We are excited to be a part of such an innovative launch with “In a Snap!” as an ingredient partner, and a key player in Walmart’s drive to partner with local market coffee roasters. The essence of the Local Hive brand is working with local beekeepers across the U.S to procure local honey blends on a national basis, and working with “In a Snap!” provides us with an opportunity for our brand to reach more consumers in over 800 locations across the Walmart retail landscape. We look forward to great success in teaming with the Local Collective and Snapchill in this venture,” said Local Hive Chief Commercial Officer, Cale Nelson.
Stakeholders anticipate Local Collective’s canned coffee program will grow to include 280 roasters and exceed K-cup sales by 2025, targeting $1 billion dollars in sales by 2026. Scaling Local Collective supports thousands of US-based jobs and minority-owned and family-run businesses through local manufacturing, production, logistic operations, fulfillment and product transit.
To learn more about Local Collective, program partners are available for interviews. To watch a video series featuring the roasters, please visit localcollective.com or @localcollectiveus on social media sites.
About Local Collective at Walmart
Local Collective is a Bentonville, AR-based company, focused on creating collaboration opportunities for local and regional consumer products manufacturers in concert with national retailers, bringing local favorites to consumers in locations they prefer to shop. Local Collective’s commitment extends to financing, logistical coordination, digital platform management, and retailer collaboration on behalf of its member manufacturers.
About Hatchery Group
Hatchery Group is a Bentonville, AR-based brand accelerator, focused on new brand development, the Local Collective, and manufacturer representation. We unleash brands into the marketplace, partnering in strategy development with a focus on exceptional growth. Our Local Collective enables small, local companies in multiple categories to gain access to national retailer store shelves, offering consumers the ability to buy their local and regional favorites in their preferred place to shop. We combine the Local Collective experience with a team of dedicated and experienced growth experts who understand how to navigate inside of retailer organizations for exceptional results. Learn more at hatcherygroup.com.
About Snapchill™
Snapchill™ is a revolutionary technology that uses patented chilling techniques to instantly chill hot brewed coffee, capturing all the nuanced flavor coffee has to offer. The process includes pasteurization, enabling products to be stored without refrigeration for 12 months without loss of freshness or flavor quality. A disruptor in the cold coffee industry, Snapchill ditched outmoded cold coffee methods like ice, refrigeration, and cold brew (which uses twice the beans and water for half the flavor) to brew coffee hot and preserve it icy-cold without chemicals, additives, or compromise. Snapchill works with roasters, retailers and beverage brands nationwide to develop their RTD cold coffee that is then canned and pasteurized in one of four Snapchill production facilities. The company offers distribution worldwide for its clients through its three centers across the U.S. Products include Snapchill™ Coffee, Snapchill™ Coffee + Milk and Snapchill™ Tea. Snapchill is based in Watertown, MA. Learn more at snapchill.com and follow on Instagram @drink_Snapchill.
Pull Quote
We understand that consumers want to purchase items made by local and independent businesses, even when shopping at big box stores. Local Collective started with supporting coffee roasters from across the country, but this is just beginning.
Media Contact
Nubia DuVall Wilson, Hatchery Group, 1 6463570428, [email protected], Cielo Consulting PR Agency
SOURCE Hatchery Group
Featured image: I stock © MarianVejcik
