Local Food Entrepreneur: Bizzy Coffee

Meet Bizzy Coffee. Today is FAB (Food/Agriculture/Beverage) Friday and MN Cup will be featuring a series of local food entrepreneurs on Fridays, asking them questions about their business, and getting their insight on the Food Innovation Community in Minnesota. Bizzy Coffee was at MN Cup's EAT Event, on February 5. 

Tell us who you are – what do you do?
My name is Alex French, I am the cofounder of Bizzy Coffee. At Bizzy Coffee, we produce Real. Simple. Energy. To be more specific, we make cold press coffee. When not hustling coffee, I work full-time at General Mills and compete in obstacle course races.

What has been the biggest hurdle you have had to overcome?
The biggest hurdle we’ve had to overcome is raising our seed round. In order to fill the gap in the market, we need to use a unique type of packaging. Unlike most food companies, our product must be contract manufactured which requires very large minimum runs; larger runs than our team can fund on our own.

What drew you to the EAT Event?
The entrepreneurial community in MN is awesome. Everyone is very helpful and encouraging. Also, we wanted to get some additional feedback on our brand and marketing strategy.

What do you hope to see for the MN Food/Ag/Bev community in the future?
I’d love to see a program like all of the tech incubators in Silicon Valley, but for food/beverage/agriculture companies. 

Give us your advice for aspiring food entrepreneurs… in 6 words or less.
6 words or less….that’s tough. Longer form: What is the “job” that your product does for the consumer?

In short: What problem are you solving?