Two New York-based Asian American companies announced major expansion plans today.
Japanese snack company Bokksu acquired Japan Crate, a pop culture-inspired Japanese candy, snack and drink start-up. This makes Bokksu the largest business of its kind in the world.
Also today, Nguyen Coffee Supply said for the first time it will be available in Washington, DC and each of the 44 states where Whole Foods Market is located. It became the first Vietnamese Ready-to-Drink coffee to go national with a retailer.
The announcement is an expansion of a deal reported in April by BevNet when Nguyen Coffee Supply said it would be sold at half the Whole Foods outlets in the country.
Nguyen is offering three coffee flavors- Classic Black, Condensed Milk, and Coconut.
Inc Magazine named its founder, Sahra Nguyen to its “Female Founders 200” list earlier this year.
The company is the first specialty Vietnamese coffee company in the United States.
“This expansion goes beyond expanding the coffee category, it’s evolving coffee culture,” Nguyen said to Bev-Net back in April. “We worked diligently to change the narrative around robusta to make the industry more inclusive; and through these retail collaborations, we’re able to change the system.”
Bokksu CEO Danny Taing told Modern Retail his company’s expansion will now make it available at 5,000 retail outlets including World Market, Hot Topic and FYE.
“New ideas and concepts have been the core of both Japan Crate’s and Bokksu’s missions, and by joining forces, we’re confident in our continued growth and innovation,” Japan Crate CEO Hank Rao said.
“Japan Crate has done a remarkable job growing to where they are fully bootstrapped,” Taing said. “They’ve been resourced strapped for a while.”
In June, AsAmNews reported Bokksu announced a partnership with Hello Kitty and now offers themed snacks from the popular Japanese fictional character.
(Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the number of states with Whole Foods Markets)
AsAmNews is published by the non-profit, Asian American Media Inc. Follow us on Facebook, X, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to support our efforts to produce diverse content about the AAPI communities. We are supported in part by funding provided by the State of California, administered by the California State Library in partnership with the California Department of Social Services and the California Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander American Affairs as part of the Stop the Hate program. To report a hate incident or hate crime and get support, go to CA vs Hate.
