r E Ta I L / h O S P I Ta L I T Y
60 BCBusiness october 2016
T
his is actually hap-
pening in major cities
across North America:
hundreds of people
rise at 5 a.m., dress
up in gold-sequined
suits, sheep costumes or
workout clothes, show up at a
designated church or touring
boat, and party until 10 a.m.
It's a morning rave—and,
according to Drew Magary in
the August 2015 issue of GQ,
it's A Thing: "There really are
people who want to dance
around sober with a bunch of
strangers in order to get ener-
gized for the coming day,"
writes Magary. "Hedonism
repackaged as a health fad."
Along with vegan almond
balls, spoken-word poetry
performances and green
smoothies, early-rising
party animals might also
nd cups of Kicking Horse
Cožee. Since its 1997 launch,
the Invermere-based cožee
company has spurned tradi-
tional advertising in favour
of sponsoring local events—
generally outdoor sports
competitions like mountain
biking, trail running, paddle
boarding—where it can get its
java directly to the taste buds
of target customers. Since
Kicking Horse's rapid U.S.
expansion in 2014, company
reps have also served cožee
to morning ravers in San
Francisco, New York and
Montreal. "It's fun, it's goofy,
and it's morning time," says
CEO Elana Rosenfeld. "It's all
about cožee."
It's also a good example
of how the company has
stayed true to its commu-
nity-minded roots, despite a
massive growth trajectory.
Rosenfeld started roasting
beans in her garage with
former partner Leo Johnson
Elana Rosenfeld
CEO, Kicking horse Coffee
WINNER
(who left Kicking Horse
in 2012), committed to
Fairtrade-certied and
organic whole-bean cožee.
Over the past ve years,
Kicking Horse has doubled
in size, expanding its
roasting facility to 60,000
square feet and processing
over seven million pounds
of cožee a year. A brand
committed to bucking
trends seems a natural t
for an all-ages, drug-free,
pretensions-aside, crack-of-
dawn dance party.
After achieving cross-
country distribution
(Kicking Horse is now the
highest-selling organic
Fairtrade-certied cof-
fee in Canada, according
to market research rm
Nielsen), Rosenfeld pursued
expansion south of the
border with the help of a
new equity partner. Kicking
Horse is now available at
American specialty food
stores, large grocery chains,
e-tailers including Amazon
and big box stores like
Target. The brand has also
started ožering ground cof-
fee. "A general view in busi-
ness is that you can't grow
and be big and maintain
your values and integrity,"
says Rosenfeld. "But I think
we've done that." —M.G.
