Three Questions with Rod Johnson of BLK & Bold Specialty Beverages

BLK & Bold Founders Pernell Cezar (left) and Rod Johnson. All images courtesy of BLK & Bold.

The concept of community has always been at the heart of BLK & Bold, the Des Moines, Iowa-based coffee roasting and beverage company founded by Pernell Cezar and Rod Johnson in 2018. 

“Our coffee fuels community in so many different instances,” Johnson recently told DCN. “In my neighborhood, there weren’t many coffee shops. People would meet up at the local McDonald’s and have their coffee in the mornings — guys who were retired trading stories over a cup of coffee. Even my personal experience — watching my grandparents read a newspaper over coffee — camaraderie was built during those instances.”

Cezar and Johnson, who grew up as childhood friends in Gary, Indiana, have used the business since its inception to help give back to communities, not only with coffee, but with cash. Five percent of the company’s revenue continues to be donated to nonprofit organizations working to empower and create opportunities for youth. 

The company currently supports 14 community partners throughout the U.S. that are addressing issues such as food security, health and wellness, technology gaps and literacy, among other initiatives. 

“We were intentional about building our business the way we did because as our company grows, so does the impact that we have on our community partners,” said Johnson. 

Rod Johnson

Grown, it has. After launching out of a garage, BLK & Bold has become one of the largest independently owned coffee brands in the United States, with distribution at major retailers such as Target, Walmart, Whole Foods and Amazon. Last month, the company made inroads at Costco, with 2-pound bags of its Rise & GRND medium-roast blend offered at nine locations throughout the Midwest. 

“We are a bootstrap business started by two guys who identify with the beneficiaries of the work we are doing,” Johnson said. “We’ve been able to generate over $450,000 to those respective organizations. $450,000 is a lot of money and real work can be done with those types of resources.” 

Johnson and Cezar were recently honored by the Coffee Coalition for Racial Equity with an Excellence in Coffee Leadership award. The business has also launched a nonprofit to expand youth impact, and enlisted NFL Hall-of-Famer Deion Sanders (a.k.a. “Coach Prime”) as an owner and social change leader. 

“The fact that my startup business that I began with my friend is producing real results, in conjunction with fans of the brand, is something I’m really proud of,” said Johnson. 

Here’s more from DCN’s interview with Rod Johnson…

What about coffee excites you most?

I love how coffee continues to be iterative and a source of comfort in an ever-evolving society. Oftentimes, it’s a cup of coffee that provides a sense of relaxation, and multiple generations are getting to experience that. I think about Gen Z and how they have gravitated towards cold brew. It’s something that is iteratively different than how our grandparents may have enjoyed coffee, but there’s still some level of commonality. So, that excites me, that coffee is a ritual that will be here for generations to come. 

What about coffee troubles you most?

A lot of things trouble me. We talk about tariffs and how that could be a barrier for people to enter into the coffee industry, which is already an uphill battle for certain communities, despite the origins of coffee. The fact that we have these political influences that are impacting the price and that makes it more difficult to enter coffee from an entrepreneurial standpoint. 

The other thing that is troublesome is if we don’t take care of the earth, then we are going to be at risk of enjoying these cups of coffee as we have been able to do. While in Peru [sourcing coffee], I learned how they had to get innovative to accommodate for droughts and environmental changes. They basically produced a drought-resistant coffee. While that’s awesome that they were able to do that, it was out of desperation that bred that ingenuity. If we’re not being kind to Mother Nature, it’s not going to be kind to us. Everything is at risk, including harvested crops like coffee. 

What would you be doing if it weren’t for coffee?

I think I would still be doing something entrepreneurial. I appreciate the flexibility and the luxury of being able to spend my time in the ways that I want to. Well, not always, but I’m more in control of my time and get to spend it with family and with my hobbies.

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