Steve Gardiner, Chief Executive Officer at Death Wish Coffee. Press release photo.
Upstate New York-based Death Wish Coffee recently named consumer packaged goods veteran Steve Gardiner CEO.
Gardiner comes to Death Wish after serving for six years as an executive at packaged snack company Nature’s Bakery, including the most recent three-plus years as CEO. Gardiner also worked in numerous leadership roles over 24 years at PepsiCo.
Gardiner is the coffee roasting company’s first formally announced CEO since the departure of CEO Mike Pilkington, who launched his own sparkling water brand in 2023. Mike Brown founded the Saratoga Springs-based company with just a handful of employees in 2012, and served as CEO prior to Pilkington’s appointment.
In an announcement last week, Brown praised Gardiner’s abilities in the consumer packaged goods arena.
“When it comes to scaling CPG brands, Steve is a seasoned professional,” Brown said. “He stresses the importance of always starting with a deep understanding of your consumer and then bringing that to life digitally and across retailers and sales channels. This is critical to accelerating our velocity at Death Wish Coffee.”
Death Wish Coffee cited recent private data from the firm SPINS to describe itself as “the #1 Organic and #1 Fair Trade coffee brand in the United States.” DCN was not able to immediately review or confirm the research.
The company said its coffee products are now available in more than 25,000 retail locations throughout the United States.
In 2021, the private equity firm TA Associates announced an undisclosed investment in Death Wish Coffee. As of this writing (Sept. 15, 2025), the firm still lists Death Wish as an active portfolio company.
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