Exclusive: Black Bread Co. Founders on Building a Business with Social Justice at Heart
Charles Alexander, Jamel Lewis, and Mark Edmond are three best friends from Chicago, IL, who started a business during the pandemic. Despite having no experience in the bread baking industry, they felt compelled to start one when they discovered their local supermarkets carried no bread made by African-American bakers. That was, they say, because there was no sliced bread company owned by Black businessmen. So they set out to start one themselves, with their savings.
They launched the company in the spring of 2021 and have since been recognized for their social justice work, but also for the quality of the bread they make – which they called Black Bread Co. They are currently sponsoring the 2nd Annual Benjamin Crump Equal Justice Now Awards, to honor the biggest names in the criminal justice and social justice reform field and they started visiting 30 schools in the US to support and encourage young entrepreneurs. Most recently, they’ve been chosen as Honorary Grand Marshals at the 93rd Bud Billiken Parade and Festival in Chicago.
One unusual thing they did this year was to sell 10% of their shares to individual investors, setting a very accessible minimum. It allowed them to raise almost USD850,000.
We asked the co-founders what it means to run a business that has social justice at it core.
How long was it between making the decision to start a bread business and launching the products?
We planned for an entire year before we launched to the public. Our goal was to work silently until we were ready for the public to know we existed.
What were your biggest business challenges?
Our first biggest challenge was finding nationwide distribution. Since our product is bread, most trucking/logistics companies don’t move bread because they are concerned if bread would smash and it’s a short shelf life. The second challenge was raising capital. We haven’t received any funding from banks. Our crowdfunding campaign was the best decision we could have made to gain capital through investments in order to efficiently scale.
Did any of you have any previous experience in the baking or food business? If not, how did you overcome not having industry insights?
No, none of us had any experience in the baking industry. However, we have experience in various career fields and we used all of our resources, grit, and persistence to create the first black owned gourmet sliced bread company. We never settled for ‘no’ or ‘I can’t’.
You sold some of your shares in the company in order to attract funding. How do you define your relationship with the new shareholders? Do you plan to involve them in the next steps of your enterprise?
Yes, we gave up 10% equity to the public. Our goal here is to push generational wealth in our communities and beyond. So often we aren’t ‘in the know’ of ways to generate wealth for our families. This was our opportunity to really show the public that “This Brand is for Us”. The minimum to invest is USD250.20, which will get you close to 90 shares. We were recently valued at USD51m.
Our plan is to ensure that our investors are with us every step of the way. This journey is special for all of us and we’re excited we have more ‘Breadwinners’ to come along for the ride. You all can invest at Blackbreadco.com by selecting the link that says ‘Invest’.
Social justice is an intrinsic part of your company’s ethos, as you started it because you wanted to see a Black-owned bread company in your city. How are you taking this further as you also have to run a demanding business?
Absolutely. We truly believe in the importance of giving back to our community. We have partnered with numerous orgs in Chicago and other cities to provide bread in food deserts and homeless communities. Also, we hire interns to shadow us to learn the complexities of running a business.
What’s your dream for the company? Where would you want to see it go?
Our dream is to be a worldwide brand. We are aiming to have an array of gourmet products throughout grocery stores worldwide. We truly believe Black Bread Co will be a household name. We are thriving daily to operate in excellence and provide premium gourmet products for all.