Jimmy Butler Has Officially Joined the $400+ Million Business of Selling Coffee, Starting With a $100,000 ‘Mobile Lab’
Jimmy Butler is a star forward for the Miami Heat. The talented athlete got his start in college before entering the NBA in the 2011 draft. Over the past few years, Butler has won many awards, including being a four-time All-NBA Team honoree and a five-time NBA All-Defensive Team honoree.
These days, Butler is still focused on his game, but he’s expanded his hobbies to include a passion for coffee. In fact, the 32-year-old used his downtime during the coronavirus pandemic to build a business around coffee. He’s working on his coffee-making skills and developing plans for a full-scale operation.
When did Jimmy Butler become interested in coffee?
The pandemic forced a lot of NBA players to get creative if they didn’t want to get extremely bored. During the NBA bubble, Butler decided to leverage a life-long interest into a new, marketable skill. In mid-2020, as the Miami Heat stayed in a Disney resort “bubble,” Butler decided to open his own “coffee shop” in his hotel room.
Butler didn’t hesitate to upcharge his coffee either, asking for up to $20 a cup for the gourmet drinks. “You can’t get coffee nowhere here,” Butler said at the time. “So I might bump it up to 30 bucks a cup. Just depends. People here can afford it. So ain’t nobody complaining.”
After Butler and his teammates were released from the bubble, he decided to pursue his new venture. The NBA star trademarked a logo and gave his business a name: Big Face Coffee.
Jimmy Butler is serious about building a coffee community
If Butler is hoping for additional income, he could do worse than a coffee business. According to Statista, revenue in the coffee segment amounts to $409,895 million in 2021, with the market is expected to grow annually by 6.99%. For Butler, however, much of his new venture is a labor of love.
As he admitted in a recent interview, he’s focused on the community he’s building — full of people who love the simple joy of drinking coffee.
As reported by Shopify Plus, Butler said he’s heard “great things” from people about the project. “Everybody is so excited to see what the BIGFACE brand is. Not just coffee, but what the brand has to offer when you’re talking about coffee,” he explained.
For now, Butler is working on the digital component of Big Face Coffee. He launched a new website before mapping out the necessary steps to open a chain of brick-and-mortar coffee shops. As Butler admitted, basketball is currently his “main thing” and he wants “to be able to be all in. If I open up a coffee shop, I really want to make coffee.”
Fans can buy Jimmy Butler’s coffee merch online
Fans who want to experience Big Face Coffee should be prepared to drop some serious cash. On the Big Face Brand website, fans can choose from a selection of products.
The “Coffee NFT Box” features four coffee varieties and limited-edition artwork, priced at $500. For a more affordable option, you can snag a Big Face Brand hoodie for $120. The cheapest item on the website is a branded mug for $30.
At the far end of the spectrum is a $100,000 mobile espresso station that includes all four bean varieties, a mini grinder, electric kettle, exclusive merchandise, and a glass Chemex. The mobile lab is certainly a luxurious way for fans to experience Butler’s bespoke coffee experience.
