23 Black-Owned Food Brands To Support

What started as a hobby turned into a legit business for Peach State Drinks' founders. Their line-up of brown sugar and agave-sweetened lemonades are all fresh and hand-pressed. You can sip on the Original Brown Sugar Lemon-Aid year-round, and the makers rotate other flavors seasonally (like mango and peach in the summer).

Veteran-owned and Atlanta-based Dope Coffee sells four varieties of ground coffee blends. The beans top-shelf and fair-trade, and you'll find them in K-Cup form, too. I gifted my mom two packs of Dope Coffee for Mother's Day and she's already asking for more. (Not a coffee drinker? You can still offer support by investing in the company.)

The founder of Middleton Made, Quinton Middleton, hand-crafts each of these culinary knives. Middleton has been in business since 2010 and works out of Saint Stephen, a small town just south of Charleston, South Carolina.

Although I'm in the early stages of developing a palate for beer, my taste for wine has been steadfast. Enter McBride Sisters, the makers of one of my favorite Rieslings, aptly named "Black Girl Magic." They also make a red blend and a rosé in that line, as well as a slate of other California grape varieties.

If you're an avid shopper at Whole Foods, you may have come across Ivyees, a brand that sells all things honey. While the product lineup includes hair and body care, the brand's signature products can be found in the condiment aisle: raw honeys with ingredients like sorrel and ginger that turn the sticky sweetener into a superfood.

If blondies are more your thing, Blondery is the brand to follow. To give you a sense of how serious they are about blondies, they posted a photo of an 11-layer blondie cake—and proceeded to raffle it off to followers on Instagram. Red velvet, strawberry rosé, and pecan salted caramel are some of their most popular flavors.

With enough variety to make your head spin, Cuples Tea House brands itself as an "urban tea experience," offering tea that delivers in flavor and healthfulness. If you're new to loose leaf tea, Cuples sells accessories too, including infusers, pots, and tea tumblers.

The best family recipes get passed down through generations, and Vicky Cakes is no exception. The dairy-free pancake and waffle mix was originally created by Vicky, who only set out to feed her family of five. Forty years later, the products are still made without preservatives or artificial ingredients, and the company remains fully Black-owned.

Mysteriously referred to by the brand as "the whiskey maker the world never knew," Uncle Nearest spent much of his life making whiskey at Call Farm in Lynchburg, TN. As the story goes, Uncle Nearest may have been the one to perfect the Lincoln County Process—the filtering of whiskey through sugar maple charcoal before aging in charred oak barrels—which gives Tennessee whiskey its signature flavor. The strong history of this brand is backed by a seriously great product. It's taken home over 550 awards since 2017.

As Charlotte, NC, transplant, I would be remiss not to mention at least one Charlotte-based Black-owned business. It's Poppin' Gourmet Kettle Korn operates in the popular 7th Street Market in Uptown, selling popcorn with flavors you don't hear every day: hot wings, toffee, jelly donuts, and their signature fried chicken kettle korn. Order online and select from a range of sizes, in case you don't want to commit to a full tub of hot wing popcorn on the first try.

If you'd prefer your dairy-free alternatives to be something with a little (read: a lot) less sugar, VeganSmart is a tasty go-to for plant-based protein. Their shake powders swap out the usual chalky aftertaste in favor of a creamy finish packed with probiotics, vitamins, and no animal products. Even better? You've got so many flavors to choose from.

Speaking of plant-powered products, Golde sells superfood powders with ingredients like matcha, turmeric, and cacao. My favorite way to have the original tonic is blended into a smoothie with fruit and non-dairy yogurt. It adds a rich flavor (thanks to hints of cinnamon and ginger) and is specially formulated to boost gut and immune health. They also sell beauty products made with superfoods.

Another D.C.-based brand, Sankofa Beer is the brainchild of Kofi Meroe and a childhood friend, both of whom were born in the U.S. but grew up in Ghana. Sankofa, a word native to Ghana's Akan tribe, is commonly translated to "go back and get it," the concept that knowledge is gained by looking at history and heritage. There is no question that the name of his brand and the flavor palette of his brews harken to Meroe's continental African upbringing. You can't buy these beers online quite yet (they're available in a handful of shops), but you can support online by purchasing merch.

I was first attracted to The Spice Suite when I came across their cooking videos, which had me wishing Smell-O-Vision was a real thing. Check out their curated spice box, released on the first of every month, or visit their Washington, D.C. store when it reopens post-COVID-19.

Ivy's Tea is a hip-hop-inspired brand that sells teas, honeys, and limited-edition china teacups that give nods to song titles, lyrics, and even one beloved rapper. (My personal favorite is a cup of Rise & Grind black tea with Side Piece cinnamon-infused honey.) The company's owned and operated by a trained herbalist, so the blends are crafted for both taste and health benefits. Good for you, and good for others, too: On the third Friday of every month, Ivy's Tea gives a portion of the day's sales to charity.

The Black-owned coffee business is on a mission to "make coffee black again" through education and reclaiming great coffee as an integral part of Black culture. They sell coffee and coffee-related merch on their site including their Ethiopian coffee called Guji Mane. Other than that you can also find art, and apparel, including a digital album.

We here at Delish love ranch, and this Black-owned and -operated Memphis-based popcorn company is known for its White Cheddar Ranch popcorn. In case you're in the mood for something else, they also sell a spicy, cheesy popcorn called U R HAWT and even a simple buttered popcorn. You can't go wrong.

The Harlem Chocolate factory offers a perfect—like, perfect—selection of bonbons and truffles, almost all of which are available for local delivery. The company was founded back in 2015 by Jessica Spaulding and Asha Dixon; the women have taken the brand from a local staple to an Oprah's Favorite Thing of 2020.

Hailing from Director of Post Production Philip Swift's hometown of Akron, Ohio, Akron Honey makes the sweet stuff from local bees. They offer several different flavors, including hot honey, bourbon barrel honey, and raw honey.

"Living in NYC, I still get shipments of juice from Malamiah Juice Bar in my hometown of Grand Rapids, MI," Allison Arnold, associate editor, said. "It's a family-owned business that's dedicated to supporting the community and their products are great!"