January 14 - 2022

Coffee Geography Magazine

Joe Clair from P.G County, Maryland located just on the outskirt of Washington D.C, is a well known comedian who is now debut his coffee brand as another source of income. His company, The Percolator Coffee Co. becomes one of the few African-American owned to venture in the coffee business in the U.S.

Blacks in the U.S are considered  as the least likely ethnic group to drink coffee regularly, according to 2019 research from the National Coffee Association, a market research and lobbying organization.

 “I considered a number of names for my product,” he said. “Some said it was obvious, ‘A Cup of Joe’ but I wanted something else. It was then I thought of the song that came out in the 1990s, ‘It’s Time for the Percolator.’ I thought about coffee percolating in the 1980s whether it was in school or church. I also wanted a name that would appeal to urban and rural America.”

Clair said the public sector will become a marketing instrument to seek contracts with federal, state and local agencies as well as municipalities. Additionally, he will actively pursue putting his product in Walmart and Target. He noted that he will donate a portion of his proceeds to charities.

Clair sits on the board of directors for Covenant House Greater Washington located in Ward 8. He said Covenant House will be a major benefactor of The Percolator Co.

As a well-known comedian and media personality working for WPGC-AM, BET’s Rap City, Def Comedy Jam and ComicView, the entertainment business can be a useful tool to venture out into other business segments like coffee.

Highly regarded entertainers like Jay-Z, Beyoncé, Rihanna , Russell Simmons and Puffy used their fame to  transform their businesses outside their showbiz. Clair is just doing that to have other streams of revenue earn more.