“For Coffee Lovers Who Need Smarter Energy, Sharper Focus, and Better Sleep.”
A revolutionary new type of coffee company has officially relocated to Buffalo. Rarebird Coffee moved its headquarters to downtown Buffalo – from San Francisco – after winning the 43 North competition. I spoke to Enzo Benfanti (Chief Scientific Officer), who joined the company upon Rarebird’s decision to relocate to Buffalo, as Benfanti originally attended the University at Buffalo and hails from Clarence, NY.
After ten years away from Buffalo, it was the perfect fit, to join Rarebird in its new northeast adventure. When I asked him what someone involved with biotech was doing working for a coffee company, he told me that Rarebird is not an ordinary coffee company, in fact far far from it. That’s because, instead of roasting caffeinated coffee, they have discovered an entirely new way to deliver all of the cerebral benefits of caffeine… without the caffeinated downsides. They did this by replacing the caffeine in traditional coffee with something else your body naturally produces: Px.
When your body processes caffeine, it produces Px. Over the course of the last two years, Jeffrey Dietrich (CEO of Rarebird) has been learning how to harness the positive elements of Px, which delivers all of the perks of caffeine (heightened alertness and reduced fatigue) without the downsides (anxiety, insomnia, headaches, crashes, etc.). What’s so special about this new discovery? Drinking traditional caffeinated coffee covers up these advanced benefits with side-effects from caffeine (spiked cortisol, poor sleep, high blood pressure, and more).
If you drink coffee and:
- Feel anxious and wired
- Can’t focus during the day
- Have to cut yourself off at noon
- Can’t get a good night’s sleep
- Feel burned out in the morning
There’s likely a good chance that some amount of caffeine could be at the root of the problem.
It seems as if biotech and coffee is the perfect combination of startup ingredients that Buffalo has been craving. People should have the energy boost that coffee delivers, without looking for coffee substitutes, such as energy drinks. Rarebird recognized this, 43 North recognized this, and now Buffalo is about reap the benefits.
Likewise, Rarebird may be the perfect fit for Buffalo as well, not just for the marriage of science and wellness and its centralized location in the US, but also because New York is the largest coffee consumer in the country. Buffalo also has plenty of food manufacturing, breweries, and roasteries.
Currently, Rarebird’s office is at Seneca One, where other 43 North winners are co-located. Their lab, where they do continuous product research, is at the Medical Campus.
“People are just starting to realize the many benefits of Px,” said Benfanti. “That said, we’re expanding quickly, with 99% of sales outside of Buffalo. Now that we have roots here, we’re hoping to gain some new grounds (pun intended) in the Buffalo market and community.”
Beth Burdette-Allen and Joseph Allen
I first learned about Rarebird when I stopped into the Bicycle Bottle Shop a couple of weeks ago. I spoke to shop owners Beth Burdette-Allen and Joseph Allen. After touring me around their shop, showing me all of the bike-centric offerings, they pointed out a bag of Rarebird and explained that it was made by a new coffee company that had set up shop in Buffalo. That’s all I needed to hear, before I decided to reach out to Enzo to ask him about the business.
The way I look at it that Rarebird could be another Golden Grail company for Buffalo. That’s because they already hold patents on the Px coffee space, including ground and whole bean coffee.
Currently, Rarebird is offering ground medium and dark roast, and an espresso grind. A whole bean option is coming soon. They sell direct to consumer, as well as at select retail locations such as Bicycle Bottle Shop. Roasting fresh weekly, they are currently looking to connect with local coffee shops and retailers to expand their presence across Buffalo and Western New York.
“We want to be a bigger part of the community,” explained Benfanti. “We’re proud to call Buffalo home.”
Get Connected: Rarebird Coffee
