Death Wish Coffee Co. is pushing further into the functional-energy lane with Power Surge, a new roast that delivers more than 200 mg of caffeine per serving — a 20% lift over the brand's flagship Dark Roast. The upstate New York brand is launching the SKU on Amazon and its own direct-to-consumer site at deathwishcoffee.com, with broader retail positioning expected to follow.
The added kick comes from a higher ratio of organic Robusta beans rather than synthetic stimulants or additives, keeping the product within the brand's existing Certified Fair Trade and USDA Organic standards. That natural-caffeine positioning is increasingly meaningful on the convenience forecourt, where energy-drink shoppers are showing growing crossover interest in coffee that can compete on functional claims without an ingredient deck that reads like a lab report.
The company cites proprietary industry data showing high-caffeine label claims are generating 39% purchase intent and outpacing general coffee category growth at a significant clip. For c-store buyers managing dispensed-beverage programs alongside a packaged cold-coffee cooler set, that signal is hard to ignore: the consumer who once reached for a 16-oz energy can is now auditing the coffee aisle for comparable numbers. Death Wish, already the No. 1 selling Fair Trade and organic coffee brand by the company's account, is positioning Power Surge as an everyday carry for what its marketing calls "messy, stacked, and unpredictable days" — language that maps cleanly onto the commuter and blue-collar dayparts that anchor c-store morning traffic.
The functional-coffee segment has been one of the more durable growth pockets inside packaged beverages at convenience, even as the broader dispensed-beverage category faces margin pressure from at-home premium brewing. Brands that can move between DTC and physical retail tend to use early Amazon velocity as proof-of-concept before approaching regional and national chains. For operators evaluating new packaged coffee and energy SKUs, Power Surge's organic and Fair Trade certifications also serve a secondary function: they satisfy the subset of health-conscious loyalty members who want a strong cup without trading away label transparency.
Death Wish has not announced c-store distribution partners or wholesale pricing for Power Surge as of the May 20 launch date. Operators interested in carrying the line should monitor the brand's retail channel communications for distributor availability in their regions.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
