The Hire

Death Wish Coffee Co. has named Sasha Auguste as Chief Marketing Officer, tapping a CPG brand veteran to lead marketing strategy, retail positioning, and digital initiatives as the Saratoga Springs, N.Y.-based roaster pursues its next growth phase. The brand already moves product through more than 25,000 retail doors nationwide — a footprint that includes a significant convenience and grocery presence — and the hire signals intent to push that number higher.

Auguste comes to Death Wish from YumEarth, the natural candy brand, where she drove strategic repositioning, expanded the innovation pipeline into new segments, and delivered growth across direct-to-consumer, Amazon, and key retail partners. Before that, she led brand repositioning and launched a direct-to-consumer business at Kidfresh. Her background sits squarely in the better-for-you and natural consumer packaged goods lane — a sensibility that aligns with Death Wish's Fair Trade and USDA Organic credentials.

Why It Matters for C-Store

For convenience retailers, Death Wish's trajectory is worth tracking. The brand ranks as the number-one selling Fair Trade and number-one organic roasted coffee brand in the U.S., per SPINS MULO scan data through December 2025. That kind of scan-data dominance in the natural/organic coffee segment gives it credibility with the growing share of c-store shoppers who read labels on dispensed beverage and packaged coffee alike.

Appointing a CMO with omnichannel retail chops — particularly one who has navigated Amazon, DTC, and brick-and-mortar simultaneously — suggests Death Wish is thinking beyond its current shelf position. For operators running a packaged coffee or cold-vault set, a brand actively investing in innovation support and consumer engagement tends to bring promotional dollars and category-building activity that single-store operators and regional chains can leverage. CEO Steve Gardiner noted that attracting top-tier talent is central to the brand's next chapter, framing Auguste's hire as a deliberate upgrade in marketing horsepower rather than a routine backfill.

Outlook

Auguste's mandate as described covers integrated marketing, innovation support, and consumer engagement — all critical levers for a packaged coffee brand competing for shelf real estate in a channel where dispensed beverage programs and ready-to-drink options are already crowded. Death Wish's core lineup — Dark Roast, Medium Roast, Espresso Roast, Light Roast, and Valhalla Java — has carved out a premium, personality-driven niche that differentiates it from commodity private-label sets. Auguste, for her part, pointed to the brand's "fearless personality and loyal community" as the primary draw, signaling she plans to lean into that identity rather than sand down the edges for mainstream appeal. For c-store buyers, the question is whether that energy translates into new SKUs, stronger velocity data, or promotional programming that justifies expanded facings.

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.