12 Superb Black-Owned Brands You Didn’t Know You Could Find at Retailers Across the Country

Heritage Link Brands Selena Cuffe founded Heritage Link wines in 2005 after she traveled to South Africa for an unrelated business trip to the Soweto Wine Festival. She learned the country's wine industry had less than 2 percent of Black owners, though Blacks make up the majority of the population. The beverage brand is now sold in more than 4,000 outlets including Walmart, Sam's Club and Whole Foods across the United States. LoAdebar Founder Norma Maloney began making energy bars in 1995 for her husband's cycling activities. She was encouraged to turn her hobby into a business by her daughter and son-in-law. Maloney launched LoAdebar in 2006, with energy bars containing organic ingredients. It was named Emerging Business of the Year in 2015. The bars can be purchased at Whole Foods Markets across the southeast. The Harlem Brewing Company/Sugar Hill Ale Celeste Beatty began Harlem Brewing Company in her apartment in New York City. She fell in love with the operation after brewing five-gallon batches of the craft beer. The HBCU grad has been making her own ingredients by growing hops in her backyard and on a farm in upstate New York. Her brew, which includes ciders and ales, is available in 39 New York area Walmart stores. Michele's Foods Michele Hoskins' great great great grandmother created the secret formula for Michele's Syrup. When the company was launched in 1984, Hoskins went from hand-bottling the original recipe in her mother's basement to having the syrup sold in more than 8,000 stores nationally. Hoskins was also the first minority supplier for Denny's. The syrups can be found at local Publix, Kroger, Albertson’s and Safeway stores. Possibiliteas Literary agent Regina Brooks began selling herbal brews as a way to fuel her clients in their art and writing careers. Possibiliteas features three recipes that specialize in productivity, creativity and clarity. Organic tea leaves combine items like chocolate and flowers to boost the three areas. The tea can be found at Peace and Riot in Brooklyn, New York and Tai Sophia Institute in Laurel, Maryland. Charleston Gourmet Burger Company Chevalo and Monique Wilsondebriano developed their burger sauces after being inspired by the herbs and spices of Charleston, South Carolina. They first used the marinade at a family barbecue. After the burgers were a success, the bottles were soon sold in local Costco and Whole Foods stores. Then, Lowes and Walmart approached them with a deal. Charleston Gourmet Burger Company will likely move $1 million in sales this year. 2T Water 2T Water is a premium brand harvested from a protected spring in Ouachita National Forest. All of the natural minerals are left intact with no fear of pollution from the neighboring Arkansas population. CEO Eric Wells helped the company launch the first ever biotin water in 2014, which aims to help hair, skin and nail health. The beverages can be found at service stations and at stores like Amy's Natural Foods and The Fresh Market in Georgia, Texas, Arizona and Ohio. The Comfort Cake Company Amy Hilliard, founder and CEO of The Comfort Cake Company, comes from a family of chefs and caterers. After Hilliard made seven southern style pound cakes for a 1999 Thanksgiving dinner, they were quickly devoured. She decided to turn her dessert into a business in 2001. Two years later, the company was named Emerging Minority Enterprise of the Year. Hilliard's cake mix can be found in Jewel stores in Chicago and at Walmarts in the South and Midwest. Me & The Bees Me & The Bees lemonade was launched by 11-year-old Mikaila Ulme after she appeared on ABC's Shark Tank. An investment of $60,000 was put into the company, which was inspired by Ulme's grandmother's 1940s recipe. Proceeds will go toward saving honeybees in her hometown of Austin. Me & The Bees is available at Whole Foods stores in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana. The Cookie Kahuna Wally Amos is known for founding Famous Amos cookies, but he launched The Cookie Kahuna, based in Honolulu, in 2014. After declaring that all cookies must be handmade from the purest ingredients, he created the new company with the taste originally associated with Famous Amos. Chocolate chip, chocolate pecan and butterscotch macadamia are the three available flavors. They can be found in Costco stores around Hawaii. Fou-Dré Vodka Founded by Chanel Turner, Fou-Dré Vodka is the only liquor company in America owned by a Black woman. The Bowie State University graduate named the spirit after the French word for lightning since the bottle is made in France. The beverage itself is created in South Carolina with no added sugars. Fou-Dré can be found in select liquor stores in Maryland and Georgia. Bee D'Vine Ayele Solomon developed Bee D'Vine honey wine after realizing Ethiopia's traditional tree-hanging beehives could be modernized. Doing so would solve the economic, environmental and social issues of the Kafa rain forest region. The recipe was developed using California honey, and proceeds from the sales will go toward improving Kafa honey conservations. Bee D'Vine is sold at Whole Foods, Vallerga's Market and Roberts grocery stores in California.

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