Son of baseball legend to bring coffee brand to campus

Coffee

Alex Delaney-Gesing

Kent State students will have a new java place to hit up on campus beginning this fall.

Sweet Unity Farms, a coffee company started in Africa nearly 30 years ago by David Robinson, son of the legendary baseball player Jackie Robinson, is bringing its selection of hand-harvested coffee beans to Kent.

Bags of the coffee—made from a Tanzanian blend of Arabica coffee beans—will be sold at three on-campus markets, as well as in the Student Center.

Eastway Deli, Munchie’s Market and Rosie’s Rations, and the Oscar Ritchie coffee shop (which formerly housed Jazzman’s cafe) will be rebranded as “Moyo Cafe, The Heart’s Home,” according to Toni Hunt, marketing associate in Kent State’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

The coffee company’s interest in selling its product at Kent State came in part because of the university’s status as being named one of the most caffeinated colleges in the country by GrubHub, an online food delivery service.

Kent State alum Marcus Butler, CEO of Claiborne Consulting Company, an international consulting firm working with the coffee company, was a catalyst in bringing the coffee company to a college campus for the first time.

“(I’m) proud to have the opportunity to bring some national and international exposure to Kent State through one of my clients,” Butler said.

Though Sweet Unity Farms’ coffee will be available beginning the fall semester, an official grand opening of the renaming of its location in the Oscar Ritchie coffee shop will be held on Sept. 19.

Robinson will attend the event, which will feature product giveaways for students to partake in, as well as a meet-and-greet session with the founder from 1 to 3 p.m.

Later in the same week, Black Squirrel Radio will conduct a live, on-air interview with Robinson, and a speaking forum will be held.