This story was originally published in the 2023 Summer issue of strategy.

For the first time in, well, ever, Canadian ice cream brand Chapman’s is collaborating with another business for a premium coffee blend ice cream flavour release. Their pick of partner? An increasingly popular, cause-driven and Ojibway-led coffee company called Birch Bark Coffee. 

When the founder (and band member of the Whitefish River First Nation) Mark Marsolais-Nahwegahbow was setting up the Ottawa-based business in 2018, he knew he couldn’t afford a brick-and-mortar shop. “I was introduced to e-commerce, through Shopify, and I brought on a team to help me out. Within about 30 days, we received a call from them to tell us that they were highlighting my business.” Shopify spotlighted several Indigenous companies of note for National Indigenous History Month, with a special focus on Marsolais-Nahwegahbow’s offering. 

Soon after, small mom-and-pop stores began asking to carry his product. Then big retailers, like Metro Glebe, came knocking and food services like Chartwells Compass Canada, Sodexo and Aramark followed suit. As the company’s marketing picked up, the Chapman family got in touch with an offer for a special partnership. They wanted to use Birch Bark coffee concentrate, a special cold brew, to make coffee ice cream and release it this spring.

“I had no idea that I was going to take off and go viral like I did. Really, all I wanted to do was bring education and awareness to the many problems that nobody’s really doing anything about. Coffee can make a difference.”