Show your true colors: Celebrating Pride with Caribou Coffee
The joy of Pride is that you can celebrate it your way. Maybe that’s flying a flag in your yard, donating or volunteering with an organization whose values mirror yours or uplifting a friend or colleague when they need support. Maybe it’s simply cheering at the parade and enjoying your local Pride events. It all makes a difference!
Pride is one of our favorite times of the year at Caribou Coffee; it aligns with our core values, including Be Yourself and Serve with Love, two principles that come to life during Pride.
Caribou is supporting Pride initiatives again in 2024. This year, we’re showing our true colors with a vibrant new Pride tumbler designed in part by our incredible team members, and a few exciting events involving our newest employee resource group (ERG) too. Though we’re committed to uplifting our team members and communities all year long, it’s so much fun to celebrate together during Pride Month
A tumbler inspired by our team
One of our favorite Pride traditions is the special tumbler, which doesn’t just keep your drinks hot or cold — it encourages you to embrace and enhance your true colors and love yourself for exactly who you are, and to do the same for the people around you.
For this year’s tumbler, we went straight to the people who carry out the Caribou Coffee mission every day: our team members! In late 2023, we reached out to Caribou BOUristas across the United States and asked for their ideas, creativity and talent in bringing the 2024 Pride Tumbler to life.
And they delivered! Suggestions from the brilliant minds of our team members included cute catchphrases like “Espresso yourself” and “Be ‘Bou you are,” a cup full of flags and a chic design with pops of rainbow. The final design is as vibrant, bright and welcoming as the BOUristas themselves, with tons of cute details and lots of bright, joyful color. You’ll see rollerskates, disco balls, a boom box and so much more, all inspired by the diversity, unity and individuality of the Caribou community. “Love is the best blend,” indeed.
“In terms of design, this was a true partnership across so many members of our organization. It started with a post asking what team members wanted to see on this year’s tumbler and evolved in partnership with brand colors and Caribou-specific elements that make our organization unique,” explains Merchandise Category Manager Kirstin Millette. “We included our take on the beloved rainbow, as well as our hero brand colors to make this style feel even more unique. It’s truly a perfect blend of summer sun, love and friendship.”
The 20 oz. Pride Tumbler is made of insulated, double-walled stainless steel with a leak-proof lid and included straw, so it works for both hot and cold drinks. It’s dishwasher safe and retails for $21.99, and we have a feeling you’ll be reaching for it year after year.
Colorful, cute, and committed to change
The 2024 Pride Tumbler isn’t just colorful and cute — it has its own purpose. Proceeds from the tumbler will support Rainbow Circle*, the community programming division of Twin Cities Pride.
Our newest Employee Resource Group (ERG), the LGBTQ+ ERG, is also jumping in to support the partnership. The ERG launched late last summer brings team members with shared backgrounds or allyship together. The group will be sponsoring Rainbow Packs for Rainbow Circle. These sets of toiletries and personal care items will be assembled at our national conference for store managers in June. The LGBTQ+ ERG will also be marching in the Twin Cities Pride Parade for the first time, so keep your eyes peeled for the group!
The ‘Bou Truck will also be at the Twin Cities Pride Festival in Minneapolis — one of the ‘Bou Truck team’s favorite weekends of the year. Look for the signature Cari-blue truck parked in Loring Park serving up hand-crafted drinks on June 29 and 30, 2024. But Minnesota isn’t the only state getting a little Caribou love during Pride; Caribou is also engaging with Capital City Pride in Des Moines, Iowa, and other local communities.
“The tumbler is an amazing give-back and I’m so proud that Caribou and our team members are showing up in such a big way this year,” says Director of Operations Adam Krook, one of the co-chairs of the LGBTQ+ ERG. “The fact that BOUristas helped design the 2024 tumbler makes it even more special. Plus, our sponsorship of Rainbow Packs at our BouCon conference and our involvement with local events demonstrates our ongoing support for the LGBTQ+ community, and I can’t wait to see it all come together during Pride Month.”
*minimum donation $5,000