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Royal Cup Coffee
The 2026 acquisition announcement drew more than 300 media mentions, including 17 original editorial articles in outlets with a combined estimated monthly audience of nearly 95 million.
The Waffle Wager earned coverage in 262 outlets and reached a national sports audience through USA Today, Yahoo Sports, Sports Illustrated and CBSSports.com.
Royal Cup Coffee was a Markstein project and retainer client for many years, and we partnered with the company through some of the biggest moments in its growth. Early on, the goal was to raise Royal Cup’s profile with customers, the industry and the public. We needed creative ways to tell its story beyond the products it supplies. Years later, Royal Cup’s agreement to acquire Farmer Brothers Coffee Co. needed one clear story for employees, customers, the business press and the coffee industry.
Markstein helped turn a friendly supplier wager on a college football game into the Waffle Wager, an annual rivalry-game tradition among Waffle House suppliers, and managed it for four years. We created the #WaffleWager hashtag, pitched local, regional and national media, and worked with Waffle House and the other suppliers on releases, interviews and press at each payout. The event grew each year, adding a third supplier and a scholarship donation to the winning school.
For the 2026 acquisition, we built a framework around three core message pillars, wrote internal and external talking points and the press release, and managed Business Wire distribution and targeted pitching to national, regional and trade media.
The first Waffle Wager earned coverage in 262 outlets, including the Associated Press, CNBC and the Houston Chronicle, as Alabama fans claimed 1,821 free waffles and 1,241 cups of coffee. Year two reached a national sports audience through USA Today, Yahoo Sports, Sports Illustrated and CBSSports.com. By year four, NC State fans went through 2,100 waffles, 1,600 cups of coffee and 1,100 hashbrowns, and the university received a $10,000 scholarship donation. Markstein’s launch work for Royal Cup’s ready-to-drink cold brew line was also named a 2019 SABRE Awards finalist.