Warren’s Top Shelf inks coffee deal with NBA, plans expansion

WARREN — Jordan Filippidis, owner of Top Shelf Coffee and Foods, is a small businessman who likes to think big, and that’s landed him a contract to team up with the National Basketball Association.

Filippidis, whose factory and store is on Griswold Street Northeast, is ramping up production in order to sell his coffee in team shops all around the league and potentially in retail outlets such as Wal-Mart.

Once Filippidis has completed an expansion consisting of the purchase and installation of an additional roaster and an additional packaging machine, he believes his Colombian Supremo Blend Gourmet coffee with its NBA graphics could be a big hit.

Filippidis received the licensing agreement in April, allowing him to sell his product with NBA graphics on the packaging. But to begin production, he needed working capital to purchase additional equipment.

Among his top needs is a machine that produces bags that can be displayed and sold in stores. For the past 16 years, Top Shelf has produced coffee in the type of flat bags used in restaurants, hotels and coffee shops, he said.

The coffee is sold to about 100 coffee shops, restaurants and food service operations in about 12 northeast Ohio counties, Filippidis said.

Read more in Tuesday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com