Leadership series: Eirik Holth

Through our Leadership interview series. we reveal and share what drives exceptional industry leaders.

In this episode, we are very lucky to be talking to Eirik Holth, Co-Founder & Co-CEO at Black Sheep Coffee to talk about building a global coffee brand from scratch.

We cover the origin story, from quitting careers in private equity to launching on a curb in Shoreditch, and the decision to build around Robusta beans instead of the Arabica most chains rely on. 

We get into global expansion (the US, GCC, and beyond), how the brand adapts to local markets without losing its identity, and why they've stayed away from PE and VC funding. 

Finally, Eirik talks celebrity investors, splitting responsibilities as co-founders, staying "anti-establishment" at scale, spotting trends like matcha, and what's next as they push toward 700 stores…

About Black Sheep Coffee: 

It was co-founded in 2013 by Eirik Holth and Gabriel Shohet. They built the business around specialty-grade Robusta beans, a variety the industry had long dismissed as inferior to Arabica, and they have worked directly with growers to prove it could hold its own at the high end. Starting in London with original street art in every shop and a "leave the herd behind" ethos, Black Sheep have grown past 140 locations across the UK, France, the UAE, and the Philippines, and has picked up Best Multiple Operator at the London Coffee Festival twice running. Eirik now splits his focus toward the company's US push, based in Miami, where Black Sheep has set up its American headquarters and is expanding through Texas and Florida, including a 20-store franchise deal in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.