The Local Lion

What The Local Lion does

The Local Lion, doing business as Local Lion Doughnuts & Coffee, is a privately held specialty coffee roaster and scratch-made doughnut retailer founded in Spring 2012 by Josiah and Meredith in Boone, North Carolina. The company operates from a single physical storefront at 791 Blowing Rock Rd, with regular hours Monday through Saturday 7:00am-8:30pm, and an in-store full espresso bar serving beverages alongside fresh daily doughnuts prepared from a proprietary 1930s "award-winning" recipe. Coffee is roasted daily in small batches, including single-origin organic varietals sourced directly from named cooperatives in Ethiopia, Colombia (Tolima), and Timor (CCT), plus a house blend and a Swiss water-processed decaffeinated option.

The product portfolio is split between in-store consumption (doughnuts, espresso drinks) and a direct-to-consumer e-commerce store selling five coffee SKUs at a flat $17.00 per 12oz bag, with no subscription tier. An additional service line covers bulk doughnut orders for weddings and large events in the High Country region. The company employs approximately 8 people, has no disclosed revenue, no institutional funding, no parent company, and operates only in the Boone, NC market. Customer segments are local community consumers and event-catering customers; there are no enterprise accounts, wholesale distribution agreements, or franchise operations. Distribution is restricted to a single physical storefront plus an owned e-commerce website, and the marketing footprint is limited to local community presence and word-of-mouth, with no disclosed digital advertising or social media programs.

The business model combines transaction-based retail (foot-traffic doughnut and espresso sales) with low-volume DTC packaged-goods shipping and an event catering add-on. Pricing is uniformly $17 per coffee bag across all varieties, with no volume discounts, subscription pricing, or tiering observed. The competitive position rests on heritage recipe authenticity, daily small-batch roasting, chemical-free decaf processing, and 12-plus years of community integration, rather than scale, technology, or marketing reach. The Local Lion is best characterized as a stable, founder-operated lifestyle business serving a single mountain micro-market, with growth optionality but no demonstrated expansion.

Name

The Local Lion

Legal name

Local Lion

Website

https://local-lion.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Short description

The Local Lion is a privately held craft coffee roaster and scratch-made doughnut shop founded in 2012 in Boone, North Carolina, serving local High Country consumers through a single retail storefront, in-store espresso bar, e-commerce coffee sales, and wedding/event catering with approximately 8 employees.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Specialty Coffee Roastery

NAICS

Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars (722515), Baked Goods Retailers (445291), All Other Specialty Food Retailers (445298)

SIC

Retail-Eating Places (5812), Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810)

akta.pro primary industry

Coffee Roasters with Cafe (Roastery Cafes) (THAFADAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Cafe-Bakeries (Coffee + Pastry Focus) (THAFADAG), Specialty Coffee Shops (Single-Origin, Third-Wave) (THAFADAA), Specialty Coffee & Tea Retail (Beans, Leaves, Accessories) (CRAHAGAI)

Keywords

• Craft coffee roasting
• Specialty coffee beans
• Scratch-made doughnuts
• Single-origin coffee
• Small batch roastery

Headquarters

HQ city

Boone

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Coffee Bean E-commerce: Direct-to-consumer online sales of roasted coffee beans in 12oz bags, shipped to customers. Products include single origin varietals from Ethiopia, Colombia, Timor, and house blends.
2. In-Store Retail - Doughnuts & Espresso Bar: On-premises sales of scratch-made doughnuts and espresso/coffee beverages through full service espresso bar
3. Weddings & Large Orders: Bulk/custom orders for weddings and events

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

The Local Lion is a craft coffee roastery and doughnut shop located in Boone, North Carolina. Founded in spring 2012 by Josiah and Meredith, the business roasts small-batch single-origin and blended coffees (including Ethiopian, Colombian, and Timor origins plus a Swiss Water processed decaf) and pairs them with scratch-made doughnuts sold through a physical storefront at 791 Blowing Rock Rd and a direct-to-consumer online store. The shop also operates an espresso bar and offers catering for weddings and events.

Product overview

The Local Lion is a small batch craft coffee roastery and scratch-made doughnut shop in Boone, NC. Their product portfolio consists of two core offerings: freshly roasted coffee beans sold through their online store, and scratch-made doughnuts prepared daily using a traditional 1930s recipe. The coffee line includes five distinct products (Decaf Swiss Water, Light Roast Ethiopia Sidamo, Medium Roast Colombia Tolima, Medium Roast House Blend, and Dark Roast Timor), all sold at $17 per 12oz bag. Additional services include an in-store espresso bar, and wedding/large order catering. Founded in Spring 2012 by Josiah and Meredith.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Single-Origin Coffee Beans Small-batch roasted single-origin coffee beans from Ethiopia, Colombia, and Timor, sold by the 12oz bag for $17 through the in-store and online shop. Targeted at individual coffee drinkers seeking traceable, specialty-grade coffees.
• House Blend Coffee The Local Lion's signature house-blend roasted coffee, sold by the 12oz bag alongside the single-origin offerings for customers who prefer a consistent, blended flavor profile.
• Swiss Water Decaf Coffee Chemical-free, Swiss Water processed decaffeinated coffee roasted in small batches, sold to decaf drinkers who want specialty-grade coffee without chemical decaffeination.
• Scratch-Made Doughnuts Hand-made-from-scratch doughnuts prepared daily in the Boone, NC storefront, sold to walk-in customers as a complement to the coffee program.
• Espresso Bar Service In-shop espresso bar serving espresso-based beverages made from the shop's own roasted beans, available to walk-in customers at the Boone storefront.
• Wedding and Event Catering Coffee and doughnut catering service for weddings and private events, extending the shop's roasted coffee and scratch-baked doughnut offerings to off-site occasions.

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• Cooperativa Multiactiva de Asociaciones Agropecuarias del TolimaminorOthersSource of organic Colombian coffee from Tolima region. Organization of organic smallholder farmers using traditional washed processing method.
• Cooperativa Café Timor (CCT)minorOthersFamily-owned organic farms organized through CCT supplying Indonesian high altitude, organic, single origin Timor coffee.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Voodoo Doughnut: Iconic craft doughnut + coffee concept combining a heritage, scratch-made doughnut recipe with a specialty coffee bar in a tourist-friendly retail format — the closest analog to The Local Lion's doughnut-plus-espresso positioning, though at far greater scale.
• Top Pot Doughnuts: Seattle-based craft doughnut and coffee cafe chain with heritage recipe branding and a third-wave coffee program — directly comparable doughnut-shop-meets-specialty-coffee model with multiple retail locations.
• Verve Coffee Roasters: California craft coffee roaster with company-owned cafes serving single-origin espresso; matches The Local Lion's small-batch roasting-plus-cafe operating model at a larger but still craft scale.
• Onyx Coffee Lab: Award-winning specialty coffee roaster operating cafes with a single-origin, competition-grade coffee program — comparable craft roasting and cafe retail strategy with strong e-commerce DTC.
• Counter Culture Coffee: Specialty coffee roaster with direct-trade sourcing from cooperatives and a network of training cafes; comparable single-origin, sustainably sourced bean program with both DTC and wholesale channels.

Broad incumbents

• Stumptown Coffee Roasters: Established Portland-born craft coffee roaster with cafes and nationwide wholesale; overlaps The Local Lion's direct-trade, small-batch roasting and cafe retail but at significantly greater scale and brand recognition.
• Blue Bottle Coffee: Premium third-wave coffee roaster with cafe network and robust e-commerce/subscription DTC — competes for the same single-origin specialty coffee consumer but with vastly greater resources and brand reach.
• Krispy Kreme: National doughnut chain with integrated coffee program; competes for the local Boone NC morning doughnut-and-coffee occasion at lower price points and broader awareness.

Regional players

• Appalachian Mountain Coffee: Western North Carolina-based craft coffee roaster with cafe and e-commerce; directly regional overlap with The Local Lion's Boone-area customer base and similar small-roaster DTC positioning.

Emerging players

• Square One Coffee: Independent craft coffee roaster with cafe locations focused on single-origin offerings and light-roast transparency — emerging direct-trade peer with similar cafe-plus-roastery format to The Local Lion.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Local Lion