Blackberry Market

What Blackberry Market does

Blackberry Market is a privately held, founder-owned fast-casual cafe and bakery operating five retail locations — Glen Ellyn, La Grange, Naperville, and Oak Brook in Illinois suburbs west of Chicago, plus a North Little Rock (Argenta) location in Arkansas — with a centralized production kitchen in Lombard, IL that supports all stores with scratch-made baked goods, sandwiches, salads, dinners-to-go, grab-n-go market items, and seasonal holiday ordering (Easter, Mother's Day). The core menu and offering is built around handcrafted, in-house production using minimal, high-quality ingredients, and a dedicated allergen program (gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, vegetarian, vegan) driven by founder Anna Davidson's personal experience with celiac disease. Specialty coffee is anchored by a long-standing partnership with direct-trade roaster Intelligentsia, prepared by trained baristas for in-store and online ordering. The company operates a "hub-and-spoke" retail model: physical cafes provide dine-in and third-place experience, while online ordering via Toasttab (cafe) and Honeycart (catering pickup and delivery) extend the brand into at-home meals and off-site event catering for corporate and private events.

Name

Blackberry Market

Legal name

Blackberry Market

Website

https://blackberry.cafe

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Blackberry Market is a founder-owned fast-casual cafe and bakery chain operating five locations across Chicago's western suburbs and North Little Rock, Arkansas, plus a centralized Lombard, IL production kitchen. It serves local consumers, corporate and private catering clients, and at-home customers through in-store dining, online ordering on Toasttab and Honeycart, and scratch-made bakery, coffee, and grab-n-go meals.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Glen Ellyn

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices6 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Cafe and Dine-In Sales: Daily handcrafted meals, dinners to-go, and in-store dining experiences at multiple cafe locations offering breakfast, lunch, and market sides.
2. Bakery Sales: Fresh baked goods made in-house daily from scratch using minimal, high-quality ingredients. Products include artisan breads, pastries, and sweet treats available in-store and for catering.
3. Premium Coffee Drinks: Specialty espresso drinks and manually brewed coffee using Intelligentsia coffee, served in cafe locations.
4. Catering Services: Full-service catering for events including corporate lunches, celebrations, and special deliveries. Offers both pickup and delivery options across all locations.
5. Market Grab-n-Go: Pre-prepped meals and easy-to-warm options available daily in the grab-n-go market case for customers with busy lifestyles.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Blackberry Market is a fast-casual cafe and bakery that serves handcrafted daily meals, scratch-made baked goods, and premium Intelligentsia coffee across five physical locations in Illinois and Arkansas. The company also operates a full-service catering business for corporate events, intimate gatherings, and large celebrations, with both pickup and delivery options. A grab-and-go market case offers pre-prepped meals for time-constrained customers.

Product overview

Blackberry Market operates as a fast-casual cafe and bakery with multiple locations in the Chicago area and Arkansas. The company offers five integrated product lines: the Cafe (handcrafted meals and sandwiches), Bakery (fresh daily baked goods made from scratch), Coffee (premium espresso drinks via Intelligentsia partnership), Catering (full-service event catering with custom options), and Market (grab-n-go pre-prepped meals). Dinners to-Go complements the Cafe for at-home dining. All products share a common focus on quality, seasonal ingredients and thoughtful food preparation.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Cafe Fast-casual cafe offering daily handcrafted meals including sandwiches, salads, and dinners to-go, served in-store across five locations in Illinois and Arkansas. Targets individual local consumers seeking fresh, non-processed meals for breakfast and lunch.
• Bakery In-house bakery producing sweets, pastries, and bakery boxes made from scratch daily with minimal, high-quality ingredients using family recipes. Available in-store at all five locations and via catering.
• Coffee Premium specialty coffee drinks prepared by baristas using direct-trade Intelligentsia coffee beans, including manually brewed and poured espresso drinks served in-store at all five locations.
• Catering Full-service catering for intimate gatherings, corporate events, and large celebrations, offering freshly prepared meals tailored to various dietary needs. Available for in-house events, off-site events, corporate lunches, and custom orders, with both pickup (via Honeycart) and delivery across all five locations.
• Market (Grab-n-Go) Daily grab-n-go market case offering pre-prepped, easy-to-warm meals, market sides, and soups (rotating monthly) for time-constrained customers, available in-store at all five locations.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• IntelligentsiacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBlackberry Market is a long-time partner of Intelligentsia, a premium coffee roaster. Intelligentsia oversees the journey from planting to roasting through direct-trade relationships. The partnership ensures ethically sourced, thoughtfully roasted premium coffee delivered to Blackberry Market locations, where baristas prepare manually brewed and poured espresso drinks with balance, particularity, and presentation.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Le Pain Quotidien: Belgian-rooted bakery-cafe chain emphasizing organic, seasonal, scratch-made food and communal tables. Closely comparable to Blackberry Market's "thoughtful food, sacred space" positioning and bakery-led menu.
• Intelligentsia Coffee: Premium direct-trade specialty coffee roaster with owned cafes. Blackberry Market is a long-time Intelligentsia wholesale partner and competes with Intelligentsia retail cafes in Chicago for the same premium-coffee customer.
• Blue Bottle Coffee: Premium, small-batch specialty coffee chain with a focus on freshly prepared espresso drinks and light food. Comparable to Blackberry Market's barista-led, premium coffee and grab-n-go market positioning.
• Corner Bakery Cafe: Multi-unit cafe-bakery chain offering scratch-baked goods, sandwiches, salads, coffee, and catering across U.S. metros. Overlaps directly with Blackberry Market's cafe/bakery/catering model and target suburban office and lunch customers.
• La Colombe Coffee Roasters: Specialty coffee roaster operating its own cafes with premium espresso drinks and food. Direct competitor for Blackberry Market's specialty-coffee customer in shared U.S. metro footprints.
• Au Bon Pain: Bakery-cafe chain with broad menu including sandwiches, salads, soups, pastries, and coffee. Competes with Blackberry Market for suburban Chicago lunch and catering demand.

Broad incumbents

• Panera Bread: National bakery-cafe incumbent with deep Illinois presence, broad catering infrastructure, and a clean-ingredient brand positioning. A scaled-up version of Blackberry Market's category and a primary competitive benchmark for premium cafe-bakery chains.
• Peet's Coffee: Established specialty coffee roaster and multi-unit cafe operator with a presence in major U.S. markets, including the Midwest. Comparable premium-coffee-cafe category competitor.
• Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf: Specialty coffee and tea chain with cafes serving premium espresso-based drinks and light food. Larger, broader-format sibling category to Blackberry Market.
• Starbucks (incl. Starbucks Reserve): Global coffee and food retail incumbent, including its Reserve premium experience. The default benchmark against which Blackberry Market's premium Intelligentsia-sourced coffee offering must compete in Chicago and AR markets.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/bberrymarket
• Facebookfacebook.com/blackberrylagrange
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/blackberrymarket

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 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 Blackberry Market