Startup CPG Newswire:
Oval Coffee Roasters Launches Six Specialty Coffee Products at Fresh Thyme Market
PRESS RELEASE — NEWS PROVIDED BY Andrew J Itzkowitz for Oval Coffee Roasters
NEW YORK, NY (2026) — Oval Coffee Roasters has launched its full six-product retail assortment at Fresh Thyme Market, expanding the New York City coffee company’s distribution across the Midwest. KeHE Distributors is providing distribution and supply-chain support for the launch.
The assortment includes three coffees in two formats: Bowling Green Women-Grown, The Natural Natural Process and Riverside Half Caffeine. Each coffee is available as whole bean and as an eight-pack of single-serve Pour Over Coffees.
Oval specializes in light and light-medium roasting, with each product organized around a distinguishing sourcing, processing or caffeine attribute. The single-serve format is designed to prepare a cup of coffee using hot water and a mug, without a coffee machine, pod brewer or capsule system.
“Specialty coffee should feel accessible,” said Christopher Alspach, Director of Coffee and Co-Founder of Oval Coffee Roasters. “Our single-serve Pour Over Coffee gives consumers another way to prepare the same coffees offered in our whole-bean lineup, including while traveling or when a traditional brewing setup is unavailable.”
Fresh Thyme Category Manager Robert Abdee first met Oval co-founders Andrew Itzkowitz and Christopher Alspach at the Specialty Food Association’s 2025 Summer Fancy Food Show. In June 2026, Abdee contacted Itzkowitz while he was conducting a retail visit outside a Fresh Thyme store in Chicago’s northern suburbs. Fresh Thyme was finalizing its coffee-category review and requested the company’s KeHE rankings. A purchase order followed several weeks later.
Before the launch, Oval met with Abdee and Fresh Thyme Category Analyst Steven Suste to discuss the retailer’s coffee assortment, customer segments and plans for supporting the products at the store level.
Oval will participate in its first Fresh Thyme category-wide coffee promotion in October alongside the retailer’s coffee brands, local roasters and coffee creamers.
About Oval Coffee Roasters
Oval Coffee Roasters is a New York City specialty coffee company founded by Andrew Itzkowitz and Christopher Alspach and roasting in the Bronx. Its attribute-forward lineup features light and light-medium coffees designed for clarity, sweetness and everyday enjoyment. Bowling Green Women-Grown, The Natural Natural Process and Riverside Half Caffeine are each available as whole bean and single-serve Pour Over Coffee, offering a craft cup anywhere with only hot water and a mug—no machine required. Learn more at oval.nyc.
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