ZIPURE's first-ever brand collaboration wasn't with a retailer or a press outlet - it was with USC Marshall School of Business, the very place where ZIPURE began. The ZIPURE No Bad Coffee Set was chosen as part of USC Marshall's official welcome gift for incoming MBA students, putting ZIPURE's coffee crystal pods directly in the hands of the next generation of students walking the same halls where our founders, Jessica Cheng and Elin Wang, first met.
Why USC Marshall, First
Every brand collaboration says something about who a company is. For ZIPURE, there was only one place that made sense to start: the school that gave Jessica and Elin the room, the pressure, and the community to build ZIPURE while they were still students themselves. Before ZIPURE ever launched publicly, it existed as a solution the founders built for their own MBA cohort - something to get them through the long lecture days and later nights without settling for stale, bitter coffee. Coming back to that same campus as an official welcome gift isn't just a marketing milestone. It's the project returning to the people it was originally built for.
What's in the Welcome Gift
Incoming MBA students receive the ZIPURE No Bad Coffee Set - a 6-pod box spanning all three ZIPURE coffee crystal flavors: Always Smooth Black for a clean, citrusy black coffee, Never Bitter Shot for a rich espresso shot or cortado, and Never Lost in Milk for lattes and milk-based drinks. Each pod is a single flash-frozen espresso crystal, sealed to stay fresh for up to two years with no refrigeration needed, so it's ready whenever a new MBA schedule allows - which, as any student in a One-Year Full-Time MBA program can tell you, is rarely a convenient time.
“Watching a new cohort open their welcome box and find something better than instant coffee waiting for them has become one of our favorite small moments of orientation week.” — USC Marshall Program Staff
Full Circle, One Cup at a Time
For Jessica and Elin, this collaboration closes a loop. ZIPURE started as a way to survive one demanding program - now it's part of how USC Marshall welcomes the next group of students into that same experience. It's proof that a problem solved out of necessity can turn into something worth sharing with everyone who comes after you.
Want to Collab With ZIPURE?
ZIPURE partners with schools, companies, and brands that want to give their community something better than ordinary coffee - as a welcome gift, an event activation, or an ongoing partnership.
Want to collab? Click here to explore details.
