Starting with a successful move earlier this year to its current location within the Publicis building in Harrington Street, Cape Town, where the company is functioning as the in-house catering and coffee provider to the ten agencies that fall under the Publicis umbrella and share the space, the team at the helm of the business have big plans for the foreseeable future.
“We are busy setting up a flagship site in Strand Street and are in negotiations to open outlets in a hospital in Joburg, at the head office of a global fitness brand as well as another location in the Cape,” explains Mike Morritt-Smith, I Love Coffee’s CFO.
Little over a year ago I Love Coffee had one barista and was operating from a tiny site in Claremont. Their growth journey is testament to the fact that the two directors understood from day one that a ‘social’ brand needs to offer more than just its social value proposition to succeed.
According to co-founder and head of marketing and staff development Gary Hopkins, Morritt-Smith was instrumental in setting up Truth coffee and knows more than most about how to grow a coffee brand and consistently deliver an exceptional product. “We both know that our story sometimes gets our foot in the door, but it is our overall offering that will keep us there,” says Hopkins.
Whilst exploring various social enterprise models, Hopkins was introduced to the social challenges facing the deaf community – non-recognition of sign language, comparatively poor levels of education, widespread unemployment and marginalisation – and the idea of coffee hit home as a way of helping people with and without disabilities spend time together.
“Our mission is to normalise deaf employment, by showcasing the many contributions the Deaf can make to the success of an organisation. Ultimately we’d like to see a network of corporate and retail cafes throughout South Africa,” explains Hopkins.
In spite of the usual challenges that face social enterprises in SA – limited access to start-up capital, difficulty in raising funding, tension between social and commercial activities – the team at I Love Coffee have directly impacted the lives of 14 staff members, all of whom were unemployed before joining the enterprise.
They have also served in excess of 700+ corporate clients who at some level can now ‘Sign’ or are at least aware of South African sign language – brochures and video feeds at their tills help educate people on the basics – while some of their customers have even gone on to take formal Sign lessons. The team will soon be offering classes in their cafes.
It has not all been smooth sailing. “Deafness is the most overlooked of disabilities simply because it isn’t as visible as say a physical disability,” he explains. “By association, our biggest challenge has been to engage with big business and funders to support our vision. There is a certain curiosity factor and we have attracted a lot of interest and media support, but genuine buy-in is rare. For the most part, we have had to rely on our own resources and tenacity to get to where we are.”
He says that funding and recognition from the SAB Foundation has helped tremendously (I Love Coffee were Finalists in their annual Social Innovation and Disability Empowerment Awards), but even with their support "we have to go above and beyond to make our business successful,” explains Hopkins.
The team at ILC have also developed a range of compostable coffee pods, which are sold at their corporate store, as well as direct to consumers, guesthouses and boutique hotels. “We are hoping to grow this avenue to support our ultimate vision of an I Love Coffee roastery, which will allow us to increase impact and absorb the bulk of our trainees into employment, whilst opening channels for new partnerships and supply contracts,” he says.
“Our whole model is built on partnerships. Our corporate store is an example of a partnership between us and Publicis. Under the B-BBEE Codes, they support us from an enterprise development perspective through subsidized rental and other assistance, and in return, we provide them with the points they need for their BEE Scorecard and their staff with an exceptional product. It is a model we hope to replicate nationally,” explains Hopkins.
