Entrepreneurship Zone: 14 August 2020: Entrepreneur wants Nigerians to drink locally-grown coffee instead of imports

Fri Aug 14 05:12:16 CAT 2020

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Entrepreneurship Zone: 14 August 2020: Entrepreneur wants Nigerians to drink
locally-grown coffee instead of imports

 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

We speak to Princess Adeyinka Tekenah, CEO of Happy Coffee Nigeria, a brand
involved in the retail of coffee and related equipment.

the business.

Happy Coffee is an indigenous coffee brand launched in 2015. The idea for
the business started when I was in college in America. I read a book called
‘Pour Your Heart Into It’ by Howard Schultz, the founder of Starbucks. I was
inspired by how he transformed the entire coffee culture in America and the
world. I told myself that whenever an opportunity arose for me to start my
own business, it would be coffee.

So fast forward to 2015, when there was a call for African entrepreneurs to
submit ideas for the Tony Elumelu Foundation entrepreneurship programme. I
applied to launch a coffee brand and I got selected to receive the $5,000
seed capital with which I started the business.

>From the beginning, the goal was to ensure Nigerians had access to
locally-grown coffee. Nigeria grows coffee, but people were drinking
imported products. Our business looks at creating solutions for the
challenges holding back Nigeria’s coffee sector.

At first we created a mobile café and sold coffee at events. After about a
year, people started asking us whether we had a place where they could come
to drink coffee. This led to our first pop-up café in 2017. Customers then
requested to buy our coffee beans for home consumption. Our business has
evolved in this way. From the pop-up café, we started bagging our own house
blend which is freshly roasted coffee from Nigerian farmers.

Within Happy Coffee we now have three pop-up cafés located in Lagos as well
as a coffee station at one of the banks. We also have our own ready-to-drink
coffee, coffee filter bags (which look like tea bags) as well as equipment
to prepare coffee. Whether at home or work, our customers now have access to
a decent cup of coffee.

Happy Coffee’s house blend

2. Where is the coffee produced?

We are coffee retailers. We buy our coffee from a roaster in Lagos, which
sources directly from local farmers. The roaster has created a special blend
for us.

3. Who are your main competitors?

Most Nigerians drink instant coffee. However, there is a growing trend of
people asking for fresh coffee. We are creating our own niche by converting
Nigerians from instant coffee to freshly-brewed coffee. Our direct
competitors are other coffee retailers like ourselves in Lagos as well as
imported products found in supermarkets.

4. Tell us about one of the toughest situations you’ve found yourself in as
a business owner.

Coffee is not a priority agricultural commodity in Nigeria and there aren’t
many policies to support the development of the sector.

However, one of the biggest challenges that I faced was last year when we
started the Lagos Coffee Festival. We wanted to bring together coffee value
chain stakeholders – everyone from the government, to farmers, to consumers
– to start a dialogue on how to build the Nigerian coffee industry.

A Happy Coffee pop-up café

It was very tough because we weren’t able to get any banks or corporations
to sponsor the event. Normally in Nigeria, large companies would sponsor
events such as these. However, we didn’t get one single sponsor. We
therefore had to work with other SMEs that partnered with us to make the
event happen. For me, this was a really challenging time. It was
discouraging that the large sponsors didn’t come on board. However, in the
end we got it done and it was fairly successful.

5. Share your thoughts on Nigeria’s economy.

The Nigerian economy has faced many challenges in recent years and these
have been exacerbated by Covid. We definitely have leadership issues and a
lack of solid policies. We are still heavily focused on oil and there
doesn’t seem to be an understanding of how small businesses contribute to
economic growth. With regards to the coffee sector, there hasn’t been
adequate engagement with stakeholders. One cannot create effective policies
without consulting with those operating on the ground.

6. Is there anything you wish you knew about entrepreneurship before you
started?

When I started the company I assumed I would have more time for myself.
However, I discovered all my time belongs to the business – my every waking
moment. I even dream about selling coffee.—howwemadeitinafrica

Princess Adeyinka Tekenah

INVESTORS DIARY 2020

Company

Event

Venue

Date & Time

CBZ

AGM

Virtual

14  August 2020 | 6pm

Lafarge

AGM

Virtual

18 August 2020  | 12pm

Companies under Cautionary

Bindura Nickel Corporation

Padenga Holdings

Delta Corporation

Meikles Limited

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